Cluster III. Good governance: where the strategy aims at developing structures and systems of democratic governance that are participatory, representative, accountable and inclusive and
3.7 Telecentres, access to ICTs and socio-economic development
The aim of the EASSy project is to increase accessibility to information and communication technologies by significantly reducing the current prohibitive cost of telephony and internet connectivity. Consequently, this will boost regional competitiveness and enable Africa to participate more actively in the global economy.
The EASSY cable will be owned and operated by telecommunications operators, while governments and the NEPAD e-Africa Commission will assume a leadership role in pursuing an enabling policy and regulatory framework. The EASSy project is said to have the potential to dramatically improve the communication landscape of Africa and to serve as a catalyst for further private sector development, economic growth and, ultimately, opportunities for the poor. A similar cable, known as SAFE/SAT-3, was constructed to link west and southern African countries to the rest of the world, through Portugal (NEPAD 2006a; NEPAD 2006b).
The major aim of all these international and regional initiatives is to bring ICTs to developing countries, to help these countries bridge the digital divide and hence to participate in the information society. In order to help developing countries to bridge the digital divide these initiatives may play a role as an instrument or as an arena (Archer 1992: 135). In other words:
These initiatives may play a role an as instrument used by its members to achieve certain goals. Member states may use these initiatives as a convenient tool to achieve foreign policy objectives.
The international and regional initiatives may act as an arena or as a meeting place, where members convene to discuss issues and, if possible, come to agreement over such issues. The WSIS conferences, where all the countries of the world were represented to discuss various issues related to ICTs, are a case in point.
is limited. The 1980s telecentres in Scandinavian countries were established as 'social experiments' in promoting the use of advanced information and communications technology (Benjamin 2001b; Cronberg et al., 1991). These centres were largely seen as learning experiences and were useful for letting people experiment with different ICTs, especially farmers. The Swedish telecentres contributed to raising awareness and creating demand for ICTs among rural communities. Most of the telecentres introduced around the world today imitate the Swedish social model.
Soon after these first Scandinavia centres were established, similar projects were established in other parts of Europe and North America (Benjamin 2001b). Telecentres experienced fairly rapid growth in Western Europe and other industrialised countries where rural isolation, lack of purchasing power and low-quality telecommunications and information technology facilities were seen to be a hindrance to participation in the information economy. After these initial telecentre projects were introduced in developed countries, international and national development agencies recognised the potential of telecentres and are supporting initiatives in various parts of the globe (Latchem and Walker 2001: viii). As a result, telecentres have been one of the main strategies for providing universal access to telecommunications and information services in the past few years and they are used as a means for bridging the digital divide.
3.7.1 Definition of a telecentre
There are many different types of public access ICT projects, in many different countries, that can be called telecentres. Colle and Roman (1999) identified over 30 different names for these kinds of centres. Some of these are telecentres, telecottages, community technology centres, community communication shops, networked learning centres, multipurpose community telecentres, digital clubhouses and technology access centres. Other names used by (Latchem and Walker 2001) are phone shops, open learning centres and digital clubhouses. (See section 1.7.7 for definition of telecentres).
Telecentres vary a great deal, especially in their sizes, facilities and services, according to whether they are rural or urban and whether they are located in the developed or developing
world. Some provide only basic telecommunications services and are best referred to as
“phone shops” or “public call offices” (Latchem and Walker 2001).
Different authors defined the term telecentres differently. Colle (2002) defined a telecentre as a public facility in the community that affords people the opportunity to use computers, networks, photocopiers, scanners, telephones, printed materials and audio and video resources for information searching, communication, training and entertainment. The services provided in telecentres are either free or available at an affordable cost. According to the definition of Colle (2002), the primary mission of a telecentre is community services, as compared to internet café, whose primary mission is profit.
To differentiate further telecentres from the internet/cyber café, Carvin (2005) said that what differentiates telecentres from internet cafés is the explicit purpose of the first ones to become instruments for human development, to channel local needs and to contribute to a change in community reality. Carvin (2005) pointed out that one of the main dangers posed to the survival of telecentres is their transformation into “internet café-type" facilities. That is to say, to stop being focused on human development and democratisation of technologies and being instead turned into spaces solely aimed at consumption and entertainment. Experience from FADECO telecentre in Tanzania, as described by Tan (2007), shows that there is a great temptation to convert the telecentre into a public internet café, to increase income. Concerns, however, are that it may lead to uncontrolled use, such as pornography.
Kanfi and Tulus (1998) defined a telecentre as a location which facilitates and encourages the provision of a wide variety of public and private information-based goods and services and which supports local economic or social development. Benjamin (2001b) defined a telecentre as an organisation offering telecommunication and other information services to a disadvantaged community. Etta and Parvyn-Wamahiu (2003: 13) defined telecentres as an integrated information and communication facility that houses a combination of new and not- so new ICTs, for example television, video, facsimile, telephone, computers with internet connectivity and sometimes books.
According to Whyte (2000) the term telecentre appears to have no universally accepted definition, beyond the general concept of a physical centre to provide public access to long- distance communication and information services, using a variety of technologies, including phone, fax, computers and the internet. Parkinson (2005) explained that the term telecentre encompasses most variants of shared access facility with an explicit development objective.
Most telecentres are multipurpose, offering a range of services and ICTs, often including photocopying, computer typesetting, faxing, internet (although many are beset by connectivity problems), phone and computer training, plus other value-added services that vary from site to site. While there are various definitions of telecentres a common characteristic of telecentres is a shared facility that provides public access to ICTs for educational, economic and social development.
3.7.2 Different models of telecentres
Beyond the common element of public access to ICT services, there is great variety in the way that telecentres are funded, owned and operated. Telecentres vary in the way they serve different kinds of clients and use different technologies. As a result, there are various different models of telecentres. Based on the work of Benjamin (2001b) and Jensen (1998) there are two distinct models of telecentres in developing countries. These include „type A‟ telecentres, which are smaller, demand-driven private telephone shops and „type B‟ telecentres, which are externally funded, larger ICT multipurpose centres.
Similar categories were used by Jensen (2004) who categorised telecentres into two groups.
The first group is those that are emerging from entrepreneur-driven initiatives or through expansion of services at existing public 'telephone shops' and in other businesses. Examples of these include the locally emerging private sector telecentres in Senegal, where the Public Telecom Operator (PTO) transferred the operation of public payphones to small businesses.
As a result, there are now over 10,000 of these public telephone shops, which are licenced by Sonatel (the PTO) and run by local entrepreneurs. Many have added fax, internet, email and word processing services and are serving a much broader range of information needs in their surrounding communities (Jensen 2004). Another example is the privately owned internet
cafés in Tanzania, commonly found in urban areas and in large and medium-sized towns in the country (Chachage 2001: 226; Mercer 2005: 247).
The second group is the national or international development programmes, which support non-profit telecentres driven by NGOs, government entities or international organisations.
Examples of these are the multipurpose community telecentres established within the ITU, IDRC and UNESCO model in Tanzania, Mali, Uganda and South Africa (Etta and Parvyn- Wamahiu 2003: 4; ITU 1998). Others are telecentres established by the Universal Access Agency (USA) of South Africa (Benjamin 2001b; Parkinson 2005). In the case of Tanzania, telecentres established by the COSTECH, in collaboration with donor agencies, fall into this category. Telecentres established by external funding agencies, in partnership with local NGOs and/or government structures, are the most common type of telecentres in many African countries. The purpose of these telecentres is to 'bridge the digital divide', by reaching those who otherwise would be unlikely to access services. These telecentres are mostly located in places where the market is not providing such services.
Lewis (2004) and Jensen and Esterhuysen (2001: 3-4) categorised telecentres on the basis of sizes, type of equipment they have and the services they offer. Based on these criteria, telecentres can be categorised as micro-telecentres, small computerised telecentres, standard telecentres and major developmental telecentres.
3.7.2.1 Micro-telecentre
These are the smallest telecentres, which offer telephone services, as do phone shops or kiosks. The simplest kind of telecentre may be a mobile phone with the owner of the 'telecentre' selling air-time vouchers to people in communities where there are few or even no telephones. This model has worked well in countries such as Bangladesh, where the Grameen Phone project has been lending money to rural women to buy mobile phones since 1997 (Bayes, von Braun and Akhter 1999; Islam 2005).
3.7.2.2 Small computerised telecentre
These are phone shops which are starting to introduce a computer to extend their range of services, offering other business services (for example typing a letter or curriculum vitae).
Some countries have a model of a basic movable stand that includes one computer, a 3-in-1 (printer, copier and scanner) and a telephone. Kiosks or outdoor units that provide telephone and internet access are becoming increasingly common. Some telephones such as the iPhone in South Africa have a modem and a built-in touch screen, keyboard and printout facility.
Units like these may be installed at places such as general dealers or guesthouses, to sell access to telecentre services.
3.7.2.3 Standard telecentre
These are centres with a number of telephones and several computers that can be used for training and other information services. Where the telecentre has an internet connection many more communication and information services can be offered. The term telecentre most commonly taken to mean this kind of centre.
3.7.2.4 Major developmental telecentre
These are larger telecentres which were established, usually by international donor organisations. They often include a range of ICT equipment (computer labs, scanners, digital cameras, fax and phone systems) and aim to support a range of development activities in the community, for example the ITU, UNESCO, IDRC and UNDP have established large telecentres in Mali, Benin, Uganda, Tanzania and Mozambique.