Managing Sustainable E-Community Centers Workshop

Post-course Statement

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Background

In comparison to urban areas, the accessibility and availability of information and communications technology (ICT) is significantly lower in rural areas, as governments and the private sector do not invest much in infrastructure development for ICT in rural areas. The low accessibility to ICT in the rural community results in a lack of basic information that could assist them to better their livelihoods. The growing need to become part of the knowledge society or knowledge economy has encouraged many countries to take this initiative. E-community centers have sprung up across developing countries in the Asia-Pacific region at a rapid rate. Developing the e-community center is not only about providing ICT equipment, but also understanding the needs of the people who would use them, and providing locally useful information content and applications in local languages.

There are several models of e-community centers that provide basic Internet services, including the telecenter franchise, civic telecenter, phone shop and multipurpose community telecenter. These models are not exclusive, since some e-community centers are in fact hybrid versions of two or three different types. For example, phone shops offer basic telephone services, but several shops are now moving into fax and even Internet services, as the market develops. Developing e-community centers involves understanding the needs of the people who would use them, and providing locally useful information content and applications in local languages. In many cases, these centers have been established by development agencies on a pilot basis and often their sustainability is not guaranteed after the initial project period. Therefore, it is necessary to review various business models of e-community centers and look for the best model for their sustainability.

The workshop will discuss the following topics:

• Policies and strategies for operating e-community centers
• Issues and problems of implementing e-community centers
• Business models of innovative e-community centers
• New technologies that can improve efficiency of e-community centers
• Methods and criteria for evaluating e-community centers
• Drafting of action plans to improve sustainability of e-community centers

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Objectives

• Share experiences of e-community centers in rural areas
• Examine issues in operating and establishing e-community centers
• Develop business plans and models for sustainable e-community centers
• Identify policies that can effectively promote e-community centers
• Draft action plans to improve sustainability of these centers

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Outputs

• About 25 trained participants in establishing e-community centers
• Realistic strategies for establishing e-community centers in their countries
• Summary of proceedings
• Workshop materials that can be converted into interactive CD-ROMs and published online

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Participants

Decision makers in government ministries of communications, rural development, economy, or planning of the member and associate member countries of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) and ADB. About 25 participants will attend this workshop from 18 countries. In addition, about 5 observers from civil society and international agencies are expected to attend the workshop.

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Language

English (No interpretation will be provided.)

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Responsibilities

Each participant is required to prepare a country report describing the use of ICT in rural communities in their country and an action plan to implement ICT for rural development.

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Cosponsors

Cosponsors were the Government of India, Asia-Pacific Satellite Communications Council, International Rice Research Institute, Microsoft,UNESCO, and the Colombo Plan Staff College for Technician Education.