TELECENTRE FOR COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

Since the last five years of the 20^th century telecentres have emerged as responses to enhance access to Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and the Internet in places where individual access to ICTs is unavailable or unaffordable (Colle & Roman, 2001; Harris 2001). The rise of telecentres has emphasized reaching rural and poorer areas with ICTs and there is a growing interest in using telecentres in developing areas which can spread the cost of equipment and access among a larger number of users (Colle, 2000; Akst and Jensen, 2001).

Telecentres seem to have neither universal performance indicators nor a universally approved definition. But founded upon the assumption of increasing access to ICTs, telecentres have been developed to provide ICT services ranging from basic services such as Internet connectivity and e-mail to more specialized services such as telemedicine and e-learning. They operate within different types of environments and under various modalities such as public libraries, schools, post offices, local government facilities, churches and petrol stations (Cisler, 1998). One definition of telecentre is provided by Reilly & Gomez (2001) stating that telecentres are physical spaces that provide public access to information and communication technologies, notably the Internet, for educational,personal, social and economic development.

Telecentre initiatives are commonly motivated by sincere attempts to improve people’s lives by using ICTs, with an underlying belief in the potential for underdeveloped areas to develop faster through the access and use of information technology. According to a World Bank report (1998/1999) the principal purpose of telecentres is to bring forth development outcomes for the community it aims to serve. Providing access and related services to users are intermediary goals, but as long as development fails to occur then the telecentre fails to fulfil its primary purpose. This speaks for a widespread view of the telecentre as a catalyzing force in the community and that ICTs will enable poor, underserved communities to contribute more effectively to their own development, a hypothesis reported on by Colle (2000), Hunt (2001), Rothenberg-Aalami (2005) and Whyte (2000).

The telecentre network, telecentre.org (2007) argues that although telecentres are diverse in nature their shared values are to utilize technologies for development. ICTs are regarded as not only providing a connection between people, but also to act as a link in the chain of the development process where the ability to access and share information can lead to development benefits (Hudson, 1999).

But development assumptions and techno-centric attitudes where ICTs are regarded as positive tools for change are challenged; Gomez & Ospina (2002) and Warschauer (2002) assert that there is no simple recipe in how ICTs can meaningfully support human development or bring about necessary results.

 And while numerous telecentres struggle with viability, there is a need to learn from the shared experiences of telecentres in practice—of what works and what doesn’t work.

With prevailing visions of telecentres as tools for development there is a need for research on telecentres on the ground; on how telecentres are adopted in their local contexts and how telecentres can make a difference for the communities they are serving.

Linda Johansson Hedberg