1. The Five Pillars of Sustainable Telecentres
ISITI-UNIMAS
Dr. Roger Harris

2. The 5 Pillars of Sustainable Telecentres
Organisation
Partnerships
Community ownership
Networking
Policy
Poverty reduction
Rural development
ICTs
Telecomm-unications
Internet
Social
Needs and strengths analysis
Community Participation
Marketing
Outreach
Finance
Business plans
Entrepreneurialism
Training
Subsidis-ation
Operations
Staff
Premises
Technology
Power supply
Location

3. A Mnemonic for the 5 Pillars
Something intended to assist the memory, such as a verse or formula.
Organisation
Policy
Social
Finance
Operations O P S F O
Old Printers Scramble Fuzzy Orders
Old Printers Scramble Fuzzy Orders

4. Organisation Partnerships Community Ownership Networking
Why are telecentre partnerships essential for sustainability
What partners should telecentres have
Community Ownership
How to ensure community ownership of a telecentre
Why is it important
Networking
What type of networks should telecentres belong to
How to foster participation in a network
National level networking

5. Policy Poverty reduction Rural development ICTs Telecommun-ications
Why are poverty reduction policies important
How are they formulated and why should they include ICTs
Rural development
Why are rural development policies important
How are they formulated and why should they include ICTs
ICTs
Why are ICT policies important
How are they formulated
Telecommun-ications
What are the stages of growth for telecommunications reform
Why are they important for internet and telecentre diffusion
Internet
Why is an internet policy required
How is it developed and implemented

6. Community Participation
Social
Needs analysis
How to discover the needs of the community
Why this is crucial for telecentre sustainability
Community Participation
Why should communities participate in telecentre operation
Marketing
How to market telecentre services
Outreach
How to maintain constant engagement with the community

7. Finance Business plans Entrepreneu-rialism Training Subsidisation
What is a business plan
How to build one
Entrepreneu-rialism
What is an entrepreneur
What essential skills are required by one
Why are they important for telecentre sustainability
Training
What training can and should be provided for entrepreneurs
Subsidisation
Why, when and how are subsidies used to support telecentres

8. Operations Staff Premises Technology Location Power Supply
What is the role of telecentre staff
How should they be selected and trained
Why are they critical for telecentre performance and sustainability
Premises
How should telecentre premises be organised
Technology
What technology should telecentres use
Power Supply
How to organise power supplies where they are unreliable
Location
Why is telecentre location fundamental to sustainability

9. Organisational Aspects of Telecentre Sustainability

10. Organisation
Partnerships
Community Ownership
Networking

11. Partnerships
Why are telecentre partnerships essential for sustainability
Partners are essential.
Public-Private Partnerships bring in various skills and resources.
At the local level, typical Telecentre partnerships include; community leaders, community organizations, schools, health centres, agricultural extension agents and input suppliers, and local cooperatives.
Assist in identifying the demand for information and in promoting developmental activities that make good use of it.
Also therefore; local agricultural extension agents, community health workers, schoolteachers and government officials

12. Partnerships What partners should telecentres have? Government Donors
Public services, e-government
Donors
Funding, networking
NGOs
Development orientation
Private sector
Financial sustainability
Education institutions
Common service
Other telecentres
Knowledge sharing

13. Community Ownership How to ensure community ownership of a telecentre
Include representatives within the governance structure
Provide services that are responsive to known needs
Why is it important?
The road to sustainability goes through the centre of community acceptance

14. Networking What type of networks should telecentres belong to?
International telecentre networks
National telecentre networks
Regional and local telecentre networks
If they don’t exist, start one.
How to foster participation in a network
Be active
National level networking
Important for national programmes; government, NGOs, private sector.

15. Policy Aspects of Telecentre Sustainability

16. Policy Poverty reduction Rural development ICTs Telecommun-ications
Internet

17. Poverty reduction Why are poverty reduction policies important?
To achieve the MDGs
To legitimise telecentres, that provide access to ICTs for poor people, for whom domestic access is unaffordable.
How are they formulated and why should they include ICTs?
National PRSPs, but ICT inclusion is patchy.

18. Rural development Why are rural development policies important?
Most of Asia’s poverty is rural.
Rural locations are least served with access to ICTs
How are they formulated and why should they include ICTs?
Mostly under Ministries of Rural Development, but their use of ICTs is generally low priority.

19. ICTs Why are ICT policies important? How are they formulated?
To legitimise expenditure on expansion of the infrastructure
To align policies for poverty reduction and rural development with the formulation of telecentre programmes
How are they formulated?
Often a national agency which is outside the regular government structure, possibly directly under the head of government.

20. Telecommunications
What are the stages of growth for telecommunications reform?
De-regulation, competition, foreign ownership, independent regulator.
Why are they important for internet and telecentre diffusion?
Deregulation accelerates technology diffusion

21. Internet Why is an internet policy required?
As a critical component of ICT policy
A mechanism for achieving digital inclusion
Policies for internet expansion underpin e-government and telecentre diffusion
How is it developed and implemented?
As part of ICT policy formulations

22. Social Aspects of Telecentre Sustainability

23. Social Marketing Outreach Community Participation
Needs and strengths analysis
Community Participation
Marketing
Outreach

24. Needs and strengths analysis
How to discover the information and communication needs of the community
Primary data collection:
Community engagement
Interviews with representatives and officials
Household surveys
Focus group discussions
Secondary data collection
Previous studies
Other organisations and NGOs
Why this is crucial for telecentre sustainability?
To enable the provision of information-based services that the community will appreciate.

25. Community Participation
Why should communities participate in telecentre operation?
Info-mediaries who work in telecentres should be drawn from the communities the centres serve.
Community representatives within the governance structure facilitate responsiveness to community needs.
They also assist with outreach and marketing by the telecentre, which increases its impact.

26. Marketing How to market telecentre services Newsletters Open days
Special offers
Posters
Notices and billboards
Fliers
School open days
Competitions
Advertising campaigns
Health campaigns
Demonstrations
Meetings

27. Outreach How to maintain constant engagement with the community
Regular focus groups; farmers, women, youths, elderly, businessmen, etc.
Regular surveys
Regular meetings of the council / steering committee, which will contain community representatives.
Regular functions; open days, promotions, events, etc.

28. Quiz

29. True or False?
The 5 pillars of sustainable telecentres are; Organisation, Politics, Finance, Business and Staff.
False. The The 5 pillars of sustainable telecentres are; Organisation, Policy, Social, Finance, and Operations
Poverty reduction policies are important for telecentre sustainability.
True
Telecentres need to engage with their communities occasionally.
False. Telecentres need to engage with their communities constantly.
Telecentres don’t need business plans.
False. Telecentres need business plans.
Telecentre location is fundamental to sustainability.
True.

30. True or False?
Local agricultural extension agents are useful partners for telecentres.
True.
Including community representatives within the telecentre governance structure is a good way to ensure community ownership.
True
Most national PRSPs include the use of ICTs.
False. ICT inclusion in PRSPs is patchy.
Most of Asia’s poverty is urban.
False. Most of Asia’s poverty is rural.
ICT policies are not needed for diffusion of telecentres.
False. ICT policies legitimize expenditure on expansion of the infrastructure

31. Financial Aspects of Telecentre Sustainability

32. Finance
Business plans
Entrepreneu-rialism
Training
Subsidisation

33. Business plans What is a business plan? How to build one
A formal statement of a set of business goals, the reasons why they are believed attainable, and the plan for reaching those goals
How to build one
Should have these components;
The product or service
A market analysis
Strategy and Implementation
Management and staff
Financial analysis, income and cost estimates, cash flow.
Publicly sponsored telecentres often lack a business plan
Private sector managed telecentres have performed better financially.
The telecentre manager’s entrepreneurial dedication is a key success factor.
They require a combination of technical, managerial and social development skills that are sometimes difficult to learn spontaneously by local entrepreneurs.
Pressure for financial can force those that succeed to narrow their targeted users to the groups that can afford the services most, typically urban dwellers and the better off.

34. Entrepreneurialism What is an entrepreneur?
A person who organizes and operates a business or businesses, taking on financial risk to do so
What essential skills are required by one?
 Self-Motivation, Self-Confidence, Salesmanship, Risk-taker, Financial, Management, Customer-oriented, etc.
Why are they important for telecentre sustainability?
Local investment fosters community orientation and fiscal discipline.
However, a drive for financial sustainability that relies solely on local entrepreneurialism risks a drift away from the social agenda.
Arrangements for financing Telecentres need to find a balance between ensuring financial viability (which may or may not include subsidisation) and equality in sharing the benefits among those in most need of them

35. Training What training can and should be provided for entrepreneurs?
Some of the skills can be learned, but they are probably not the most important ones;
Salesmanship, Financial, Management
The more important attributes are inborn;
 Self-Motivation, Self-Confidence, Risk-taker
The challenge is in finding such people and nurturing them towards success.

36. Subsidisation
Why, when and how are subsidies used to support telecentres?
A sum of money granted by the government or a public body to assist an industry or business so that the price of a commodity or service may remain low or competitive.
Most governments, including those of the poorest countries, subsidise services that even the well-off benefit from, including schools, libraries, fuel, food, transportation and health services.
Subsidies to telecentres can help them become viable .They generally fall into two categories:
those aimed at expanding telecommunications infrastructure into under-served areas (rural and remote), and
those designed to enhance telecentre performance for development purposes.
Many countries are crafting market-oriented reforms intended to privatize and deregulate their telecommunications sectors and to improve access and investment in rural, underserved and un-served areas.
Example mechanisms include;
license obligations to serve rural communities,
minimum subsidies schemes,
telecommunications development funds, and
variations of build-transfer-operate arrangements.

37. Operational Aspects of Telecentre Sustainability

38. Operations
Staff
Premises
Technology
Power Supply
Location

39. Staff What is the role of telecentre staff?
To provide information services to the community
Act as infomediaries
Local capacity building
How should they be selected and trained
Drawn from the community
Women are best
Why are they critical for telecentre performance and sustainability?
Strong evidence links community acceptance of telecentres to quality of interaction with staff.

40. Premises
How should telecentre premises be organised?

41. Technology What technology should telecentres use? Computers Internet
Laptops draw less power
Thin clients are less complicated
Internet
VSAT, Wi,Fi, WiMax,
Peripherals
Other ICTs, TV, video
Community radio broadcasting

42. Power Supply How to organise power supplies where they are unreliable?
Generators
Solar
Batteries
Micro-hydro
Wind turbine

43. Location Why is telecentre location fundamental to sustainability?
Same reason as a retail shop
To attract customers
Best is next to a market, main street, ground floor, central location.
Upstairs in government offices don’t work;
Hidden
Official
Intimidating
“Not for us”

44. The Ecosystem Perspective on Telecentre Sustainability

45. Drawing together a diverse set of constructs
Development Strategies
Poverty reduction
Government
As a user of ICTs
Infrastructure
Universal Service
ICT Policy
Pro-poor
Local Access
Telecentres, schools, libraries,
Methods
Participatory, local, gender
Institutions
Agriculture, enterprise development, education, health…
Services
Extension, micro-finance, public health…
People
Farmers, women, disadvantaged, entrepreneurs, youth…

46. Quiz

47. True or False? Business plans need a market analysis.
Publicly sponsored telecentres always have a business plan.
False. Publicly sponsored telecentres often lack a business plan
Entrepreneurial skills are always easily taught to anyone.
False. Entrepreneurial skills are sometimes difficult to learn.
Sustainable telecentres don’t ever need subsidies.
False. Subsidies to telecentres can help them become viable.
Outside experts are required to operate telecentres.
False. Telecentre staff are best drawn from the community.

48. True or False? Telecentres should be located in government premises.
False. Government offices don’t work as they tend to be hidden and intimidating.
Telecentres cannot operate in areas that are off the mains electricity grid.
False. Electricity can be generated locally by various means.
Mobiles are better than telecentres for rural development.
False. Each technology has its merits and drawbacks.
Broadcast radio can be used to access the internet.
True. Combined with telecentres = radio browsing.
Television is Asia’s main form of information and entertainment.
True.