ICT ROLE IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES: TELECENTRES

Telecenters are one of the most rapidly growing applications of ICTs in the developing world. Their rationale lies in shared-access models that allow provision of a wide range of services to more users at lower cost than privately-owned home or office computers which are often out of financial reach of poor people.

The definition of a telecenter is as varied as the activities that such a center can offer. Smaller telecenters usually include basic Internet service, and may also include access to fax, phone, and photocopying. Others may include targeted activities in education and training, health, e-commerce, e-government services and more. The physical composition of telecenters also varies widely. Common models include kiosks, school computer labs made available to the public after hours, multipurpose community telecenters, and mobile telecenters. Regardless of the different configurations, telecenters all have one common feature: they use IT to provide a range of services using a shared access model.

This article highlights the market intelligence the Digital Dividends project has gleaned from its research on telecenters. The data analyzed is composed of projects included in the Digital Dividend Clearinghouse which currently includes more than 200 telecenter initiatives, representing several thousand telecenters. Telecenters in the Clearinghouse are categorized by initiative, or project, not on total numbers of telecenters deployed as part of those initiatives. For example, some initiatives may only operate one multipurpose community telecenter, while others may deploy a network of hundreds of kiosks. While our data does not include all telecenters in existence, by examining a broad range of telecenters from around the globe, we hope to provide some interesting insights and trends about telecenters and their activities.

Barbara Ciani