About The Workshop 2006

Telecentre movement is gathering momentum across the globe. The variety of form and functions makes the telecentre movement unique and vibrant in many countries of the world. In India, telecentre movement reached a level, where a multi-stakeholder initiative titled “Mission 2007” was launched, under which 600,000 telecentres will be established across the country by 2007. While telecentre is essentially a kiosk for communication for the communities, it is evident that only kiosk model is not enough to address the problems of livelihood of rural community, particularly the needs of the underprivileged part. As a result, access to livelihood information and knowledge is becoming the focal point of telecentre. It is also evident that diversified forms of ownership are in existence in parallel. Some people stress on a business model or entrepreneurship, others emphasize on the market failure and stress on the importance of add-in of access to information services with the current services provided by social organisations. Truth may lie in the middle, where a telecentre provides communication services and other ICT services, which generate incomes, and cross-subsidise the access to information needs of the poor and vulnerable including Disabled and Women. Whatever would be combination of ownership, services and social focus, the underlying common denominator is that ICTs have to play an important role in reducing poverty and empowerment of disadvantaged people.

Successes of various types of models sparked enthusiasm among many national level and grass root level organisations to be involved with the telecentre movement. It is very timely that International networks like telecentre.org initiated by International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and Global Knowledge Partnership (GKP) inspire the global telecentre movement so that local communities can unleash the potential of ICTs for poverty alleviation.

In this backdrop, Development Research Network (D.Net) in association with Bangladesh NGOs Network for Radio and Communication (BNNRC) and Young Power of Social Action (YPSA) has organised a three-day training workshop for the social entrepreneurs and telecentre practitioners of Bangladesh for sharing ideas to accelerate telecentre movement in Bangladesh.

OBJECTIVE
To mobilise social entrepreneurs and institutions in building system of ICT-based livelihood information delivery for the rural community.

Workshop participants will be able to ….

• MEET international and regional ICT4D players
• LEARN and SHARE knowledge about cross-sector partnerships and the innovative use of ICT as tools for development
• GATHER solutions to challenges involved forming and maintaining cross-sectoral partnerships in ICT for development and
• MAKE contacts and identify possible new scope for collaboration with telecentre family at Bangladesh

THE PARTICIPANTS

• Information and knowledge workers bringing grass-root knowledge and credibility
• Telecentre managers and practitioners exchange their experiences
• NGOs working at the grass root level find a possibility to initiative new programmes
• Existing and potential social entrepreneurs in practice can explore their investment opportunity in telecentres
• Institutions having potential to collaborate with telecentre practitioners
• Donor agencies interested in ICT4D may confer the potential of bringing the new way to collaboration.

ISSUES FOR DISCUSSION

• Why Access to information is Important?: The discussion will focus on the scope of leveraging ICTs as regards to ensuring access to information for improvement of livelihood of the poor and underprivileged.
• Telecentre: How does it Work: The discussion will focus on different types of telecentre around Bangladesh and abroad and it's potential in social development. Discussion will focus on introducing the scope of leveraging ICTs and power of particiation of grassroot people.
• Global Telecentre Experiences: Sharing experiences of the telecentre operation around the globe with special focus on India and Sri Lanka
  1. Build your Telecentre: Providing guideline for various types of telecentre building based on the ingredients available at the organization level.
  2. Presentation of a film on telecentre operation in Bangladesh: A film (10 minutes) will be showed to the participants.
  3. Development of a telecentre cookbook: The ingredients of different telecentres and their operation modalities will be presented.
  4. Working session on Building and Operations of Telecentre: Five (5) groups will be formed and each group will develop their own telecentre picking up ingredients from the cook book.
• How to Sustain Telecentre: Models in Practice: Open Presentation on different sustainability models of telecentre
• Discussion on Mission 2011 (How to go about it): An informal discussion with participants about building national coalition for building telecentre in every village of Bangladesh.
• Filed Visit a telecentre titled “Pallitathya Kednra” in Nilphamari
  1. Meet the information workers (infomediary): Sharing experiences about the works and tasks of an infomediary.
  2. Meet the mobile lady: Sharing works and tasks of a mobile lady
     

Experience Sharing with Local Community: Sharing with community about their view on telecentre and its impact on their livelihood improvement including establishing right to information

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