The presentation by Harsha Liyanage of eNovation, as an invited speaker at Wireless World Research Forum, (16-18th Nov, 2010 at London), organised by University of Kingston, captures the lessons learned from Social Impact assessment activities carried out in Sri Lanka, under Sarvodaya-Fusion. eNovation suggests the wider applicability of this knowledge at technology innovation for Bottom of the Pyramid initiatives.
In principle telecentres were designed having PC and internet at the heart of it. It was 1990s to early 2000s, an era where mobile phones were a luxury item and PC based internet was defining the digital world. .
Now 2011~
mobile phone ubiquity at bottom of the pyramid
WiFi, WiMax, mobile broad-band define internet access
iPad is challenging the survival of PCs
digital devices are smart enough to bypass barriers of literacy and education
Are we supporting the digital divide, by promoting telecentres?
This question was echoed in the corridors at University of London, during ICTD2010 (Dec. 2010).
Why?
None of the 55 research papers affiliated with telecentres. (though one captured Kiosk Operator)
None of the 20+ workshops affiliated with telecentres
Progressive domain themes did include PC, mobile, video, radio, network etc. but not telecentres.
There were several telecentre activists representing Africa, Middle East & South Asia, but none had a dedicated telecentre platform to share their voice and telecentre sector experience .
Donors (IDRC, SDC, Microsoft etc.) who used to amplify the telecentre voices were not keen to take up telecentre topic, instead they were busy with emerging new topics.
Does this mean telecentres are dead? Probably sector is moving forward, and looking beyond (as one and only telecentre affiliated paper titled): Looking Beyond 'Information Provision': The Importance of Being a Kiosk Operator in the Sustainable Access in Rural India by Janaki Srinivasan (see my next blog for Sri Lanka experience).
We are consultants for European organisations working in international development. Specialized in Innovation - Economic Sustainability - Social Impact Assessment in ICT4D and Mobile for Development (M4D) sectors. We have 20 + years of experiences and our clients include UN Agencies, EU, IDRC.
Are you involved in International development, introducing Information Communication Technologies and Mobile Phone applications to support disadvantage communities? Are you concerned about effective products and services in this sector, we can help to innovate them. Do you want to see their sustainability beyond funding cycle? We can help converting the project into a social enterprise. Do you want to understand the social impact? We can design a tailor made model to surface the social impact.
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