Literary Resources on Telecentre Sustainability 7 (In chronological order with brief description)

31.    A discussion posted by Fatema Begum Labony on the www.telecentre.org website (dated July 2009). Social Sustainability vs. Financial sustainability, which one is appropriate for telecentre initiatives? http://www.telecentre.org/forum/topics/social-sustainability-vs

In this discussion, most of the contributors were of the view that both social and financial sustainability are equally important for the telecentres. While financial sustainability ensures the continued existence of the telecentre, social sustainability will fulfil the key objective of the telecentre, i. e., community development and empowerment.

32.    Different countries, different telecentres, Publication date Mar 19, 2009.
This article gives an account of the telecentres run by IICD. For more than six years, IICD has been supporting telecentres in rural areas throughout Africa and Latin America. The telecentres it supports provide access to information services on a wide variety of topics from agricultural information and weather forecasts to educational information. The article also prescribes the golden rule for telecentre sustainability, which were highlighted during a telecentre workshop held in September 2008 in Zambia. It was organised by the Technical Centre for Rural and Agricultural operations (CTA) together with IICD and other organisations, such as infobridge and Telecentre.org. Participants from twenty countries around the world shared their experiences in rural telecentre work in Africa. It was generally agreed that sustainability can be reached by having a good location, dedicated centre staff members, and by offering services and products that respond to the needs of the local communities targeted by the telecentres.

33.    Bailey, Arlene (2009) Issues Affecting the Social Sustainability of Telecentres in Developing Contexts: A field study of sixteen telecentres in Jamaica. The Electronic Journal on Information Systems in Developing Countries (2009) 36, 4, 1-18 http://www.ejisdc.org/ojs2/index.php/ejisdc/article/view/512/273

Bailey views telecentre sustainability mainly from a social development perspective and also accepts the dynamic nature of the telecentre enterprise. According to him, every telecentre’s role evolves overtime in response to the dynamic nature of the social context within which the telecentre is operating. Similarly, the capabilities of the telecentre staff should also evolve to address the changing community needs and demands. He also touches upon the issue of volunteering to make the telecentre sustainable. Through his thematic content analysis method, Bailey found that the telecentres basically play a number of social development roles in the community. These are Education, Skills training, Employment and entrepreneurship, Social networks: both virtual and physical social networks within the community, and Socio-economic issues.

He concludes that for understanding telecentre sustainability, one should take into account:
a)    The social context of telecentre use – this is important to identify what the telecentre users actually require from the telecentre and adapting and innovating telecentre services to adequately fulfil these perceived needs of the community. An understanding of the social context can also guide the telecentres in identifying and enhancing staff capabilities. This recognition would assist them in dynamically responding to community needs to better serve the community. Telecentres should continually adapt to their specific social contexts if they desire to become sustainable.

b)    Developing participatory methods for need assessment and knowledge sharing among the stakeholders, especially those stakeholders, who are involved in the day to day running of the telecentre – entrepreneurial and managerial skills of the telecentre staff. Several previous studies have also highlighted the pivotal role played by telecentre staff in telecentre sustainability. The continued development of the core capabilities of the telecentre – the competencies of the staff also need to evolve based on the social context of the telecentre, i. e., the social environment in which the telecentre is operating. As the services and products of the telecentre become diversified in the course of time, the capacity of the staff should also increase in proportion to address the emerging demands.

34.    Mayanja, Meddie and Manuel Acevedo, Silvia Caicedo and Claire Buré (2010) (Edited) A Guidebook for Managing Telecentre Networks http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/A_Guidebook_for_Managing_Telecentre_Ne...

As the title suggests this wikibook is basically a resource for managing telecentre networks in view of the critical role telecentre networks play in sustaining individual telecentres. This book has a chapter on telecentre network’s financial sustainability. “This chapter identifies resource challenges, business models for telecentre networks and discusses ways for networks to undertake resource mobilization programs. Since the first telecentres were established in the early 1980s, a number of different models have emerged around the world. The models often take varied management approaches, technologies, connectivity options, and services. Yet no single telecentre model has so far proved inherently superior in terms of ensuring financial sustainability. Issues underlying financial sustainability of telecentre networks have been mostly similar to those of the network members – i.e. the telecentres themselves. The difference however, is that as a network, there is more potential for finding working solutions.” The author has identified some means through which the networks can achieve financial sustainability. These are: Membership fee, consultancy services offered by the network and products related to the core business of the telecentres or which can strengthen the telecentres.  

35.    Ibrahim, Huda; Azman Yasin & Zulkhairi Md Dahalin (2010) Financial Sustainability Issues in Malaysia’s Telecentres, Computer and Information Science, Vol. 3, No. 2; May 2010. http://www.ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/cis/article/download/5451/...

In this article, Ibrahim explores the concept of financial sustainability of the Malaysian telecentres and also contends that it is something more than self financing. According to them, “findings from the study show that financial support is critical to continuously provide ICT and Internet services to public communities. High investment is needed not only to operate TCs, but also to maintain the centres. Strategies that focused on the collaboration among entities namely government and non-government agencies, TCs operators, local communities bodies, and TC users are recommended to sustain TCs in the long run.”

Abstract: Telecentres plays an important role in bridging digital divide in Malaysia. A study was conducted to identify the issues of financial sustainability on 132 telecentres in Malaysia. The study focused on TCs in four regions of Malaysia Peninsular (northern, central, southern and eastern). Questionnaires were sent to the telecentres’ operators. The results prove that financial support is critical in operating and maintaining the centres. The costs incurred in running telecentres involve the costs for promotion, staff, utilities, premise renting, and training. More than 75 percent of the telecentres are operating under tight cash budget.

The authors have listed a number of recommendations to encourage telecentre’s financial sustainability in the future, such as:
a)    TCs can be financially sustained through non-government organizations (NGOs) and other private entity to capitalise on the latter’s corporate social responsibility. Varieties of programs such as training can be taken up to ensure continuity of TCs services.
b)    Social entrepreneurship: The authority to manage and own TC can be given to individuals, who will run TCs as usual, and at the same time provide service to communities through another business to generate income to support TCs sustainability, for example, the telecommunication sector. The infrastructure development is undertaken by a large firm, but the management of TCs is under local entrepreneurs.
c)    The third strategy is about strategic alliances between TCs and local entities, such as mosques, local community associations and committees, sundry shops and retailers. Different programs can be created to generate income for the benefits of both sides.
d)    Next strategy is to provide incentives, such as discounts to community members for using certain services at TCs.
e)    The final strategy is to set up a network of TCs all over the country and to devise membership schemes to allow individuals to enjoy wider accessibility and facilities at minimal cost.