[UgaBYTES] Asian replicationofUgabytes....isitapossibility...???

Tue Nov 13 04:56:41 GMT 2007

Ananya,

There seems to be some degree of resignation to fate here. Why do we agree
that the telecentre movement is yet to come of age? We need to see the
movement as a small piece in a large jigsaw puzzle. Once of you have
identified one, you must look for the others, the thing is, the telecentres
will not be sustainable and then it will be left alone like a failed
development concept. That is not it; we need to identify what other pieces
need to be brought together so that the larger picture can be achieved. Of
course you can sense my nerves cracking as I see this line of agreement. 

I do not want to believe that Shadrach is saying that nothing can be done,
what I see is his explanation of events as of now, as pertains to the Asian
situation. But do we not need to identify what measures need to be put in
place to ensure the pursuit of a bigger vision for the telecentre movement
to which the current situation can be aggregated?

There may be need to develop a strategic focus for the telecentre movement
that will not be just for sharing ideas and problems but one for
implementing what is sustainable. 

With that said then, let me get involved in your 'bedroom talk' and indicate
that though I am from Africa, I arrogate myself the right to interject in
this discussion and propose that there should not be two forums to address
telecentre movement, a single one is enough for what we all seek to achieve.
We all seek solutions for sustainable development that addresses the MDGs
through ICT4D.

Kiringai

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From: ugabytes-bounces at lists.ugabytes.org
[mailto:ugabytes-bounces at lists.ugabytes.org] On Behalf Of Ananya Guha
Sent: Tuesday, November 13, 2007 6:14 AM
To: ugabytes at lists.ugabytes.org
Subject: Re: [UgaBYTES] Asian
replicationofUgabytes....isitapossibility...???

Yes, I do agree.The telecentre concept is still coming of age in Asia.

Ananya.S.Guha

IGNOU.

"B. Shadrach" <bshadrach at telecentre.org> wrote:

I agree that there were some ten people out of the thousands who are
involved in the telecentre movement spoke from Asia on Ugabytes list.  This
does not include the tens and thousands of grassroots telecentre workers who
seldom wish to communicate in English (for lack of confidence in conversing
in English).  There are two reasons to why the Asians don't speak enough.

First, the Asians are the late comers in the ICT4D as well as telecentre
arena.  Secondly, by their very entrepreneurial nature, they wish to see
results for themselves first before they speak with conviction.  These are
early days for the telecentre movement here. The Sustainability or an
'eighteen month break-even' we refer to is still a myth.  No entity breaks
even yet... not even e-Choupal with millions of dollars behind the
initiative.  We rarely have studies that reveal it all, mainly the
cost-benefit analysis of telecentres (again, for these are very early days)
barring some Grameen Phone studies.

More over, the Ugabytes list has not been intended to be a global or
cross-continental list.  Perhpas, we need one such global list for sure.

This is a point to discuss at the Global TLF?

Cheers

Shaddy

  _____  

From: ugabytes-bounces at lists.ugabytes.org
[mailto:ugabytes-bounces at lists.ugabytes.org] On Behalf Of Meddie Mayanja
Sent: November 10, 2007 12:24 AM
To: ugabytes at lists.ugabytes.org
Subject: Re: [UgaBYTES] Asian
replicationofUgabytes....isitapossibility...???

...on interconnecting the telecentre community

Jaya: you are very right. I would like also to re-echo voices from Grace and
Shaddy.

Apparently one of the key outcomes (not sure if it was planned that way) of
this e-conference has been an increased level - more than ever before of the
voices from Asia. I have always believed that Asia has got alot of
experiences through years of great work in telecentres and community
development but that unfortunately rarely speaks enough. I suspect many
colleagues here who have been to Asia would agree. 

It would most certainly help Africa, Asia and Latin America to share
experiences and join into discussions hosted in any continent... I am aware
that this list has practitioners from Middle East and North Africa as well.

The best result would be for other continents/countries to organise similar
events - even get better at it. Now Grace and Jaya have particularly given
us more confidence and belief that this is not a mere dream.

Best, Meddie

Meddie Mayanja
Senior Program Officer
telecentre.org, IDRC Canada
tel:  (613) 236-6163, ext 2604

  _____  

From: ugabytes-bounces at lists.ugabytes.org
[mailto:ugabytes-bounces at lists.ugabytes.org] On Behalf Of Grace Mirandilla
Sent: Thursday, November 08, 2007 10:14 PM
To: ugabytes at lists.ugabytes.org
Subject: Re: [UgaBYTES] Asian replication
ofUgabytes....isitapossibility...???

>From our experience of facilitating large scale consultations and
multi-stakeholder processes, the biggest benefit of these face-to-face
consultation processes are realised by those who are able to, and can afford
to, participate.  However, t he strength and value of the online discussion
space is that we can share our viewpoints and experiences in an informal,
non-threatening way, with no time pressure to finish a point in 10-15
minutes, and extend the discussions to get more clarity, and far more number
of people can participate in the discussions at minimal costs. 

>>I totally agree. The main reason why I suggested (and supported Harsha's
idea) to start an online discussion is to expand venues for discussion among
the different telecenter stakeholders, especially for the benefit of those
who can't afford to attend conferences and participate in face-to-face
meetings. An online discussion can also complement the accomplishments of
meetings by allowing further networking or a more in-depth dialogue of ideas
with no time pressure or funding constraints. 

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