[UgaBYTES] The NewsBYTE Issue 30

Wed Mar 5 08:27:15 GMT 2008

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  >>The NewsBYTE           Issue No: 30           Date: 2/03/2008
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The NewsBYTE is a monthly Newsletter of the UgaBYTES Initiative. UgaBYTES is
a not-for-profit Telecentre Support Network operating in the East African
Sub-region.

The NewsBYTE highlights issues, challenges, opportunities and best practices
around telecentres in the sub-region.

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     >>:-The NewsBYTE Highlights

1: Telecentre network leaders staff exchange at UgaBYTES. Key
recommendations and resolutions
2: 5th East Africa Telecentre Leaders Forum (EATLF) slated for May 2008

3: Sixth edition of Telecentre Times out

4: Profiling our telecentres

5: Updates from the online Supportcentre

6: Social enterprise

7: The telecentre.org community charter

  Esther Nasikye                    Sulah Ndaula
>> NewsBYTE Editor           NewsBYTE Content Analyst
nasikye at ugabytes.org    ndaulasula at ugabytes.org

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Dear Friends,

The secretariat spent the month on a very pressing exercise of exchanging
ideas on strengthening the East African telecentre movement. The five day
gathering of l8th to 22nd Feb. 2008, had network leaders from Kenya,
Burundi, Tanzania, Rwanda and Uganda – the host. According to the
evaluations by the participants and key stakeholders the meeting achieved
much more than partners and participants expected. Many also believe it will
go an extra mile in enhancing networking and telecentre success in the East
African region and beyond.

Read details at http://ugabytes.org/collaboration/index.php/Main_Page
The coming days will see the East African region totally committed on the
issues of staff exchange, regional telecentre academy and online community.

Plans for the 5th East African Telecentre Leaders Forum (EATLF) are
complete. The event will be held in the Sudan early May 2008. On behalf of
UgaBYTES Sarah Nalwoga Mpagi sarah at ugabytes.org will be heading the team
while the Sudan team will be headed by Ahmed Eisa. Look out for further
communications on the matter.

Enjoy the read.

---
Sulah

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     >>1: Telecentre network leaders staff exchange at UgaBYTES. Key
recommendations and resolutions
*******************************************************************************************

Telecentre network leaders from Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Burundi and Uganda
gathered at the UgaBYTES secretariat in Kampala, Uganda to discuss key
issues pertinent to the telecentre movement in East Africa.
    The five day intensive program looked into issues of national networks
status, creation of a vibrant regional telecentre eco-system, website and
mailing lists management, introduction of an award system for telecentre
practitioners in the region, issues of social enterprises for sustainability
of telecentres and networks, the telecentre academy, regional exchange
program for network leaders and staff as well as partnership issues.

A wiki that captures all the resolutions and recommendations made during the
meeting is now available at

http://ugabytes.org/collaboration/index.php/Main_Page

See also pictures from the staff exchange
http://www.flickr.com/photos/telecentrepictures/sets/72157603941023495/

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>> 2: 5th East Africa Telecentre Leaders Forum (EATLF) slated for May 2008
***************************************************************************************

The East African Telecentre leaders Forum (EATLF) is a biannual gathering of
telecentre practitioners in the East African sub region. The EATLF is an
initiative of UgaBYTES with support from telecentre.org a social investment
of IDRC, Microsoft, and SDC.

The fifth gathering of the EATLF is slated for May 2008 in Gadaref Sudan. It
will be hosted by Gadaref Digital City Organisation in Sudan. Expected
participants include policy makers, researchers, and telecentre
practitioners from Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and Sudan. Some
of the topics listed for discussion include;

• Social enterprise at telecentre and network level
• The Telecentre academy: who is it targeting and what areas it is expected
to cover
• The regional staff exchange program
• The Bytes for Development award

The forum usually has two sessions; the online session running on the
UgaBYTES mailing list and the face to face session. The online session runs
two weeks prior to the face to face session.

Details of the program will be coming out soon

http://www.ugabytes.org/nod/?q=node/221

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     >> 3: Sixth edition of Telecentre Times out
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The sixth edition of the Telecentre Times is a must read. This edition is
focusing on telecentre networks around the world.
Over 10 telecentre networks from Africa, Americas, and Asia have been
profiled.
Articles are focusing on the services provided, challenges and action plan
for 2008.
You can read about Oneroof's franchise model in India, how Cepes is helping
Peruvian farmers, UganBYTES sustainability plan for 2008, how IDEA
centresare helping Russians, ESPLAI's plan to start a telecentre academy in
Latin America among others.

There is also a two page pictorial from the events at the Telecentre leaders
Forum in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia last December.

This year, UgaBYTES will focus on making the publication sustainable.
"We shall be selling space in terms of adverts from the ICT4D domain,"
explains UgaBYTES director Sulah Ndaula.

For your free copy of the Times, write to secretariat at ugabytes.org

The Telecentre Times is a collaborative publication for the telecentre
movement. It captures grassroots stories and events.
The publication is part of the helpdesk project fund by telecentre.org.

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     >> 4: Profile your telecentre and win
*****************************************************************

UgaBYTES is implementing the Dissemination - Catalyzing Online Collaboration
and Information Exchanges across the Telecentre Community project that aims
at building a collaboratively updated online community of people, resources
and tools that are managed by the telecentre community.
It will give the telecentre.org's online community a rich and strong access
and utility value, including the English speaking countries within the East,
central and Southern Africa region where UgaBYTES operates.
Through this project, thematic research will be carried out by the
telecentre community and posted on the telecentre.org website.

Submissions are requested from telecentre practitioners to profile their
telecentres on the telecentre.org website.

Each Blogger will win 'From the ground up' book that will be mailed to them
together with the 6th edition of the Telecentre Times.

If you are not yet a member, join the community
http://www.telecentre.org/?event=user.signup

Eligible persons – Telecentre practitioners from East, Central and Southern
Africa

The best blogs will be entered into the competition for best blogger in the
Bytes for development award which will also reward Best researcher and Best
trainer.
The project is supported by telecentre.org a collaborative initiative of the
International Development Research Centre, Swiss Agency for Development
Cooperation (SDC) and Microsoft

For more information contact UgaBYTES Community Content Facilitator for
East, Central and Southern Africa Esther Nasikye nasikye at ugabytes.org

See some of the stories that have been posted:

Profiling Sengerema multipurpose telecentre
http://www.telecentre.org/en/news.detail/101796

Ugunja Community Resource Centre Profile
http://www.telecentre.org/en/news.detail/101799

To write your story, join the telecentre community here
http://www.telecentre.org/?event=user.signup
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     >> 5: Updates from the online Supportcentre
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Thirty two questions and answers have been added to the Supportcentre this
year to bring the total number of questions to 178.
The questions are in the categories of Management, technical trouble
shooting, content and services, knowledge sharing, evaluation, marketing and
fundraising, training and the recently added category of social enterprise.
Visits to the Supportcentre have now soared to 352,971 since its inception
in 2006.

Read the rest of the story here
http://ugabytes.org/nod/?q=node/225

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     >> 6: UgaBYTES setting the pace for telecentre social entrepreneurship
in the region
****************************************************************

The history of telecentres is seen to depend on donors and government for
financial survival. But this is a non growing support.
It has declined over the previous seven years. Over the last four years,
funding has changed to support networks and knowledge hubs that promise to
ensure a 360 degree survival to telecentres. Mapping donor support in this
sector, networks will soon run out of funding, if they cannot do what they
say they can do.
The above notion as timely blended with the effort of UgaBYTES and staff
exchange program commitments to re-think telecentre survival and foster
implementation strategies of these thoughts at East and Central African
regional level.
The social enterprise team (SET) at UgaBYTES closely leads these processes.
It is guided by the common vision of achieving 60% financial sustainability
at network and telecentre level by the year 2009 as committed by the
UgaBYTES team during 2008 organization review.

Read the rest of the story here
http://www.ugabytes.org/nod/?q=node/230

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     >>7: The telecentre.org Community Charter — Reaffirming the community's
vision, values, priorities

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Once every two years, telecentre network leaders, researchers, and activists
gather at a global Telecentre Leaders Forum (TLF) to connect, exchange
experiences, and undertake a collective process to strengthen the telecentre
movement. The 2007 TLF, hosted by telecentre.org and its partners, took
place on December 9 and 10, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, just prior to the
Global Knowledge Partnership's GK3 conference. Over 90 people attended the
TLF, from 61 organizations and 42 countries.
The Kuala Lumpur TLF provided a unique opportunity for people leading
grassroots telecentre networks around the world to deepen relationships,
share skills, and shape the future of the telecentre.org community. Network
leaders participated in developing the agenda, collectively deciding on key
issues to be discussed over the course of the forum. They shared
experiences, pooled knowledge, and developed ideas for joint initiatives.
Most importantly, network leaders got involved in shaping, leading, and
growing the telecentre.org community. Together, they explored what it means
to belong to the telecentre.org community and developed a concrete vision
that will guide this community into the future. The outcome of this was the
creation of the telecentre.org Community Charter, a document that reaffirms
the role of telecentres in economic and social development, clarifies shared
values, and defines priorities for strengthening and expanding the
community.
The telecentre.org Community Charter is now available in French, Spanish,
and English. We invite you to join the community by following the link below
and electronically "signing" the Charter before the April 20, 2008. Please
encourage others to do the same.

English: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/English_Charter/

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>>: End till next time
Send your article or story for publication to secretariat at ugabytes.org.
Deadline for submission of articles is 25th of every month.
*****************************************************************

-- 
UgaBYTES Initiative
Plot 2218 Ggaba Road, Kabalagala
2nd Floor, Kangave House
P.O. Box 6081 Kampala, Uganda
Off: +256-414-370163 / 267247
Check our web: www.ugabytes.org
Email: secretariat at ugabytes.org

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Together we can strengthen the telecentre movement. Have you used the online
support-centre: http://www.ugabytes.org/supportcentre today?
You can get help on any issue or review questions and answers by telecentre
practitioners. This service is a joint initiative of UgaBYTES Initiative,
telecentre.org, IDRC, SDC and Microsoft
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-- 
UgaBYTES Initiative
Plot 2218 Ggaba Road, Kabalagala
2nd Floor, Kangave House
P.O. Box 6081 Kampala, Uganda
Off: +256-414-370163 / 267247
Check our web: www.ugabytes.org
Email: secretariat at ugabytes.org

-------------------------------------------------------------------
Together we can strengthen the telecentre movement. Have you used the online
support-centre: http://www.ugabytes.org/supportcentre today?
You can get help on any issue or review questions and answers by telecentre
practitioners. This service is a joint initiative of UgaBYTES Initiative,
telecentre.org, IDRC, SDC and Microsoft
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