[UgaBYTES] Phil CeC Program gets funding for roadmap implementation

Thu Jan 8 01:20:33 GMT 2009

Philippine  CeC program gets  funding for  roadmap implementation

The Philippine Community eCenter Program will receive funding  from the
country¡¯s eGovernment Fund to support the implementation of the 2008-2010
strategic roadmap.  

The roadmap, which was launched in April last year after a series of
consultation workshops, outlines the direction for the growth and
sustainability of CeCs and embodies the overall vision of bridging the
digital divide by increasing access to ICT-enabled services and relevant
content via the establishment of a Community eCenter (CeC) in every
municipality by 2010.  The CeC roadmap was developed in partnership with
telecentre.org.    

The roadmap implementation project, which was proposed by the National
Computer Center ¨C Field Operations Office (NCC-FOO),   seeks to realize
said vision. NCC-FOO is the Commission on Information and Communications
Technology¡¯s  CeC  Program Management Office. 

The project, which will run for a period of three years, comprises four
major components all geared towards making CeCs self-sustaining, relevant
and potent instruments for empowering the less developed communities of the
country. 

The project components consist of: 1) the establishment of new CeCs; 2) the
transformation of existing school laboratories and Internet cafes into CeCs;
3) capability building; and 4) content development.

The project seeks to establish at least  200 CeCs per year over a three year
period. New CeCs will be established in municipalities where such facilities
do not exist yet. Priority will be given to those municipalities where there
is existing infrastructure support like electrical power and Internet
connectivity. The package will include equipment and relevant training
courtesy of the project while the recipient municipality shall put up the
other resource requirements such as space, Internet connection and manpower
as counterpart contribution.  

For the second component, partnerships will be established with implementers
of existing computerization programs in schools and universities   as well
as Internet caf¨¦ associations in the country. Around 200 centers are being
eyed for transformation over the next three years.

The project also seeks to develop and enhance the skills of CeC knowledge
workers such as the center manager and the technical and administrative
support staff in the areas of planning, managing and sustaining the
operation of the CeC. It shall be undertaken in partnership with the
telecentre.org-Philippine CeC Academy (tPCA), the capability building arm of
the Philippine CeC Network (PhilCeCNet).

Meanwhile, the content development component shall address the need for
relevant content in the CeCs particularly in the areas of health, education,
livelihood and agriculture. It shall be implemented following a three-tiered
perspective as laid out in the roadmap: 1) mapping and linking of existing
content; 2) development of ¡°new¡± content based on content needs of target
communities; and 3) building the capability of CeCs to develop local content
and making it available via the Philippine CeC portal.

Knowledge exchange conferences shall also be organized during the project to
facilitate coordination and networking among CeC beneficiaries, telecenter
operators and key players and stakeholders in the country.

As part of advocacy efforts, an awards system recognizing the Best CeC
Manager, Best CeC and Best CeC Content shall be established to give due
recognition and incentives  for their efforts in maintaining the CeC in
their area as a valuable knowledge center. 

CeC Program Director, Tess Camba  said that the PhilCeCNet   and the   CeC
Academy   shall be major partners in the overall implementation of the
project.

MARIA TERESA M. CAMBA

Director For Field Operations

National Computer Center

Commission on Information & Communications     Technology

Phone : +6362-9932878

Fax     : +6362-9912742

URL     :  www.ncc.gov.ph <http://www.ncc.gov.ph/>    www.cict.gov.ph
<http://www.cict.gov.ph/>  

              Http://elgu.ncc.gov.ph <http://elgu.ncc.gov.ph/>  

Mobile  : +63917-7081540

 <http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/PhilCeCNet/~6/5> PhilCeCNet.ph

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