[UgaBYTES] FW: Telecentre-Europe - Newsletter March 2009 | community deepens...

[Meddie Mayanja]

Colleagues,

This is the first monthly newsletter of the telecentre europe network. It's a great piece of work!

I am sure the Steering Committee will appreciated comments, forward to Ian (iclifford at ufi.com<mailto:iclifford at ufi.com>) or Gabi (Gabi.Barna at eos.ro<mailto:Gabi.Barna at eos.ro>).

Best, Meddie

________________________________
From: Ian Clifford [mailto:iclifford at ufi.com]
Sent: Friday, March 13, 2009 10:00 AM
To: ian.clifford at telecentre-europe.org
Subject: Telecentre-Europe - Newsletter March 2009

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March, 2009


Welcome!
Welcome to the first newsletter from the Telecentre-Europe team! You may have received this because you attended the network Leaders Forums in Barcelona or Riga, you joined our official launch at the Vienna e-Inclusion conference, or because you have signed up on the Telecentre-Europe.org website.   The newsletter is now being published thanks to your interest in the network and our desire to engage you in Telecentre-Europe activities and telecentre work.

 The European Commission is very interested in our network, and with what we are trying to achieve. The Commission has invited us to propose actions to them as part of the policy development process for frameworks that define the e-Inclusion agenda.  More on this below. Equally Microsoft and Telecentre.org continue to support the work we are doing, and our future direction. We are really excited by what is happening and we want to get even more of you really involved as we think the benefits could be huge!!!

 We would love to get your feedback on this first newsletter, your engagement in various activities, and hope together we will continue to build a vibrant and impactful network!
>From the Telecentre-Europe Steering Committee and Staff

www.telecentre-europe.org<http://www.telecentre-europe.org>

Gabi Barna, Ian Clifford, Pedro Aguilera Cortes, Christophe Devolder, Ekaterina Fedotova, Pawel Makowiecki, Ivan Stojilovic, Spass Kostov, Laurentiu Bunescu (Project Manager) and Laia Fauro Gual (Community Content Facilitator).


Telecentre-Europe website growth continues


Telecentre-Europe.org has now passed more than 200 members and the number is continuously increasing. As more people join, the sharing and exchanging of knowledge and ideas will create a much more powerful experience for all! The network was publically launched at the Vienna eInclusion Conference in December 2008, where there was huge interest in what you are all doing - see more details about the launch on the website. This was an important milestone for us and has positioned us well to continue to support strengthening the network's knowledge building and advocacy activities.  Please tell your colleagues about the site and encourage them to visit and participate. http://www.telecentre-europe.org<http://www.telecentre-europe.org/>


LATEST NEWS


URGENT: Manifesto on eSkills Training in Europe by NGOs<http://telecentreeurope.ning.com/profiles/blogs/eparticipation-brussels-on>
Telecentre-Europe is now working on collecting input and signatures on an overall Manifesto on e-skills Training in Europe by NGOs that will constitute a call to action for governments, business and civil society.  This document will be available for organizations to use to advocate for e-skills in light of challenging economic climate as a critical contribution to recovery and growth. A draft Manifesto has been posted here http://telecentreeurope.ning.com/group/telecentremanagers/forum/topics/manifesto-on-eskills-training. Please provide your feedback and recommendations until March 15, so that the final version of the manifesto can be sent out to all stakeholders for electronic signature by March 18.

EC i2010 Consultation<http://telecentreeurope.ning.com/profiles/blogs/eparticipation-brussels-on>
The European Commission has invited Telecentre-Europe to participate formally in a consultation process regarding e-Inclusion policies and strategies for the future. The EC will also hold an event in Cyprus (April 2009) where Telecentre-Europe will play a consultative role. The Steering Committee will launch very soon a consultation document on the Telecentre Europe website.

eParticipation Day - Brussels, 4th of March<http://telecentreeurope.ning.com/profiles/blogs/eparticipation-brussels-on>
The European eParticipation Day provided the opportunity for a high level debate on current actions and future directions for eParticipation, addressing the political and social challenges and the solutions that ICT can provide. Telecentre-Europe was invited to participate in the event, and Ian Clifford and a young group of Romanian web reporters represented Telecentre-Europe at the event. Read the blogs and see the videos on the site

Telecentre-Europe has submitted a project under the Grundtvig scheme<http://telecentreeurope.ning.com/group/telecentresemployability/forum/topics/grundtvig-application_09>
A consortium formed by member organizations of Telecentre-Europe submitted an application under European Commission's Grundtvig programme. The main objective of the project is to develop an Employability Toolkit for telecentres across Europe, which will be developed through consultative processes and exchanges. The result of this call will be announced in July, and we will keep you informed and updated on how you can engage if successful.

Philippines study visit<http://telecentreeurope.ning.com/profiles/blogs/philippines-study-visit>
Thanks to Telecentre.org's support, Laurentiu Bunescu (TE's Project Manager) has travelled  to Manila, Philippines, where he will have the chance to research a successful network of telecentres - PhilCecNet<http://www.philcecnet.ph/>. Outcomes of the visit are already being posted online through blogs and a report that will feature relevant learning and ways to adapt and replicate them within Telecentre-Europe.


COMING SOON... keep watching the site!


Staff Exchanges: call for proposals to be launched soon
Building on past efforts of Telecentre-Europe, we are looking forward to announce that a call for proposals on staff exchanges between member organizations of our network will be officially launched very soon! This initiative responds to a real need of the European telecentres movement identified by members - knowledge sharing.

Telecentre-Europe Network Summit
We will not be meeting in Riga at the Baltic IT&T Conference this year, but the Steering Committee is exploring a range of options for a large network meeting to be held this year. We will keep you posted on this exciting prospect, but we do really want to connect again with you, or meet you for the first time.  For those who met in Barcelona and Riga, we know the experience was so valuable and we REALLY want to move the network onto another level.


FOR CONSULTATION


Membership scheme and benefits<http://telecentreeurope.ning.com/notes/Membership>
Please go to the Membership section of our site and review the membership proposal. We are planning to discuss this issue in more detail during the next network meeting.

Overview document in more European languages<http://telecentreeurope.ning.com/profiles/blogs/telecentre-europe-overview-in>
A translation process of the Telecentre-Europe  Executive Summary document was started in order to have it in as many languages as possible. The ultimate goal is to have this vital document in all European official languages. We are welcoming any help with the translation. Thanks to contributors, there are currently 5 language versions already (English, French, German, Polish and Romanian).

This monthly email newsletter
We believe that this newsletter will become a very efficient information tool for our network and it will comprise all the latest news about blogs, events, resources, connections and other interesting features from the site. The newsletter will be issued on monthly basis, through email, but you will be able to access the stories as soon as they appear from the site. We welcome any contributions, suggestions and comments on the format, the frequency and the type of information related to the newsletter.  We will also close down the old IDRC mailgroup. Please stay informed and your feedback will be much appreciated!


To opt out of this mailing please just forward this email to info at telecentre-europe.org<mailto:info at telecentre-europe.org>
with UNSUBSCRIBE in the Subject line.

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