How to generate income at the Telecenter?

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Dr. Barbara Fedock on September 23, 2009 at 8:21pm

Catalina and Everyone,

I have just worked with several NGOs who are my friends from the Telecentre, and we have come up with three excellent ways to generate income for sustainability. We are in the process of writing grants based on the ideas, and, as soon as the grants are submitted, I will share some of our ideas. They are career based entrepreneurial ideas that empower the community who use our facilities.

If you would like to post photos of the handicrafts, I will email them my friends and associates. Please include the price and shipping in US currency.

If you want me to personally help you think of ideas, please send the following: paint a picture in words of the education levels and ages of the people who generally attend your Telecentre, what jobs are desperately needed in your community, and them me what jobs people are doing now. Do you need healthcare workers? If so, why? I am going to coninue this in another message. Barbara

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Dr. Barbara Fedock on September 23, 2009 at 8:24pm

Catalina,

Do you have any funds available to begin a Leadership Project? Who are the leaders in your community who come to your Telecentre?

What services do the people in your community need more than any other services? How many computers do you have for the community to use at the Telecentre?

Are you interested in working on a grant with me?

Barbara

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Bhakta Raj Ranjit on September 24, 2009 at 6:18am

Dear Catalina,

Glad to see you and provide my suggestions. I do have 25 telecentres in remote and rural areas of Nepal. Nepal is the country of Mt. Everest and is located between China and India.

We can generate income by charging for the following services to members/visitors/readers/clients:
a) Make membership like in library
b) Buy telephones so that visitors can make international calls.

c) buy some other accessories: like scanner, book binding machine, laminating machine. Charge for such services. Photocopying, book binding, laminating of certificates, identity cards other documents;
d) charge for marketing networking and linkages of handicrafts and other products.

e) Training on basic hardware, software application, a series of soft training of software package; digital literacy course; all these computer technical training.
f) National and International calls
g) selling phone cards: international calls
h) Providing services on repair and maintenance of computers for those who have computers in villages.
If you need more information, I am glad to provide.

Bhakta Raj Ranjit
Chairperson
Synergy Nepal
www.synergynepal.org
Email: synergynepal@yahoo.com

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Shipra Sharma on September 25, 2009 at 12:37am

Dear Catalina,
In India, the Service Centre Agencies are spearheading the Indian Government's Common Service Centres or CSC program. These are telecentres set up in Indian rural areas to deliver eGovernance and other public and private sector services. They are providing a bouquet of services, both online and offline to make themselves economically viable. These include IT training, utility bill payments, and a number of micro credit and micro life and livelihood insurance schemes.
The most popular offline services are digital photography, video making, photocopying, scanning, printing, etc. that add to the income of the telecentre manager. Some of the SCAs like Srei Sahaj have a few phenomenal success stories to share (visit: http://www.sahajcorporate.com/pdf/sahaj_newsletter_aug09_eng.pdf for more information). This has been possible through a combination of B2C, G2C and other public and private sector online and offline services.

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Francis Mwathi on September 25, 2009 at 6:22am

There are many innovative practices for income generation among telecentres . Materials – examples, how-to booklets, etc. for the local communities on farming, health, e.t.c – should be developed to assist Telecentres in diversifying their income bases .

In some instances telecentre management and staff also do need proper management skills, as well as some knowledge of financial management and income generation. As much as there could be many opportunities that a telecentre can tap into to enhance its sustainability a lot also lay with the ability of the staff to create ideas and put then into action.

Regards

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Symphrosa Kasun on September 25, 2009 at 9:59am

Hi Catalina & members of the community,
IMHO, the strength lies in the people of the community itself. The gem is there, just need some people like U or any telecenters catalyst to polish them. U have started right to provide the infra, now the continuity to sustain and finally the people there to make full use of their skills obtained from the centers works something in their socio-economic.

While very much examples of success stories shown through out the global but not one formula work well to all. This U need to carefully go back to the community and see what their niche that they can adopt ICT in it & somehow makes money.

Without knowing much of that niche of the community, it is more difficult or rather take more time for them to adopt new niche and make a success out of it.

This am sharing based on the telecenters we introduced in Sabah, Borneo island. We tag it as e-Desa programme targetting to rural folks. Introduced by the govt since 2005, we have 11 centers setup, up & running so far. We are building another 4 new centers this year. Managed by the local community from day 1 it operates. It sustains as for today but I would say they are all at infant stage. We had gathered the local champions (people who runs the telecenters) in March 2009 in a conference like atmosphere. We dare them to dream and many good ideas came up on how they would move up to be more sustains or bring more values to the people around the telecenters.

I would say, all their ideas still needing very much assistance from the govt to be materialised. The bottomline is the people at ground, and as long as they passionate over it, am sure any govt will give the helping hand. I hope the same goes to your situation. Find those niche that ticks the local community!

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Oliver Zielke on September 25, 2009 at 10:47am

Catalina, my social enterprise Web Networks has developed a literacy application called "Yodigo" and we are interested in testing its usefulness with children and adults, for first and second language learning.

I will pay you CAN$350 to run a field test of Yodigo for a couple/three weeks and report back to me on its effectiveness. Part of the $350 is to buy prizes for the Yodigo students.

The field test would be English and Spanish.

You can try Yodigo en Espanol at http://yodigo.web.net/ and in English at http://yodigo.web.net/english.htm . It's also relatively easy to run Yodigo offline on a LAN, so if data transfer rates are an issue we can also give you the source to run locally. There is also a teachers administration area I can show you.

If there are other telecentres that would like to assist, that would be great, please contact me. I can afford another couple/three pilots.

thanks

Oliver Zielke, Executive Director
http://web.net
skype: ozielke

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Niranjan Meegammana on September 26, 2009 at 12:57pm

Dear Catlina
Short term basis you can do many things,
But from the photos I see a green land, and they have been some form of farmers
I think they should build on their strengths, work as a community affectected,
definitely they need assistance of experts, but best would be to build a case

1. Create a website (Social Network)
2. Get them to discuss their problems online / offline
3. Get Agriculture experts help (Soil, Crop, Animal)
4. Make them e learn Sustaianble agriculture

It's a transformation they have to make
TC can facilitate it..

In agricultural terms, you can re-build land, probably require expertise, the fumigation programs should offer people such transition help ?

In my view Agriculture is an important area no rural community should drop for any other business,

Niranjan Meegammana
Shilpa Sayura

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Mohamed Naazim on September 27, 2009 at 11:46pm

we have to implement all types services in the telecentre , but we are facing some problems , we need SOME TRAINING programs to empower the society , we have to creat a global online network between us

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Sandra Nassali on September 29, 2009 at 3:32am

The true value of the Telecentre is the interaction of services into the everyday life of any given society. Through the Internet, community members can be provided with a mechanism for social interaction, to conduct business and for educational opportunities that were previously non-existent without a long drive to main towns.

The Telecentre has become a true “common”, a place for people to meet and interact in an environment of learning and support. Teachers and Doctors or farmers and business people can schedule events to promote their services at telecentre premises. This way, they create awareness (market) about the products which in the long run helps them to generate personal incomes while using telecentre premises.

Telecentres can also come up with numerous projects that can help create employment opportunities for it's community for instance web hosting, ICT trainers, small farmers/agricultural projects etc. Workers at the telecentre will be beneficiaries.

Also, through community outreach programs, telecentres are able to help communities with their vicinities generate income. Here, telecentre staff reaches out to the community and practically teaches people business skill e.g on how to market products abroad, how to start a business etc using ICT4D knowledge.

Those were my few cents :-)))!

▶ Reply to This

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• 2
• Next ›
• Page