Shouldn't telecentres entertain their communities?
All telecentres recognize the vital need to expand information and communication technologies to rural and remote areas so as to promote socio- economic development. This therefore means that all programs should be packaged for only developmental purposes.
However, this does not rule out the fact that the use of ICTs to solely promote development is majorly a choice which has to be made by individuals. For instance, one can choose to use the internet for games, face book or any other thing that may not necessarily be out their to promote social and economical growth.
During my visit to Nabweru multi-purpose telecentre (Uganda) last year, Mr. Ronald Seguya, the News Editor for the community radio noted that one of the challenges the station faces is limited listenership He argued that most of the programs that are aired are usually for development purposes. Hardly does the radio air out programs meant to solely entertain the community and this in the long run has affected the radio station's reception in the community because it is considered to be 'boring' as compared to other private radio stations.
He noted that people want to listen to music, gossip about local and international celebrities, sports new plus other things of the sort verses development programs. when such programs are aired, Seguya noted that the number of calls increases, letters from community members are enormous and sponsorship from corporate organizations is easy to go about.
This takes us back to the old saying- work with out play makes Jack a dull boy.
My question is- Should not telecentres address this issue; hopefully it may increase their impact on local communities and if so- how can such entertainment programs be packaged not to counter with their sole objective and mission i.e. promoting development through use of ICT4D in their communities?
Sandra
However, this does not rule out the fact that the use of ICTs to solely promote development is majorly a choice which has to be made by individuals. For instance, one can choose to use the internet for games, face book or any other thing that may not necessarily be out their to promote social and economical growth.
During my visit to Nabweru multi-purpose telecentre (Uganda) last year, Mr. Ronald Seguya, the News Editor for the community radio noted that one of the challenges the station faces is limited listenership He argued that most of the programs that are aired are usually for development purposes. Hardly does the radio air out programs meant to solely entertain the community and this in the long run has affected the radio station's reception in the community because it is considered to be 'boring' as compared to other private radio stations.
He noted that people want to listen to music, gossip about local and international celebrities, sports new plus other things of the sort verses development programs. when such programs are aired, Seguya noted that the number of calls increases, letters from community members are enormous and sponsorship from corporate organizations is easy to go about.
This takes us back to the old saying- work with out play makes Jack a dull boy.
My question is- Should not telecentres address this issue; hopefully it may increase their impact on local communities and if so- how can such entertainment programs be packaged not to counter with their sole objective and mission i.e. promoting development through use of ICT4D in their communities?
Sandra
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Shipra Sharma on -
Dear Sandra,
My take on this discussion is that telecentres should address entertainment as well. But incorporating entertainment should not reduce it to a cyber cafe or a private radio station. They should try to package information and knowledge in an entertaining way. Then, it would appeal more to the people. For example, an awareness program on HIV AIDS can be preceded by a film on this subject. A number of directors have made serious and realistic films, which could serve as the starting point for any discussion. It would have greater impact on the community in comparison to just a talk show.
The community itself can be engaged in various ways to make the telecentre programs more entertaining. The children can have a great time watching animated educational stories. Even the radio programs on development and awareness generation can be made more interesting by incorporating popular songs and stories.
But again, the telecentre manager needs support in this regard. He should know how to procure free educational CDs for the children or Film CDs. He can also leverage upon the talent found within the community and give a chance to budding artists. So, it all depends on how entrepreneurial and resourceful the telecentre manager is! But I am sure that incorporating entertainment into the telecentre business would pay rich dividends in the long run. And this is crucial for telecentre sustainability as well. How long can the community survive on a bland diet of information, information and more information?
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Permalink Reply by Sandra Nassali on -
Hi Shipra, thank you for the contribution. I concure with you...largely that telecentres should incorporate entertainment in their programs. It's human to love fun, interesting stuff. However, this should be done skilfully as you have pointed out so as not to divert away from the telecentre's main vision/ objective to its community.
Sandra
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Permalink Reply by Niranjan Meegammana on -
Dear Sandra/ Shipra
Entertainment is a key crowd pullar as we have experienced. In 2007 May we launched Shilpa Sayura Project in a remore village called Kandiyapitawewa. By the time we went there the telecenter was only limited to few students around it. We organized a small festival that included entertainment and activities to introduce Shilpa Sayura e Learning.
It was a great success. The telecenter at Kandiyapitawewa became a role model for others in one event.
As we mention telecenters we also metion rural communities together with it. Culture is an essainatial element to attract rural communities.
If you visit telecenters , most of them are run by young people around age 20 - 22. Entertainment is at their hearts. Music, Movies, photos, youtube, chat these are crowd pullers. Once the crowd is in we can teach them ICT4D.
Therefore Keep the entertainment at the heart of telecenters, it would do no harm.
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Permalink Reply by Sandra Nassali on
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Hello Niranjan, this is a great piece of work. Thank you for the comment.
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Permalink Reply by Jan Herder on -
Hello--this is fantastic! I agree with Niranjan completely. Indeed, there is more to this than meets the eye. These are elements of the creative economy and creative industries at work. Cultural resiliency forms the ground work for an essential component of the transition to a knowledge economy and sustainability of the community and the telecenter. One must understand that creativity can apply across all and every discipline. That encouraging and leveraging this human characteristic is what the future is predicated on. I left some links for some Creative Economy discussions in terms of developing an incubator for Boateng Ebenezer and copy them here.
http://www.creativeeconomy.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creative_industries
www.torc.on.ca/documents/08-152_CanadasCreativeEconomy.pdf
regards,
Jan
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Permalink Reply by Cleopa Timon Otieno on -
Integrating entertainment in ICT4D makes it a one stop shop if you may call it so for the community. Just how much can information be passed through entertainment? I believe all will agree that packaged the right way, entertainment be it in a telecentre running a cybercafé, a community radio, a training center, multimedia center etc can help achieve mission, vision and goals obligations.
Entertainment in my view is all about reaching out, a marketing strategy, its such a powerful tools that will identify the telecentre with a particular audience of choice. Packaging remains the question, if one is targeting youths, women, children or even the aged, the packaging will determine its audience.
In Kenya, many FM stations who use entertainment attract massive listeners, there are for instance breakfast shows that involve comedians and its just not for the sake of making people happy but addressing or passing critical information to the public.
Rural telecentres have various challenges; however they can explore the use of other technologies such as use of video shows for example to address issues affecting the society like HIV AIDS, corruption, human rights issues as well as value for education among others.
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Permalink Reply by Sandra Nassali on
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Hello Cleopa, the packaging issue is quite paramount as you have pointed out basing on what kinds of publics the telecentre reaches in the community. In this essence, what is packaged for an agricultural community for instance does not have to be similar to entertainment info packaged for the youth.
Thank you all for the contributions
Sandra
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Permalink Reply by Wangchuk Chungyalpa on -
It is a very interesting topic that you have brought up. Essentially we are talking about marketing:
1. how to market a product or service to attract new customers and
2. how to retain existing customers.
Developing a marketing strategy involves defining mission, setting and defining objectives, developing a marketing strategy to actualize the objectives, implementing and executing the strategy and finally monitoring and feedback. If you are interested in a more in-depth information on developing marketing and business strategy, please download the attached pdf file. It is a business guide that I wrote for entrepreneurs interested in starting a internet café business venture.
To make a prdt or svc attractive, you will first have to identify your target customer base – Who would be the primary customers that the business will provide service to? You may develop several groups, for example, high school and college students, community members active in social causes, newly employed college graduates etc. Than, using various variables, you should define your customer groups. This will provide you with concrete information on your customer groups. You should conduct surveys to understand the needs and the wants of your customer base. Finally, you should develop a marketing campaign aimed at your target market.
To specifically address your question, assuming the target audience are community members active in social causes,
• Partnership and collaboration with other NGOs involved in different sectors. IT is applicable across all sectors and as a result it provides tremendous opportunity for collaboration projects.
• Volunteer programs: To actively encourage volunteerism, the business can be a part of a larger national or state level volunteer programs. Recognizing and appreciating volunteerism will popularize the concept while actively engaging individuals in community and social work.
• Contests are a popular way to promote any cause. Contest to highlight local social issues or global issues, application of ICT at local level contests,
• Radios can promote talk shows for amateurs, interview celebrities, local leaders, youth groups, NGOs. - Attachments:
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InternetCafeGuide.pdf, 362 KB
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Permalink Reply by Sandra Nassali on
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Wangchuk, your contribution is great. Thank you...looking at the marketing technics that you point out, its a great way that telecentres too can emulate to promote development through the use of entertainment.
Most contributors have pointed out greatly that it is mostly about the way the information is packaged.
Sandra
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Permalink Reply by Niranjan Meegammana on
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Mahiyangana Nenasala Telecenter wasn't very popular in the their community also it had been setup quite away from the naibourhood. Gayan the Nenasala Operator became creative to setup a Gaming Club.
That atttracted youth who were idling after school. Gayan was smart enough to appoint a president from the members, and provided free time slots to youtah. Now he has a good crowd of youth learning Graphics and Multimedia. Some have become volunteers for Nenasala.
How's that ?
Regards
Niranjan Meegammana
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Permalink Reply by Sandra Nassali on
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That was a great idea @ Mahiyangana Nenasala Telecentre. Looks like entertaining crowds in telecentres is the way to go so as to gain popularity.
In Uganda, creating awareness about telecentres is a bit of a problem. Am hoping that if telecentres try to emulate such examples, things will go a little bit better for them.
Sandra
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Permalink Reply by Niranjan Meegammana on
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creating awareness about telecentres !
This seems a global issue.
Niranjan
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