Telecenters and Democracy ?

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Permalink Reply by Dr. Barbara Fedock on December 18, 2009 at 6:35pm

Niranjan,

I have developed online leadership classes that are tailored to individual NGO countries. The focus is on developing democratic communities that are modeled in the online classroom.

If anyone is interested, please, please, please let me know. Developing leaders and creating leaders in the community is essential.

Barbara Fedock

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Permalink Reply by Niranjan Meegammana on January 7, 2010 at 8:05am

Dear Barbara
please post the link to your leadership course and provide course information
Leadership training for Telecenter Operators are an important need.
Niranjan

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Permalink Reply by Niranjan Meegammana on December 26, 2009 at 5:01pm

We have a very interesting case on this in Sri Lanka these days due to Presidential Election 2010. As many radio and TV does not provide adequate coverage on candidates, Alternative cyber media has taken a big role. They are publishing meeting times, photos , videos and e material online. People who missed opposition candidate's exclusive interview, were able to view it on you tube archives. But many rural communities who has no access to TV and Internet missed this opportunity.

It's interesting to see how Telecenters would be useful to provide vital information to rural people to decide the presidency! If explored I think information for democracy would be a great value addition to Telecenters.

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Permalink Reply by Dinoj Kumar Upadhyay on January 4, 2010 at 5:17am

Role of telecentre in promotion of democracy should be viewed in the boarder context of how ICT can bring changes in a democratic polity. ICT has potential to play a major role in supporting a culture of democracy, democratic process and civic values that uphold the democratic system. Application of ICT can make possible electronic interaction between citizens, elected representatives and government. With help of ICT, citizens can access information and knowledge about the political process, services, and available choices. It encourages active citizen participation by informing, representing, encouraging to vote, enables them to play a direct role in policy making and decision making in democratic process, which affect their lives. In such ways, ICT can strengthen traditional democratic institutions and make political process more efficiently and effective. The advent of ICT has brought changes at various levels: social, political and economic, that promotes intrinsic values of democracy i.e., accountability, transparency, empowerment of the weaker sections of society, participation of marginalised sections in the development process. In the conventional perspective, developmental communication was used primarily to disseminate information, to make people aware of the dynamics of development, and instill a willingness to follow leaders. The new concept of participatory, developmental communication is not limited to information, much less to mass media. Today communication supplements education, culture, science, and technology to promote social, political and economic change. The process of globalisation, democractisation, decentralisation and privatisation has not only been facilitated by new communication technologies, but they also change the nature and role of media. In this context, telecentre can play crucial role in promotion of democracy and reform the democratic polity by providing information and raise awareness among people at the grassroots level of the society.

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Permalink Reply by Francis Mwathi on January 5, 2010 at 4:08am

Telecentres can also help provide instructional materials and guidance to support civic
education in Local communities. There is general evidence to suggests that the use of these products and methods improves students’ political and civic knowledge, skills, attitudes, and behaviors among community members. In Africa for example unpopular leaders are known to control, mobilise or manipulate rural voters into voting for them by using small handouts, short term projects and propaganda teams as decoy only to disappear once elected leaving the constituents stuck in poverty and with no development initiatives to write home about.

Telecentres could contribute in the electoral process by ensuring that people living in the remotest parts ofa country where some of these Telecentres operate are also reached and education on issues of forthcoming elections. Telecentres could also liaise with local authorities and work together so that the voter education sensitization exercise is carried out without any difficulties.

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Permalink Reply by Niranjan Meegammana on January 5, 2010 at 3:35pm

I am curious to find out any cases how Telecenters have been useful as a media in democartic processes, specially in an enviornments where less media freedom exsist?

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Permalink Reply by Niranjan Meegammana on January 7, 2010 at 8:03am

Human Rights are in focus of many developing countries. Telecenters Open to the world with cutting edge communication technologies can help communicating information among rural socities. It becomes significant importance when information sharing enabled within villages. Most people due to lack of information tend to make incorrect decisions in dimocratic processes. One obstacle for information is when media freedom is controlled. Telecenters as independent entities open up the world of information to rural people help making their democaratic desions. However when Telecenters are influenced by governing processes , it's a question whether this will happen. Therefore inorder to make Telecenters to involve in democratic processes their governnece should be independent and open.

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