Discussion summary: Is there a need for telecentres now that there are mobile phones?

Basing on a study carried out by APC, I started a discussion on this site arguing community members to give their views about the need for telecentres now that there are mobile phones in instances of rural communication. The number of responses I got was astounding. I thank all who participated in this forum.

Below is a summary of the responses that were got from different participants:

Telecentres and mobile phones may be playing similar roles but I believe they are more of complementary roles that either of them remain important with ICTs playing a more vital role than the mobile phone in development. Relate this to food and water in life.

I am of view that the mobile phone can be a device of small scale internet to serve immediate limited purpose. But it can't replace the internet based on P.C or laptop.

The goalposts of technology keep on changing very often and the mobile phone technology is surely heading for a convergence of internet and radio based technologies. I fully agree with Mr. Abedin that the technologies cannot be mutually exclusive, while assessing the impact of this technology, it would be wiser to formulate a combined approach.

For example, while we might be arguing about the impact of mobile based telephony, WiMAX technology has also started to appear in the horizon with new potentials of outreach and efficiency. So it is too early to single out any particular technology.

Many of the ICTD practitioners are beginning to accept that the role of mobile and wireless technologies have the transformative potential to mainstream the marginalised into ICT. MObiles in most of the cases is the first interaction of rural communities with any ICT device.

I personally feel that there is an urgent need to start the initiatives on researching how mobile technologies and new media can integrate with present telecentre models to extend the reach of the same to the doorstep of telecentre users. Many innovative models using mobile devices for delivery of information and public services to the rural citizens (mobile government ) have already started in many countries and are showing exceptional results

It is interesting that some one can state that with the growing popularity of mobile phones, Telecentres should be scraped. One thing we have understand is that Telecentres too have revolved and are now more important than ever before. Telecentres now have libraries, radios and offer possibility for community members meet physically. Yes the impact of phones cannot be ignored but it should not over rule the impact telecentres too have. Many people still use phones for its basic function-making and receiving calls-especially in rural areas. telecentres among other function now have localised content and not forgetting that it has a special way of bonding community members across all ages and sexes.


Just a few years ago, a similar debate came up regarding the future of telecentre with emergence of Cyber Cafes. The fact is telecentres are unique in that they first and for most seek to help the community and issues like profits come second. This make them second to none and hence their popularity with community members.

I think the two are complementary. For me, the face-to-face aspect and the ability to hold someone's hand and be there to answer questions and allay fears will always make the telecentre an important place. I am a strong advocate for public spaces where people can get together to learn, share, work. Even though I have wireless at my home in Canada, I choose to work in a community-oriented co-working space just to have this contact. Not same as a telecentre -- but certainly you can see the parallels.

That said, I'm super enthusiastic about mobiles to keep me connected to people -- especially when combined with microblogging services, like Twitter or Identical. It creates a real-time support group.

Coming from a third world country where infrastructure and connectivity are major issues and at the same time where mobile phone penetration is rather high (the Philippines is dubbed "the texting capital of the world"), i'd say that mobile phones are no replacement for telecentres. this is mainly because there are certain things you can do inside the telecentre that are not at all possible with a mobile phone alone. i think that the two are actually complementary to each other, and, if made to work together, they can be a potent tool for bridging the digital divide.

I know of a particular initiative here in the Philippines where they have started using mobile telephony to enhance the services of the telecentre that caters specifically to farmers, and this has so far proven to be effective strategy.

This was work from different participants. Views varied from one discussant to another but the results were great. The discussion got 41 replies and a group i.e telecentres and mobile devices emerged from this forum.

Many thanks to the participants.

I have begun a new discussion i.e. Basing on a study carried out by APC, I started a discussion on this site arguing community members to give their views about the need for telecentres now that there are mobile phones in instances of rural communication. The number of responses I got was astounding. I thank all who participated in this forum.

Below is a summary of the responses that were got from different participants:

Telecentres and mobile phones may be playing similar roles but I believe they are more of complementary roles that either of them remain important with ICTs playing a more vital role than the mobile phone in development. Relate this to food and water in life.

I am of view that the mobile phone can be a device of small scale internet to serve immediate limited purpose. But it can't replace the internet based on P.C or laptop.

The goalposts of technology keep on changing very often and the mobile phone technology is surely heading for a convergence of internet and radio based technologies. I fully agree with Mr. Abedin that the technologies cannot be mutually exclusive, while assessing the impact of this technology, it would be wiser to formulate a combined approach.

For example, while we might be arguing about the impact of mobile based telephony, WiMAX technology has also started to appear in the horizon with new potentials of outreach and efficiency. So it is too early to single out any particular technology.

Many of the ICTD practitioners are beginning to accept that the role of mobile and wireless technologies have the transformative potential to mainstream the marginalised into ICT. MObiles in most of the cases is the first interaction of rural communities with any ICT device.

I personally feel that there is an urgent need to start the initiatives on researching how mobile technologies and new media can integrate with present telecentre models to extend the reach of the same to the doorstep of telecentre users. Many innovative models using mobile devices for delivery of information and public services to the rural citizens (mobile government ) have already started in many countries and are showing exceptional results

It is interesting that some one can state that with the growing popularity of mobile phones, Telecentres should be scraped. One thing we have understand is that Telecentres too have revolved and are now more important than ever before. Telecentres now have libraries, radios and offer possibility for community members meet physically. Yes the impact of phones cannot be ignored but it should not over rule the impact telecentres too have. Many people still use phones for its basic function-making and receiving calls-especially in rural areas. telecentres among other function now have localised content and not forgetting that it has a special way of bonding community members across all ages and sexes.


Just a few years ago, a similar debate came up regarding the future of telecentre with emergence of Cyber Cafes. The fact is telecentres are unique in that they first and for most seek to help the community and issues like profits come second. This make them second to none and hence their popularity with community members.

I think the two are complementary. For me, the face-to-face aspect and the ability to hold someone's hand and be there to answer questions and allay fears will always make the telecentre an important place. I am a strong advocate for public spaces where people can get together to learn, share, work. Even though I have wireless at my home in Canada, I choose to work in a community-oriented co-working space just to have this contact. Not same as a telecentre -- but certainly you can see the parallels.

That said, I'm super enthusiastic about mobiles to keep me connected to people -- especially when combined with microblogging services, like Twitter or Identical. It creates a real-time support group.

Coming from a third world country where infrastructure and connectivity are major issues and at the same time where mobile phone penetration is rather high (the Philippines is dubbed "the texting capital of the world"), i'd say that mobile phones are no replacement for telecentres. this is mainly because there are certain things you can do inside the telecentre that are not at all possible with a mobile phone alone. i think that the two are actually complementary to each other, and, if made to work together, they can be a potent tool for bridging the digital divide.

I know of a particular initiative here in the Philippines where they have started using mobile telephony to enhance the services of the telecentre that caters specifically to farmers, and this has so far proven to be effective strategy.

This was work from different participants. Views varied from one discussant to another but the results were great. The discussion got 41 replies and a group i.e telecentres and mobile devices emerged from this forum.

Many thanks to the participants.

I have begun a new discussion i.e. telecentrecommunity.ning.com/forum/topics/shouldnt-telecentres-ente....

Your contribution is welcome.

Sandra
.