The IT-infrastructure Telecentre

Telecentres often are the only possibility to connect marginalised communitiesto the economical cultural political and technological centres ofthe country and the world. They enable human development and supportpeople in performing their daily tasks in a more efficient way through thestrategic use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs).The biggest problem of telecentres is sustainability. But only throughunderstanding the Who What and Why of a telecentre can it becomesustainable. Based on the perception of a telecentre as a venture performedby and for a community telecentres are discussed in terms of infrastructurewhich serves technological social economical and political processes withina community. After developing a conceptual toolkit this book presents aprocess model or roadmap which a telecentre has to follow in order tobecome sustainable. This model gives orientation to practitioners in the fieldas well as to researchers trying to understand the phenomenon telecentre. Itis an invitation for a multi-disciplinary discussion on how ICT-based venturessuch as telecentres can have a positive and durable impact on livesthroughout the world.