- Connecting more people to the information society, especially the most impoverished, women, youth, and others who might otherwise be excluded, remains a challenge. Greater attention to the development of value-added services is vital. Increased investments are necessary to ensure that all communities have access to telecenters, and all citizens are able to take advantage of such services.
- Issues of sustainability are paramount. One of the critical factors for sustainability is achieving sufficient scale. Pilot telecenters may be excellent learning vehicles but they are seldom sustainable as isolated telecenters. They may increase their sustainability as members of a larger network, however.
- This is not a “how-to” book with step-by-step instructions. It is meant to help you extract important insights from these experiences around the world, and to provide some guidance to help you move forward so that you can shape the future of the telecenter movement.
1.9. Make It Your Own
Throughout this book, we encourage you to think through what is presented in light of your own experience and your individual country context. Given the global scope of this book, we are not attempting to provide a comprehensive review of any single country’s experience with telecenters. The case studies present snapshots of experiences in specific countries related to a particular issue, rather than country overviews. It is up to you therefore to make the connections, find out more about the telecenter movement in your own country, and determine how what is presented in the pages of this book applies—or does not apply—to your own situation.
- Develop your own vision and read this book with the specific intent of extracting valuable insights that will help you take action.
- What are the elements of your vision? Is there a national vision already spelled out to which you can contribute? If you were to develop your own vision, what would it be? It could be a personal vision, an organizational vision, or a national vision.
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