Functional scaling up refers to organizations increasing their scope of activity. This type of scaling up may occur when local NGOs start establishing or using telecenters to support their work in health, agriculture, or education, for example. Organizational scaling up refers to an initiative to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of an organization’s core activities. This may take place in the context of the emergence of a national telecenter ecosystem, whereby various stakeholders forge partnerships to build on their respective strengths and work together toward their common goals. It may happen on a smaller scale as two organizations join in implementing a specific initiative, as in a public-private partnership.
Finally, political scaling up refers to efforts to engage in the political process and build relations with government. A political scaling up may result in increased engagement of the government in a national telecenter network or in an improved policy and regulatory environment.

1.6. An Emerging Telecenter Ecosystem

Early pilot telecenter projects are now being replaced by telecenter ecosystems. A telecenter ecosystem consists of local telecenters, the networks that provide support to these local telecenters, the social enterprises that develop services, and the investors who fund the centers. An “organizational scale-up” is really a transformation of the broader environment within which individual telecenters operate.

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