The UgaBYTES Initiative in Uganda offers exactly this kind of assistance to telecenters across the country (and sometimes in neighboring countries). Its support offerings began in 2000, with a technical maintenance service for telecenters within reasonable driving distance of Kampala, the national capital. It has now expanded to include a help desk that offers on-demand advice on technical and management issues, and it runs an e-mail listserv where hundreds of telecenter managers from across Africa gather to discuss considerations and support each other on issues ranging from solar power to social enterprise.
The help desk service is particularly interesting. UgaBYTES offers the core service, including a web-based Q&A interface, a Q&A mailbox, and a telephone line. However, a community of volunteer experts from across the telecenter movement answers the questions. These people are able to answer questions on topics ranging from technology to business management to content production to marketing. Answers from the experts are provided to the person who asked the question and posted to a knowledge base that others can access in the future.
UgaBYTES is now expanding this service to support other countries, regions, and even languages. At a technical level, UgaBYTES will offer its platform to networks in other countries so they can offer their own versions of the help desk. These networks will share a common pool of experts able to answer questions and a common pool of answers to telecenter questions. The result will be locally tailored help desk systems, but with wisdom, reach, and sustainability based on a global community of people committed to strengthening the telecenter movement.7.9. Case Study: Mission 2007 Training Commons—Using Networks to Train Telecenter Managers
A scale-up of telecenters and information kiosks cannot happen without a large cadre of qualified local operators. Individual telecenter managers and kiosk operators require a mix of technical and business skills as well as an understanding of the communities in which they operate. Few individuals in rural communities possess this mix of skills, so there is a need for ongoing training and support in skills as diverse as business management, community development, and technical maintenance.
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