9.3. Identifying Appropriate Technology Options

Once expectations for the overall focus and penetration into the more isolated and underserved parts of the population are defined, it is time for a reality check against the available technology options that could support delivery of those services to those populations. The questions we might address include:

• What are the technology needs and wants? What devices are best suited to meet these needs? What low-power and/or low-cost computing devices are available in your country?
• What alternative energy solutions have been used successfully to support telecenters in your country? Is there a sufficient level of local technical expertise to support such alternative energy solutions?
• Who are the national experts in telecenter technology (hardware and software) and telecenter connectivity? Who else has worked on these issues in your country who could be used as a resource? What level of support is available in your country for the various technology options?

Table 19 helps to structure that set of considerations, and to determine what constraints the connectivity and technology situation will put on the ability to address the desired services in the initial phases of the initiative. Again, the row categories need to be adjusted to local circumstances.

Table 19: Technology Options

You may want to consider whether it is worthwhile to establish a telecenter in an area without a reliable source of electricity, or to establish a minimum criterion of eight hours of electricity per day to consider a location as viable. The decision about how to apply insights about available and appropriate technologies might be structured as a question of what to put in a specific center, as in Table 19, or it might be structured as a question about various classes of centers, as is illustrated in Figure 12, below.

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