The Future of Telecenter Sustainability: A Multi-Sector and Multi-Stakeholder Approach

On July 24, IREX’s Technology for Civil Society Speaker Series continued with a presentation from Klaus Stoll,  Senior Executive Vice President of the Community Access Foundation.  Interacting with a Washington, DC, audience and online participants across Eurasia from IREX’s Internet Access and Training Program (IATP) centers, Mr. Stoll discussed the future of telecenters—physical hubs of computer and Internet access that connect developing communities to larger worlds of information, education, and commerce.  He explained that such a connection requires more than simple ‘connectivity’; to be successful, telecenters require strategic uses and social—not just financial—sustainability.  The form such strategies and social networks take, Stoll cautioned, must vary with each community’s strengths, needs, and values.  He added that telecenter sustainability requires buy-in from all sectors of society.

Stoll’s obvious belief in the power of telecenters to improve lives was tempered by his frank assessment of the limitations they face.  Reminding the audience that “the world does not stop at the telecenter door,” he cited three major barriers that often prevent telecenter users from reaching their goals – inabilities to access credit, training and services, and logistical and information technology channels. These barriers are most problematic for entrepreneurs and small- and medium-sized enterprises. To overcome such challenges, Stoll repeated a mantra of “training, training, training” as part of a holistic telecenter approach centered on meeting individual and community needs, not just providing technological access.  In an illustrative anecdote, Stoll talked about physically dispersed individual mushroom farmers along the Amazon River using community-operated telecenters to form production and shipping cooperatives, research US import laws, and develop business strategies to profit from international trade. Through “multi-sectoral” and “multi-stakeholder” partnerships, Stoll believes that telecenters can be more than sustainable—they can help to connect people to the world, empowering them to access markets and information, improve their lives, and advance their communities.