Executive Summary

This programme is proposed in support of the African Information Society Initiative (AISI) adopted by the ECA Conference of Ministers. It will implemented within the "Democratization of Access" component of the "Harnessing Information Technology for Development" (HITD) priority of the United Nations System-wide Special Initiative on Africa.

The programme proposes to implement rural Multipurpose Community Telecentre (MCT) pilot projects, initially in five African countries, as means of providing affordable access to modern information and communication technology tools for development. The purpose of these demonstration pilot projects is to test new technologies and applications, innovative policies and tariff structures and new approaches to organizing telematics services, and to demonstrate the impact of such methods on economic, social and cultural development in rural and remote areas. The pilot projects are to be carried out through partnerships involving both public sector and private sector stakeholders and are expected to produce best-practice models which can then be generalized at the national level, in Africa and perhaps in other developing regions..

The schedule of activities and estimated international support requirements for the programme are summarized below:

Stage 1: Initial proposal and exploratory missions (October 1996 - June 1997)

Stage 2: Project plan and partnership agreements (April-December 1997)

Stage 3: Implementation of the MCT Pilot Projects (July 1997 - December 2000)

Preparatory missions have been undertaken by the three initial international sponsors in five African countries (Benin, Mali, Mozambique, Tanzania and Uganda), and preliminary proposals have been formulated for all of them but Mozambique. Development co-operation agencies - governmental and inter-governmental as well as non governmental - and private sector suppliers of relevant services and equipment are invited to become partners in this programme. It is proposed that an "African Telecentre Fund" be set up to finance the implementation of the five pilot projects in partnership with national stakeholders and the private sector. It is hoped that the conceptual and financial contributions of the various partners can be defined during the planning stage (Stage 2) in 1997 so that the initial pilot project plans can take full account of all inputs, including the support for the development of required sector-specific applications and services, and so that implementation of all five pilot projects can begin by January 1998. The modalities of overall programme co-ordination and administration of funding will be discussed among all concerned partners within an international steering committee.

All comments and suggestions of the international community on the present preliminary proposal are cordially invited.

1. Introduction

In order to respond to these new opportunities, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) first proposed, as part of the Buenos Aires Action Plan adopted by the World Telecommunication Development Conference in 1994, a programme called "Integrated Rural Development". The objective of this global programme is to develop, test and disseminate appropriate models and guidelines for policies, financing strategies and tariff structures which reinforce the role of telecommunication in rural development.

A wide range of services can now be delivered through a single telecommunication access point. This suggests the viability of providing a shared community facility, capable of servicing most of the requirements of the local population. Such a centre could be seen as the community library of the future, supporting the goal of universal access to the emerging Information Society.

This concept of a multipurpose, shared facility has acquired a variety of names, such as "Community TeleService Centre", "Multipurpose Community Centre", "Virtual Village Hall". "Multipurpose Community Information and Communication Centre", "Telecottage" and "Telekiosk", but "Multipurpose Community Telecentre" (MCT) has become the most generally accepted term. An important activity of the ITU "Integrated Rural Development" programme has been to initiate MCT pilot projects in a number of developing countries to test the viability of different institutional arrangements and technological solutions, and to evaluate the impact of access to modern information and communication technologies for people in rural and remote areas. As a first step in this process, a "Call for proposals for pilot projects" and "Guidelines for preparation of pilot projects", were issued by the ITU and sent to the Telecommunication Authorities in developing countries.

Growing interest from a number of other development agencies in establishing MCTs in Africa has more recently coalesced around the African Information Society Initiative (AISI), an action framework for telematics in development adopted by the ECA Conference of Ministers in May 1996. AISI is being "kick-started" by the Harnessing Information Technology for Development (HITD) priority within the United Nations System-wide Special Initiative on Africa. As a first step in implementing the HITD sub-programme on democratization of access, the ITU has been joined by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) of Canada which have agreed to pool their resources in an "African Telecentre Fund", which will initially contribute, in partnership with national and local stakeholders, to the implementation of MCT pilot projects in five least-developed African countries: Benin, Mali, Mozambique, Tanzania and Uganda.

Each agency brings its particular constituency and area of expertise into a telecentre project. For example, the ITU will concentrate on the telecommunication infrastructure, while UNESCO's particular interest is the information infrastructure - the concept of a multipurpose community information centre supporting public service telematics applications to promote democracy, education and cultural development. IDRC is concerned with the overall process of empowering local communities to participate in the emerging Information Society. Currently about US$ xxx million has been committed in principle to the Telecentre Fund by the current members. Additional funding and expertise will be required to implement all five projects on a sustainable basis, and other interested organizations are thus invited to participate and to specify applications and services relevant to their mandate in a similar way.

It is expected that other interested development agencies such as ACCT, FAO, UNDP, UNIDO and WHO and the World Bank, which have already expressed their interest in MCT pilot projects, will join the Telecentre Fund. The private sector could participate on two levels - in the operation of the MCTs, which could be franchising wholly or partially to private entrepreneurs, and in the supply of computer and telecommunication equipment by companies interested in testing and marketing their products through MCT pilot projects.

The objectives of the Telecentre Fund and basic functions of an MCT in the present project context are reviewed in Section 2, the planning, budgeting and implementation process in Section 3,.and the possible roles of new partners in Section 4.

The selection of the five African MCT pilot projects countries is the result of a participatory process carried out on a national level with the potential local partners. Benin, Tanzania and Uganda had submitted proposals for pilot projects within the ITU's ongoing "Integrated Rural Development" programme, which sent consultants to these countries to study and advise on expansion of the rural telecommunication infrastructure. Subsequently missions sponsored jointly by the ITU and UNESCO were been carried out in Benin, Mali, Tanzania and Uganda, to identify parties interested in the MCT concept, and begin the process of establishing a local Steering Committee to carry the project forward. Exploratory study has also been sponsored by IDRC in Mozambique. In addition, ITU consultants to Mozambique, Tanzania and Uganda assessed the needs for telemedicine and specified prospective healthcare applications for the pilot projects in these countries. Although a decision on the precise location of the pilot project has been made only by Mali and Tanzania, Benin and Uganda have identified the general areas for locating their MCTs. The status of project planning in the five countries concerned is reviewed in more detail in Annex 1.

2. Objectives and methodology

• sensitizing African governments, information professionals, telecommunication operators, telematics and informatics vendors, and users to the potential of information and communication technologies in integrated rural development;
• testing the viability and utility of the multipurpose community telecentre concept in African conditions by providing initial support and advice for the establishment of one pilot MCT in each of five African LDCs;
• promoting access to information and communication technologies under affordable conditions for the public sector and for rural development in Africa;
• searching for new MCT partnerships within Africa and between Africa and other regions, particularly with a view to bringing applications and content developed in the programme to the market to support sustainability;
• demonstrating the advantages of multi-agency co-operation on complex, interdisciplinary assistance projects in Africa.

MCTs should provide people with access to development-oriented telematics services and applications with all required facilities and associated training. They are intended to become cost effective by offering a wide range of services to different groups of users, who will share the costs of common facilities and support.

The pilot telecentres will offer basic telecommunication and office administration services such as telephone, fax, e-mail, word processing, photocopy. They will provide library and information services, exploiting document holdings and access to national and world-wide electronic information banks in support of literacy campaigns, basic and non-formal education, government programmes, and other public service development. They will also provide facilities for the generation and exchange of community based information. Some of the most important functions of MCTs are presented below and enumerated in Annex 3.

Community libraries as gateways to information highways

In each pilot MCT project a public or community library will be enhanced to serve in information, communication and learning resource centre for peasants, students, professionals, entrepreneurs, NGOs, community leaders and other members of the local community, including the handicapped. Information retrieval, library loan requests and document delivery will be computerized as appropriate. The library will supplement services to users based on development-oriented printed and audio-visual material by access to Internet ressources, and will provide polyvalent information support for the other telecentre functions such as on-line government, extension and literacy programmes, distance learning and community action.

Librarians will be trained to set up and exploit databases and Internet sites for the local community and to provide demonstrations, consultations and training on access to information resources of interest to specific user groups. Hands-on individual user training and on-going support by telecentre librarians will feature customized assistance in using Internet resources to satisfy professional, community and personal development needs. Follow-up individual instruction by librarians will transfer higher skills to advanced users who can serve as peer instructors within their local communities. These training activities will continue after international assistance to the projects has ended, and provide curricula for use in national user training programmes. Some of the various library and information support services which are foreseen for the MCTs are listed in Annex 3.

Learning without frontiers

Each telecentre will be a focus for promoting distance education in development. The MCT projects should facilitate the connection of schools and other educational institutions in their communities to national and international distance education facilities, and to databases, libraries and other resources to enrich the educational process. Other schools and education programmes can take advantage of the facilities through outreach programmes.

Workshops on the advantages of telematics and computer enhanced learning for education officials, teacher trainers and teachers will be held in the telecentre. Local teachers will be trained on effective use of telematics and Internet applications in improving teaching and learning, and facilities will be made available to surrounding schools and education programme.

The pilot MCTs can provide a laboratory for adapting educational technologies to community needs, particularly through the use of culturally sensitive interfaces and presentation in the vernacular language. Distance education modules will as necessary be developed through the participation of universities, ministries of education and vocational training centres, and shared in hard copy form and over the Internet through national coordinators and the Web site of the programme.

Other development applications

MCTs should be clearing houses on government services and administrative information while interactive applications can save citizens' time and government expense by enabling people to rapidly communicate with administrations including and complete administrative formalities. Other applications can facilitate citizens' feedback on policy and problems to local and national government, enable the civil society to receive, generate and disseminate information on community life.

Information on the community, and locally generated content and applications, should help to build cohesiveness and development, and put the community "on the map" nationally and internationally. MCTs might also provide access to radio and television production facilities as complementary community information means.

Other services and facilities may include telematics and Internet applications for businesses, NGOs, farmers and the public in areas such as on-line banking, market information, weather forecasts and product promotion. Depending on location and demand, other missions such as telemedicine and formal distance education programmes could also be added. To develop these latter services the co-operation of other concerned UN agencies, such as FAO, ILO, UNCTAD, UNIDO and WHO, as well as of bilateral development agencies and NGOs involved in community development, would be highly desirable.

MCT organization and sustainability

Governments should seek to support the establishment of MCTs. In areas where appropriate community and public facilities do not exist, governments could offer land subsidies, exemptions, basic equipment, infrastructure linkages, etc. to organizations or individuals wishing to build and run telecentres, which might be best developed on a cost-sharing basis with local communities.

The national telecommunication regulatory body should be prepared to issue license for equipment and frequencies, as required, and to test innovative tariff structures during the pilot project.

Contributions from the PTO may include:

• provision of human resources (national counterparts) for planning, installation and maintenance of telecommunication equipment;
• provision of at-cost access to national and international telecommunication networks during the pilot period;
• participation in the financing telecommunication equipment (the operator should be prepared to consider negotiate revenue sharing with other partners investing in the project);
• provision of land and premises for the telecentre.

Government departments, other public institutions, local authorities, NGO's, grassroots organizations and other user groups, including, for example, community media, educational institutions and hospitals may make contributions such as the following:

• financial support for telecommunication services for poor and public service users;
• sensitization and promotion of the project;
• land and premises for the telecentre;
• human resources for staffing the telecentres;
• subject matter specialists, materials, etc., depending on applications;
• human resources for transferring subject matter into digital format;
• capital investment against free usage and/or sharing of revenues.

Long-term sustainability of the MCTs is expected to be achieved through fees-for-service paid by the private sector, NGOs, the public and in particular, the government, which will be able to improve the efficiency and quality of public services and make savings in delivery of, for example, education and healthcare.

New policies will be required to accommodate and encourage these novel models of service delivery. They will also require interdisciplinary, cross-sectoral co-operation and private-public sector partnerships to be viable and to achieve the objective of contributing to economic, social and cultural development - in improved trade, generation of jobs, poverty reduction, improved heath care and education, and endogenous capacity to participate as active producers of culture and products rather than just passive consumers. It is hoped that through these pilot projects new policies and partnerships will be developed.

A fundamental determinant of the success of a telecentre project will be the extent of participation of a wide range of local and international organizations, and of co-operation among them. Aside from collaboration from the partners in establishing the infrastructure of the facility, there will probably be an even greater need to collaborate in the development and adaptation of "content" and demonstrating the impact of ICT on development in general and on specific occupational sectors, such as students, agricultural extension workers, health practitioners and community media.

The Telecentre Fund will thus need to support capacity building in the area "content" development (applications and services), which will be undertaken in national capitals or other urban centres as a necessary complement to the rural MCTs. In fact activities in these two foci of activities are mutually dependent. Thus, for example, telemedicine, distance education and government information decision support systems require centrally located content servers and specialists as well as a support structure ("agents") in the rural area participating in the project.

Finally, some common technical solutions will have to be specified in the programme to ensure the adaptability of the ICT applications in the telecentres to rural African conditions, and it is expected that central (co-operative) analysis, product research and perhaps in some cases technological adaptation or development will be necessary in this context. Examples of generic requirements for MCT applications and services are:

• "last-mile" telecommunication access with sufficient interactive capacity from the telecentre;
• local interactivity, in which interaction is with data downloaded into a receiver computer, will be used where feasible to avoid communication bottlenecks;
• friendly and versatile user interfaces with possibilities for tactile and verbal interaction;
• database-supported set of tools for development of interactive multimedia applications, and for conversion of applications to national languages;
• target groups as processors of information, not just receivers. Towards this end, techniques such as groupware and videoconferencing should be considered for adaptation to the rural telecommunication environment.

Evaluation, sharing of experience and follow-up

Experience gained in similar pilot projects in other regions with be used to enhance the impact of the programme, in collaboration with all partners. A common evaluation methodology will be developed to enable international comparisons to be made.

Data on ICT market trends in the African countries, as well as on the consequences of innovation and the socio-economic impact of developments will be collected through a questionnaire to be completed by focal points, and an interview plan to be applied to the national focal points, key institutions and representative user groups. The results will be used to undertake a qualitative and quantitative assessment of market size, perspectives of the publics sector, especially education in the area of ICT.

A listserver for the MCT pilot programme will be set up to permit exchange of experience and co-operative planning among the national and international partners. Project reports and telecentre applications will be accessible, electronically through the Internet, by means of the listserver and a programme WWW site.

The achievements, problems, opportunities and issues that are of concern to the MCT pilot projects will be documented and presented through a telecentre TV report in English and French for professionals, managers and decision-makers in Africa and in development assistance agencies.

The results of the five pilot projects will be presented in a regional conference to share expriences among users, managers, planners, decision makers, donors and researchers in this field, with a view to establishing strategic and operational co-operation in major future programmes to democratize access to telematics for development.

3. Pilot project design, planning and implementation

The five pilot projects will each proceed through three stages which are described in this Section.

The first two stages of exploratory and planning activity represent a small portion of the total budget of the programme. The first stage has been nearly completed under the regular budget provisions of the three initial sponsoring agencies. The support of other national and international partners is invited in these preliminary stages to ensure that all relevant telecentre applications are considered, and that the contributions of the different partners are fully taken into account in the project plans. This support is likely to be in kind in the form of participation in planning missions, provision of documentation, etc.

The third or implementation stage will require the bulk of resources of the African Telecentre Fund. Although the extent of the required international resources will depend on the project plans to be developed in each of the countries, "best case" and "worst case" indications are given below, and detailed in the remainder of this Section.

• Stage 1: Initial proposal and exploratory missions (October 1996 - June 1997)
• Stage 2: Project plan and partnership agreements (April-December 1997)
• Stage 3: Implementation of the MCT Pilot Projects (July 1997 - December 2000)

Clearly the total cost of the basic programme for five countries will fall between these two extremes, and the phasing in of activities in the different countries, as well as of the services envisaged in each country during the pilot project, will have to be foreseen as a function of the detailed pilot project plans and the available funds.

Furthermore, the above estimate includes only a of minimum support for development of "content" (application and services), as explained in Annex 4. Unless there is already a strong national institutional base for implementation of a given application or service in the MCT (e.g. agricultural extension, telemedicine, or market information), a separate budget and implementation phasing needs to be developed for that application or service, again dependent on the level of available funding.

The implications for the implementation schedule as a function of the resources to be provided by additional partners are treated in Section 4.

Stage 1. Initial proposal and exploratory missions

Assuming that a country has responded to the "Call for Proposal for Pilot Projects", issued by the ITU (see http://www.itu.ch/itudoc/itu-d/baap/describe.html), or in some other way indicated its desire to implement an MCT pilot project, one, or perhaps two, 2-3 day missions to the country are required to verify that there is sufficient commitment and support for the proposed project and that the selection of site(s) meet the criteria outlined in Annex 2. When possible, such missions should include a visit to the selected telecentre site(s) to ascertain the support of local authorities.

Typically at least one mission should include representatives of two of the international sponsoring organizations, who have experience in telecommunications, the Internet and other shared access networks, and in development-oriented applications using these technologies. A series of individual meetings with interested parties are held, culminating in a general meeting of a large cross-section of potential national and local partners who are encouraged to form a national Steering Committee, and to nominate a small project team to carry the project forward. The mission also tries to identify local technical and administrative resources which could be used to support the project.

Because of the crucial role of the telecommunication infrastructure in the project, one of the primary partners in each country is most likely to be the national public telecommunication operator (PTO). The national PTO is also often among the national organizations with the most resources, able to host meetings and generally act as a facilitator. Aside from the PTO, the public library administration and the UNESCO National Commission, as well as representatives of the other authorities such as those responsible for health and for rural development should be involved at an early stage in defining the scope of the project.

Although exploratory missions have already been carried out for the five countries identified as potential hosts, additional missions may be required, particularly to Benin and Mozambique where further advice may be required to fully establish the national co-ordinating and planning mechanisms.

Stage 1 international costs:

The cost of a 3-4 day mission (including travel) by two consultants may be estimated at about US$ 6,000. Assuming that a maximum of three additional missions will be required, the total cost including administrative overhead will be at most US$ 20,000. However, if international support for this stage can be limited to one consultant mission or two staff missions, the cost would be approximately halved.

Proposed deadline for completion of Stage 1: June 1997

Stage 2: Developing the pilot project plan and partnership agreements

National activities

After the initial exploratory missions and reporting back have taken place, a process of defining (or refining, in case a proposal has already been made) the scope and details of the pilot project proposals follows.

The development of a draft proposal should be the responsibility of the national project team (or a person designated by the national Steering Committee), in consultation with the Steering Committee and concerned international partners. Representatives of national and international partners from the various occupational sectors (libraries, education, health, trade and business development, government information, etc.) would be requested to provide inputs to the document including objectives, expected results, resources required and work plans for the components of the project relevant to their sectors.

A 2-3 day mission would normally be undertaken by representatives of 3-5 national partners to the chosen MCT site(s) to assess the needs and the local environment in detail, finalize the local institutional arrangements and to gain the support of the local community for the project. The costs of this mission, about US$ 2,000 per country, would normally be born by the national authorities and partners.

The draft proposal should describe the telecommunication infrastructure and the services to be developed (see guidelines in Annex 3). It should provide an estimate of the resources required and a preliminary indication of the contributions envisaged by the national and local partners. It should also indicate expected outputs and benefits and include a preliminary business plan (capital costs, operating costs and expected revenues).

This draft will allow the international partners to make a preliminary budget allocation and mobilize additional support as required from other potential partners (both development co-operation agencies and the private sector). This process, which is underway in Mali, Tanzania and Uganda and has in principle been initiated in Benin (see Annex 1), should culminate in the organization of national roundtable meetings to finalize the project documents and establish agreements with all partners.

Proposed deadline for completion of Stage 2: June 1997 for Mali, Tanzania and Uganda

• September 1997 for Benin
• December 1997 for Mozambique

Central Activities

In parallel with the national efforts, a number of central, co-ordinating activities will be necessary. Specifically, the international partners should:

1. assist the national partners (Steering Committee and project team) in finalizing the draft project proposals, including the organization of additional exploratory missions to proposed MCT sites, if required, as well as the elaboration of a work plan and a budget, indicating required resources, in cash and in kind. CIDA/ITU and UNESCO are planning workshop(s) on Access to Rural Telecommunications and Information Technologies for Participatory Community Development (tentatively scheduled to take place in Canada, in conjunction with the Global Knowledge 97 Conference in Toronto, June 1997) which would support this process.
2. mobilize other development agencies, resource centres, concerned government departments, and the private sector to become partners in the Telecentre Fund and/or contribute in kind to the pilot projects (see Annex 5), including circulation the draft project proposal to all partners for comments and development of draft agreements with partners as appropriate;
3. identify other sources of expertise for the projects and overall programme (see indicative list in Annex 5), prepare specifications and contracts with suppliers (e.g. for technical implementation and content generation), if applicable;
4. develop an evaluation methodology;
5. provide support for programme administration and co-ordination;
6. co-ordinate the organization of roundtable meetings with all partners to finalize the project documents and negotiate and establish implementation agreements.

   Stage 3: Implementation

   Once the project plan and the associated partnership agreements have been established, the implementation stage can begin, involving the following tasks:

7. carry out the outreach, research and systems development (see Annex 4);
8. select, acquire and package the information to be provided;
9. acquire and begin to install the required infrastructure;
10. train staff to operate the services and to train others;
11. sensitize the communities about the service;
12. monitor and support the ongoing development of the projects.

Due to the fact that the project planning is only in the early stages at present, only a rough estimate of the required budget can be made at this time. It is assumed that international assistance should provide sufficient support to establish a functional MCT in each pilot country and to give it the best chances of sustainable operation. It is proposed that this support should involve the following components, implemented degressively over a three year period. The figures provided in Table 1, Annex 4 have been used in developing these estimates.

4. Organization and modalities of international co-operation

The Telecommunication Development Bureau (BDT) of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has committed US$ 70,000 and is considering the possibility of allocating another US$ 300,000. The ITU will be concerned primarily with the planning, development and operation of appropriate telecommunication infrastructure, including organizational and management support on the basis of market-oriented business plans. In this context, support will be provided, inter alia, for co-ordination and limited assistance in:

• pre-investment study and in mobilization of international partners and resources for assistance in system design and engineering, and in project management, if required;
• advice on policy and regulatory matters;
• specifications for telecentres and training of telecentre support staff;
• evaluation;
• networking with other pilot projects for sharing of ideas, products and experiences, including evaluation data from all pilot projects participating in the programme.

UNESCO, managing US$ 650,000 in DANIDA funds provided over a period of four years, will be concerned with community and public sector "infostructure", and criteria to ensure that it supports socio-economic and cultural development needs, community empowerment and democratization. Principal emphasis will be given to information science, education, and telematics notably through training, programme orientation and infrastructure for local librarians and educators in order to ensure sustainable continuation of each MCT project and impact on the levels of basic information and communication skills in the local communities.

IDRC, which has in principle committed US$ 200,000, will be involved in planning, financing and managing the programme as a whole and in support for specific pilot projects and activities.

Although the final budget requirements will not be known until completion of the definitive project plans been June and December 1997, it is reasonable to assume that only two, or perhaps three, MCT pilot projects could be implemented with the available international funding. The participation of other development cooperation organizations and of private enterprise in the international support team is sincerely welcomed.

Some of the different categories of organizations which might be interested in participating in the programme are enumerated in Annex 5. It may be useful here to review a few of the types of input which could be provided:

Other development co-operation agencies

Additional international partners may be particularly interested in contributing in the form of:

• funding of consultants for surveys, proposal development, evaluation and project co-ordination;
• funding of equipment;
• in-kind specialists in the applications envisaged;
• co-ordination with other community development programmes;
• co-ordination of training programmes;
• training of technical staff and transfer of know-how related to their products and services;
• free or reduced tariffs for network access during pilot project (e.g. use of the dedicated UN or UNEP networks).

Private sector

The contributions of private telecommunication and informatics equipment manufacturers, software vendors and telecommunication and informatics service providers might include:

• specialists for telecommunication and information delivery system design and engineering;
• telecommunication equipment, computers, printers, etc. and software free, on loan during pilot project or at reduced cost (the possibility of revenue sharing among partners is not excluded);
• training of technical staff and transfer of know-how related to their products and services;
• free or at-cost telecommunication and Internet access during pilot project.

It is hoped that participation of the various partners can be defined during the planning stage (Stage 2) in 1997 so that the initial pilot project plans can take full account of their conceptual and financial inputs, including support for the development of required sector-specific applications and services, and so that implementation of all five projects can begin by January 1998. The modalities of overall programme co-ordination and administration of funding will be discussed among all concerned partners within an international steering committee

All comments and suggestions of the international community on the present preliminary proposal are cordially invited.

Annex 1: Project situation in the pilot countries

An preliminary proposal, based on a study financed by the Norwegian Council for Applied Social Science Research, for establishment of MCTs in Djougou, Krak, Malanville and Parakou, with a support centre in Cotonou, was submitted to the ITU in 1995. After the mission of an ITU consultant in November 1996, Hilla-Condji was proposed as one of the telecentre locations replacing Parakou.

OPT (the PTO) is now in the process of collecting the necessary information and revising the draft proposal, working with a committee convened during an ITU staff mission in March 1997.

FAO and UNDP have also been involved in the consultations.

SOTELMA (the PTO) is implementing an ambitious programme to extend the network to rural areas. Internet connectivity is now being established in Bamako through a SOTELMA gateway, with services to be offered by SOTELMA itself and by three private service providers.

In October 1996, an ITU consultant proposed that MCTs be established in one or two of the following regions: i) Timbuktu, ii) Gao-Kidal, iii) Sikasso-Koutiala, iv) Kayes-Nioro, v) Mopti-Bandiagara, and SOTELMA proposed to lead the project. During a follow-up ITU-UNESCO staff mission in March 1997, SOTELMA was delegated by the government to organize a planning meeting bringing together several concerned administrations and organizations including the Office of the President, the Basic Development Support Unit (CADB) of the Ministry of Territorial Administration, the Malian National Commission for UNESCO, the Ministry of Culture and Communication, Ministry of Secondary and Higher Education and Scientific Research, the National Centre for Investment Promotion (CNPI) of the Ministry of Industry, Artisan Work and Tourism, the National Library, Opération Lecture Publique, and the Concertation of Malian NGOs.

The meeting saw the project as a laboratory in the national effort envisaged by the President on application of information technologies in development. It was agreed that the project would be sited in Timbuktu (which is already connected to Bamako by satellite and provides exceptional advantages for cultural and tourism applications). A preliminary proposal was prepared during the mission, and a full plan and budget is being finalized.

FAO, UNDP and WHO have indicated potential interest in supporting this project.

The overall orientations of a MCT project were discussed at a national information policy seminar in organized with IDRC support in February 1997, and attended by representatives of UNESCO, the World Bank and other potential international partners. A mission to help define the project and participants will be proposed shortly.

A joint ITU-UNESCO exploratory mission was fielded in October 1996. The telecentre initiative in Tanzania builds on a rural telecommunication study (TELERUR) carried out by the ITU in 1993 in a region centring around Moshe in the north of the country.

The proposed pilot project aims to capitalize on the information gained in the earlier study and also on the interest of the Tanzania Telecommunications Company (TTCL), and a number of other agencies, in carrying the project forward. In addition it would aim to build on the Community Media (COMEDIA) project financed by DANIDA, FINIDA and UNESCO. NORAD has also been involved in this area through its evaluation of Tanzania's rural libraries and press.

It has been agreed that the TTCL will act as the co-ordinator for the project, with a working group comprising the TTCL, the Tanzania National Commission for UNESCO, the Tanzania Commission for Science and Technology (COSTECH) and the Tanzania Telecommunications Commission (TTC). Other national partners involved in the planning are the Tanzania Chamber of Commerce, Ministry of Communications and Transport, and the University of Dar es Salaam.

Contacts have also been established with WHO and Datel (the TTCL/France Telecom subsidiary dealing with data communications).

Subsequent to the exploratory mission, the local committee agreed that Sengerema near Mwanza (on Lake Victoria) would be the most appropriate site for the telecentre, but that there was insufficient information about the local conditions and potential applications to develop a concrete plan and budget. A preliminary proposal has been received and is being refined based on ITU-UNESCO advice.

A joint ITU-UNESCO exploratory mission visited Uganda in October 1996

Interest has centred around a district not far from Kampala where three relevant existing intiatives could provide complementary support for the project:.

• an study carried out for the Uganda Posts and Telecommunications Corporation by the ITU for a rural telecommunications pilot project in the region centred around Masaka, about 50kms from Kampala,
• a UNESCO supported initiative by the Uganda Public Libraries Board to develop 15 rural community libraries, and
• a wireless communications network built around the campus of the Uganda Martyrs University in Nkozi, which has also had plans to develop a multipurpose telecommunication facility on campus and already has a well equipped computer training classroom.

National agencies which have been involved in the discussions on the proposed project include the Uganda National Commission for UNESCO, Uganda Posts and Telecommunications Corporation (UPTC), Uganda Public Libraries Board, Uganda Martyrs University, the Institute of Computer Science and the Main Library at Makarere University, the East African School for Librarianship (EASL), The Uganda National Information System (NIS), the Institute of Teacher Education Kyambogo (ITEK), and three of the local administrations in the Masaka region.

FAO has also participated in the consultations.

The Uganda Public Libraries Board has prepared much of the groundwork for the development of community information centres through the UNESCO project. It has sent staff to study the village library system in Botswana and the learning circles initiative in Zimbabwe, as well as conducting an information needs assessment in rural areas and a writers workshop to ensure that information products are in a format understandable to the local villagers.

The UPTC and the Vice-Chancellor of the Martyrs University agreed to drive the process forward by soliciting 1 or 2 page statements of interest from each party (including others not represented at the first general meeting) and then to form a small working group to finalize a proposal and select a precise location or locations for the project.

Subsequently a preliminary proposal for five MCTs, located in Lukaya, Kayabwe, Nkozi, Buwama and Nakaseke with resource centres at Makerere University, Mulago Hospital and the TASO/Ministry of Health headquarters, and with support from the Public Libraries Board, was submitted by UPTC. It appears that the number of MCTs proposed for the pilot project needs to be reduced to one or at most two in the initial pilot project, to match the limited resources available. Complementary information about "content" and service development, as well as about the contributions from the national/local partners have been requested.

The next step should therefore be for the committee to select one of the five sites and complete a detailed study there with representatives of the proposed resource centres for the project.

Annex 2: Selecting a site for a multi-purpose community telecentre

The costs of the telecentre services will be lower if they are shared amongst more organizations and people. The most important factor in choosing a good location for a rural community telecentre is thus the level of potential demand for communication and information services from a large number and wide range of users. Such demand is most easily analysed on the basis of existing community, economic and administrative infrastructure in close proximity to the proposed site for the telecentre.

Each of the following facilities should be described in one sentence if present (indicate the size of the facility and if it has telephone and/or electricity):

• Public/community services
• Public library or documentation centre
• Schools or training colleges such as a primary school, secondary school, university campus and teacher training college
• Health centre or hospital
• Museum or other centre for culture and traditions
• Community centre(s)
• Religious centre(s)
• Local NGOs and community based organizations
• Rural press/other local publications
• Reception of national radio and television programmes
• Agricultural/other research station
• Economic environment
• Market or centre of economic activity and trade - a group of small businesses or co-operatives
• Groups of farmers/fishermen
• Industry/mining
• Tourist attraction(s)
• Hotel(s)
• Service centre/garage
• Administrative support
• Post Office
• Police Station
• Local/national government administrative offices
• Refugee centre

Other important factors that should be identified and described:

1. The telecentre should be easily accessible to the general public, many of whom are likely to need walk to it.
2. The presence of an existing organization willing to provide an office environment for the telecentre - a large room with adequate security and capacity to exclude dust. The space should have some potential for subdivision, such as for a small diagnostic room for telemedicine.
3. The location should ideally have access to electricity, but this should not be a deciding factor if other aspects are very positive (solar panels could be used).
4. The location should be assessed for potential for high capacity links into the terrestrial telecommunications grid in the future (include distance to nearest exchange from proposed telecentre). In the initial phases, a VSAT or other wireless solution can provide the connectivity if the existing telecommunication infrastructure is not available or does not have enough capacity or reliability.
5. The presence of a local organization that can provide human resources for maintaining and operating the telecentre facility.
6. There should be clear support from the local organizations for the project - best gained by involving them in its planning.
7. The ultimate owners of the telecentre should be identified before commencing (although in the case of a pilot project with ensured funding this may be one of the project aims).

Annex 3: Model for MCT services

Below is described a 'model' MCT, which provides the full range of possible services. Not all MCTs will need to provide all these services, and most will only start with some of them and have other services added gradually. (*= a service that could be provided centrally)

• local, long distance and international calls
• Voice Mailbox service
• receive calls

• type, send and receive faxes

• photocopying, word processing, document scanning, and data entry/presentation

• tracing and inventorying Internet resources including on-line publications, reference and directory information and news group topics relevant to African development,
• mediating access to major information resources at the national and international levels,
• translating into local languages materials received on line relevant to development needs such as those of education, medicine, and micro, small and medium sized enterprises,
• maintaining an electronic catalogue and management facility for the books, reports, periodicals and audivisual materials available in the library,
• maintaining and providing access to relevant CD-ROM databases,
• assisting government bodies and programmes with public information activities,
• assisting local NGOs and public institutions in establishing Internet visibility via the World Wide Web and Gopher,
• stimulating discussion and enhanced participation of local community through subscription to local bulletin boards and international news groups,
• teaching basic skills on information retrieval using the Internet and developing training courses for special skills, user profiles and professional groups,

• latest local, national and world news
• market prices
• jobs
• trade opportunities
• classified advertisements

• e-mail POP accounts,
• drop-in e-mail sending (voice or hard copy transcription) and reception to hard copy/voice for the non-literate/non-computer literate,
• dial-up PPP/SLIP accounts,
• dial-up UUCP/FIDO accounts,
• dial-up and drop-in WWW, FTP and USENET News access,
• tailored Web-site guides to on-line resources for the local community,*
• hosting of autoresponders for information requests,*
• Web page hosting, including registration with indexing services and full text search tools,*
• e-mail to fax service,*
• e-mail to postal service,*
• wireless and leased line access for large local organizations,
• Internet training courses for individuals and groups.

• basic word processing and office software
• computer hardware maintenance
• Internet access/use and computer networking
• Web site development
• Distance education courses accessed through the Internet, radio and television*
• Basic literacy training
• Secretarial courses
• Teacher training courses
• Telemedicine and telediagnosis facilities
• Web-based local government administration
• on-line administrative information,
• tax returns,
• license payments,
• claims processing, etc.

1. Video conferencing facilities
2. On-line banking facilities
3. On-line purchasing and ordering of supplies
4. Reproduction facilities for newsletters, school materials, manuals, training documentation, etc.
5. Community media audio-visual production facilities

Annex 4: MCT inputs and budget

Premises/Land:

Best case: Land and building are donated.

Worst case: Land must be rented and container must be purchased/constructed.

Enhancement of backbone and local telecommunications infrastructure:

Best Case: None needed, or PTO agrees to finance additional requirements within normal operations.

Worst Case: Finance required to upgrade link to telecommunication backbone and/or to install satellite ground station (example taken here).

Application software and equipment (other than telemedicine):

Best Case: Existing licences at the national level cover some software and information products.

Worst Case: .All software and information products must be purchased.

Telemedicine equipment:

Telemedicine is a specialized field of application, requiring significant expenditures for equipment, and is expected to be introduced in telecentres where there are specific needs. For this component, the cases have a different meaning.

Best Case: Telemedicine will not be included in the initial services.

Worst Case: Telemedicine will be included from the beginning

Telecentre staff salaries and benefits:

Best Case: Covered by sponsoring administrations (e.g. transfer of existing personnel).

Worst Case: .Costed to the telecentre project.

The budgetary requirements are specified for capital investment (facilities and equipment) and recurrent costs. If the functions of the telecentre are not expanded during the life of the pilot project (e.g. three years), further major capital investment will not be needed but rather only maintenance after the guarantee period - typically one year. However, the recurrent costs will

Aside from the direct inputs for the telecentre itself, there are inputs required in urban support centres (usually the capital cities) to create relevant content/applications and to provide the other (usually server) side of a telematics service. In particular these could involve: a) scanning and translation of national archives, local curricula, translation into local languages, b) developing applications, c) hosting content on on-line systems to enable direct marketing (the ordering and delivery of goods), financial services (credit access, loans etc.), access to library catalogues or distance education modules, local administrative services, etc., d) general technical assistance to the telecentres (an expert will be required to work with the various agencies concerned to develop the appropriate systems and carry out training in their maintenance). It should be noted that the estimate in Table 1 includes only a minimum support for these costs (corresponding. To use of available applications for which central facilities and support staff are available); in practice, for each application/service to be implemented a separate budget will need to be developed and the activities phased according to availability of funding.

Finally, a number of central support activities for the programme as a whole (the five pilot projects and their co-operation) also need to take place, many of which could be contracted to national or international organizations with the appropriate experience and resources (see Annex 5):

• General project management and co-ordination,
• Identification of relevant on-line curricula, training materials and other appropriate common content to be made accessible at the telecentres,
• Development of a prototype 'telecentre Web site' which assembles the most relevant information currently available on the Internet for rural users,
• Evaluation of the need for telemedecine facilities,
• Development of an appropriate public access information access interface (e.g. touch-screen Web site design,
• Design and integration of a standard telecentre Internet server software/PC hardware system to support the required services and dial-up/leased line/wireless access provision to surrounding users (including monitoring, billing and accounting for Internet and non-Internet services),
• Design of an outreach programme to be carried out by the telecentre staff (e.g. holding of courses, information days, travel to outlying villages with mobile voice/data access point mounted in vehicle etc.),
• Development of appropriate pricing models and access policies for the services being provided (e.g. free access for students when there are no paying customers),
• Information gathering, monitoring and sharing with other emerging telecentre projects world-wide,
• Project evaluation,
• Evaluation of alternative data/voice communication systems for rural and remote areas (see Annex 5),
• Evaluation of the other specialized resources (see Annex 5),
• Specification of a model set of CD-ROMs to be supplied to the telecentre (including at least 20 of the best commercial and non-commercial educational and general/special interest reference products).

Annex 5: Potential participants, collaborators and resources

Typical potential partners:

A wide range of national, international and private sector institutions are welcomed as potential partners in the development of the African MCT pilot projects:

1. National centres of expertise and information resources, for example, the national archives and national libraries, centres for distance education and curriculum development and chambers of commerce.
2. Regional and international trade networks and information centres, e.g. the West African Enterprise Network (WAEN) based in Ghana.
3. Multilateral telecommunications organizations: e.g. RASCOM (Abidjan), PATU (Kinshasa), Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (London).
4. Non-governmental and public organizations promoting international co-operation in the ICT area: e.g. AUPELF-UREF, COMNET-IT (Malta), ORSTOM./RIO, Volunteers in Technical Assistance (VITA).
5. International and regional media organizations, particularly those concerned with the promotion of public service and community media: e.g. Africa Growth Network (AGN), Inter-Press Service (IPS), Media Institute for Southern Africa (MISA), Panafrican News Agency (PANA).
6. Organizations of United Nations system: e.g. UNECA, FAO, WHO, UNDP, UNCTAD, UNICEF, UNITAR, the World Bank.
7. Other intergovernmental organizations: e.g. Agence de La Francophonie (ACCT), Commonwealth Secretariat, the European Union (EU), the Organization for African Unity (OAU).
8. Development banks: e.g. African Development Bank, Islamic Development Bank, West African Development Bank.
9. Bilateral development co-operation agencies: e.g. CIDA, DANIDA, NORAD, ODA, SIDA, USAID.
10. Private foundations: e.g. Ahga Kahn, Carnegie, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES), Kellogg, Mott, Rockefeller, Sainsbury.
11. Private sector ICT providers, including major satellite, and wireless communication systems suppliers and service providers, e.g. Acer, Alcatel, AT&T, British Telecom, Ericsson, Eutelsat, Global One, Hughes/PanamSat, IBM, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Microsoft, Motorola, NEC, Nortel, NZ Telecoms, Philips TRT, Senao Communications, Siemens, SR Telecom, Transtel and Telkom SA, as well as local ISPs and hardware suppliers.

    Examples of specialized resources:

    A preliminary search as identified a number of specialized resources which might contribute to the MCT pilot projects. A few are listed below as examples:

12. Apple Computer's Network Outreach Program in the Advanced Technology Group (Cupertino, California) includes the Apple Library of Tomorrow Program that provides equipment and software for innovative research and demonstration projects in all types of libraries. Since 1993 it has been involved in developing community based networks where libraries are deeply involved. Other Network Outreach activities include Web publishing instruction and research and an effort to secure large amounts of radio spectrum for free, public use in schools, libraries, homes, and business.
13. Community TeleService Centres Association (CTSC, International), is an NGO registered in France with the objective of promoting the development of MCTs and supporting national telecentre associations.
14. Educational Development Center (EDC) in Newton, Massachusetts has a Center for Innovative Management and Training Technologies is involved in designing, evaluating, and implementing organizational development programmes in the US and in developing countries, with specific attention to information, communications and training technologies. EDC's Community Technology Centers' Network (CTCNet, formerly the Playing to Win Network) is a support project for community agencies developing technology programmes for those ordinarily without network access and currently has more than 70 affiliates.

15. IBM is involved in delivery of information technology training and professional development courses on-line, over the Internet, intranets and local area networks. It offers courses and supporting services to help workers upgrade skills without taking time off the job or away from home, as well as comprehensive services to help companies design, implement and support their own distance learning programmes. The IBM Global Campus for higher education students provides on-line/real-time interactive, download and play or instructor-facilitated courses, delivered over the IBM Global Network, one of the world's largest Internet access providers (http://www.training.ibm.com/ibmedu).
16. Intel, the chip manufacturer, has released a product called Intercast which allows the reception of Web pages along with standard television broadcasts using the vertical blanking interval (VBI).
17. MicroTouch Systems (USA) has developed a range of touch screens integrated with a touch screen navigable Web browser - the Prospector/WebStation costing between US$ 1000 and US$ 2400 (http://www.microtouch.com).
18. NetPhonic Communications (USA) is a company providing the Web-On-Call voice browser for access to the Web via a touch-tone telephone. The software is priced at $1000 per telephone line. Users can call in with a normal telephone and have any Web page read over the phone, faxed, e-mailed, or delivered by surface mail (http://www.netphonic.com).
19. NZ Telecoms is a South African wireless telecommunications and data network supplier with considerable experience in Africa.
20. Orbicomm, the South African Direct to Home (DTH) digital television broadcaster, has a signal available all over Africa with over 1 Mb/s of unused bandwidth which could be used for data broadcasting.
21. The South African Council for Science and Technology (CSIR) has been managing the Consortium on Telematics for African Development, supported by the World Bank InfoDev programme. The Consortium's members have expertise in three main areas: technology based curriculum development, inexpensive short-distance wireless data links and private sector project management. In addition it is involved in the Lubisi Dam Development Forum in the Eastern Cape where disadvantaged people are receiving training and education via solar powered satellite broadcasts, in a wide range of skills, from basic literacy to business and agricultural expertise.
22. SRI Consulting (UK) has developed a system that can recognize more than 100,000 words spoken over the telephone. It is being used to provide instant price information on more than 13 000 products at Charles Schwab & Company.
23. TechNet Think Tank was a limited time on-line electronic mailing list discussion on Rural Community Communication Centres, organized in July1996 by the World Bank and managed by VITA. The archives of the discussion are held at: http://www.vita.org/technet/cccarch.
24. TeleCommons Development Group is a Internet consulting firm with a focus on community access, applications for agriculture, education, rural extension, and international development, and currently involved in a series of Canadian rural telecommunication initiatives.
25. Telecommunications Forum for Africa (TFA), based in Kenya, is working with the CSIR Consortium on a project to develop HTML/WWW based curricula for secondary education in Africa.
26. Transtel, the South African transport and communications parastatal is marketing an SCPC/DAMA satellite voice/data service at $0.50 per minute (per 16 kb/s channel up to 2MB), or a permanent 64 kb/s link for US$ 3500 a month. A VSAT ground station capable of supporting the service costs US $25-27,000.
27. WorldSpace (USA) is launching the AfriSpace satellite based digital radio service in 1997. Reception is through a normal-size radio set with special internal antenna.