1. Support Centre/Online Helpdesk
Several challnges face telecentres such as sustainability (technical - financial - social), connectivity, fundraising, technical support/ emerging technologies and consultancy among others. Most of these can be addressed and effectively avoided through sharing experiences, and online consultations amongst practitioners. Human resources will be harnessed from the expected vast membership to aid self support and learning. KenTel provides the online platform through its website and mailing list.
2. Capacity Building
Under this activity periodical physical workshops targeting specific areas that affect the telecentre community such as fundraising, accountability, sustainability, connectivity, emerging technologies, e-waste management, environment conservation (going green), among other areas will be covered. Through inititatives suchs as the East African Telecentre Academy and the Global Telecentre Academy, practitioners will get opportunity to further their education on telecentres. As KenTel we will also look for opportunities for training on the areas above and partially fund telecentre leaders and champions to attend. Exposure workshops and exchange visits will be part of this effort. Capacity building opportunities will help upgrade telecentre staff and network managers’ skills for effective and efficient running of telecntres.
Capacity building and institutional strengthening will also enable telecentres become self-sustainable and independent entities. This will include business planning, strategic development, fundraising, core funding, toolkit for management of networks and communications.
3. Product discounting, technology transfer, access to emerging technologies and services.
With the help of public and private sectors we will bring affordable technologies to the rural communities. Technology camps/tents may be held in conjunction with local and international companies looking for future markets. The next billion technology users are the unreached, unaccessed and underserved communities living today in rural Africa hence these kinds of exposure may attract various long term investments by companies. Access to emerging products, technologies and services that can benefit telecentres and demonstrate the value of networking such as new innovations. This will help networks to perform their role as a distribution channel of value-added discounted products and services.
4. Content generation
Blogging and content sharing through our mailing list and website will be a social responsibility of our beneficiaries; hence all members shall be expected to share their stories, both success and challenged efforts from the telecentre community. Specific workshops will be organized to create awareness on local content, offer training on the same.
5. Open Source/Standards (software & hardware)/alternative electricity/power for rural based telecentres
For telecentres in rural Africa to achieve sustainability, their approach and choice of technology is critical, today deeply rural areas do not need to depend on national grid hydro electric power to survive, use of alternative sources like solar energy and wind will be encouraged by KenTel. Companies like Inveneo (www.inveneo.org) have developed hardware with rural folks in mind that use solar, can withstand the environmental conditions like dust and heat.
6. Advocacy for policy change to enable wide access to information
Policy issues affecting communication vary in different countries, Kenya is no exception, however no major policy hindrance has been witnessed that interfere with the work telecentres do. Issues such as use of the free frequency for wireless deployment tests (2.4 GHz), community radio licenses, media bill, connectivity sharing (local or community based ISPs) amongst others are under discussion.
7. Workshops
KenTel in collaboration with development partners as well as other telecentre networks in East Africa will hold telecentre leaders forums. These are workshops meant to bring together telecentre leaders across the region to share experiences and learn from each other. These forums cover areas of interest to the telecentre community (e.g. digital gap/divide, sustainability of telecentres, accountability to the community and donors, social enterprise, connectivity solutions for rural telecentres, etc). The venues are rotational and depend on the host country preference. In each of these workshops/forums governments and policy makers are invited, co-operate bodies as well as various companies get exhibition spaces to showcase their products to this ready and growing market.
