MODULE 8

INFORMATION PRODUCTION AND DISSEMINATION

1.  INTRODUCTION

Among the most important activities of a telecenter is providing people in the community with access to computers to send and receive information. However, this task is not as easy as it might seem. It is not enough to give users access to the Internet: the telecenter manager and staff need to act as intermediaries between all the information that is available and the particular information needs of their community. And information must be provided in a way that people can understand and use it effectively.

A project in Latin America illustrates the connections among content production, a business model, and training for community groups. For example, an effort to serve farmers or rural women’s groups will require a carefully constructed program to organize appropriate content and training if they are to use productively the Infocentros (telecenters) described in the accompanying box.

ICT Content and Training for Special Groups

Telephones are scarce in El Salvador. Individual computer ownership is even scarcer—fewer than 2 PCs per 100 inhabitants—and dial-up Internet costs are still relatively high. As a result, less than one percent of the population now uses the Internet. Changing this situation is the mission of the Infocentros Association (IA), a newly-created non-profit organized and run like a business. Its goal is to provide 2 million Salvadorians—one third of the population—with access to the Internet within 2 years through a chain of 100 telecenters. But connectivity is just the infrastructure—the Infocentros strategy is to build an "infostructure" of local content as well, in order to transform El Salvador's culture into an information society.
Business Model. Although formally a non-profit, Infocentros is headed by a CEO and will build, operate, and franchise telecenters throughout El Salvador. The IA business strategy is built around franchising: of the 100 telecenters planned by the end of 2002, only 10 will be operated by IA itself as regional "mother” centers. Franchises will cost about US$80,000 and are expected to be profitable within 27 months. IA will launch each center and set up operations properly before handing it over to the franchise partner. Franchise revenues will be re-invested in additional centers and new services. Telecenters will typically have 30 computers and include open access areas and training or on-line conferencing areas.
Infocentros will also provide or catalyze the creation of local content, computer training services, and e-commerce infrastructure, in order to make Internet access an effective development tool. It is this content, such as courseware or other businesses built around computers and Internet access that is central to the IA business model. Relevant local content generates usage and additional revenue sources for telecenters, as well as significant social benefits for the country. Courseware generated in one telecenter, such as a currently popular course on how to rebuild earthquake-damaged houses, can be offered in all others as well; its value increasing as the Infocentros network expands. In addition, Infocentros is developing strategic alliances with groups that can benefit from information technology, such as hospitals and local governments.
Human Capacity. Because of the focus on local content and training, human capacity development is a major outcome of the Infocentros approach. At the telecenter level, Infocentros trains its own rapidly growing staff and offers one-to-one assistance to customers unfamiliar with computers or the Internet. Through alliances with government and business, IA also seeks to teach a large segment of the population how to use information technology to increase skills, create jobs and raise incomes, and overcome social problems. For example, in partnership with the Education Ministry, Infocentros is negotiating an 8-hour Internet training course for all Salvadorian high school students. IA is also developing financial applications for small and micro-businesses and other applications for farmers, doctors, and government officials. IA plans to offer free web page hosting for the 470,000 small businesses that, in El Salvador, constitute 99 percent of private enterprises. …
Enterprise. The Infocentros business model, with its rapid deployment of franchises to reach scale, enables the enterprise to negotiate favorable contracts for equipment and services from a wide range of vendors. IA has been very entrepreneurial, negotiating deals with private companies to offer discounted Internet access to groups of employees or clients, and forging agreements with several government agencies to create e-government portals. To increase telecenter usage during evenings and weekends, partnerships are being developed with schools and small businesses that wish to offer computer and Internet training to their students, faculty, and staff. To extend Internet access throughout El Salvador and reduce the need for physical plants, IA is planning to create virtual telecenters located within existing institutions, such as medical centers and central courthouses. And to help perpetuate its entrepreneurial spirit, IA maintains a 3-person new business development group charged with assessing new opportunities quickly. Nonetheless, long-term profitability is not assured. As many Internet startups have found, building market share and creating content can be costly. Currently, 90 percent of IA telecenter users are paying discounted student rates.
Infocentros assists its franchisees by supplying initial management support, training, technical assistance, network marketing, and other services to help ensure that telecenters remain profitable. It also uses an enterprise-wide Intranet to share new business ideas across the telecenter network and to compare the monthly performance of each telecenter, providing strong incentives for telecenter managers.
Content and Applications. Community-based content is what sets Infocentros apart. One of its founders believes this approach gives IA a competitive advantage over US-style Internet access providers in Latin America. IA is building a new digital production center to create audio-visual content for education and professional training courseware that can be broadcast over the Internet. It is also developing a B2B e-commerce portal for small and micro-entrepreneurs, and a suite of business applications designed to help these business owners manage their finances and investments, and provide billing-services only at telecenters.
Key Lessons. Infocentros is an example of a development-centered ICT strategy based on a unique partnership between government and civil society. It draws on 10 years of accumulated experience in telecenter operation and franchising, and substantial financial and other support from El Salvador's government.
Infocentros is a start-up enterprise, but it appears to be meeting or exceeding its targets. Its business model gains efficiencies by aggregating users in telecenters, providing shared access to computers and bandwidth, generating additional revenues from local content, and aggressive franchising. As a result, it seems capable of reaching scale and providing widespread Internet access and the related social benefits that its creators intend. The generation of valuable content and training of customers to use information technology – for their own education, to obtain government services, to grow their businesses, or to communicate more effectively – will be critical to the initiative's social and business success.
― Creating a Development Dynamic, Digital Opportunity Initiative

1.1  What is this Module is about

Given these challenges, it is the aim of this Module to provide recommendations and suggestions on how to produce and disseminate information that serves the needs of users and community members and that makes the operations of the telecenter sustainable. Remember your telecenter has a greater chance of success if it is needs driven.

We will look at the following issues:

·  The assessment of information needs of a community

·  The production of information that is locally relevant and appropriate

·  The dissemination of information

·  Solutions to some of the major problems and obstacles

·  Monitoring and evaluation of information provision and impacts

This chapter is strongly linked to Module 3 that focuses on the necessary tools and techniques useful for researching the needs of your community and for participatory monitoring and evaluation of the telecenter’s performance. Most of the methods described in Module 3 are useful in the context of this module and should be reviewed if necessary.

1.2  Research, information production, and dissemination

Before we go into the details of how to research information needs, and produce and disseminate information, we can review some abbreviations and key ideas related to the topic.

CBO Community-based organization

ICT Information and Communication Technology

M+E Monitoring and Evaluation

NGO Non-Governmental Organization

:

Research encompasses methods that will help you understand different issues (such as the needs of a community), to find answers to questions you have, and to learn about the community or about a topic in general. Research can be:

·  Quantitative – using numbers and statistics. Examples: experiments, surveys etc.

·  Qualitative – using descriptions and categories (words). Examples: open-ended interviews, observation, document analysis, case studies/life histories, focus groups etc.

Both research approaches have their strength and their weaknesses, however we suggest that qualitative research is far more useful for the research needs of a telecenter and is better suited to encourage the participation of the community members.

Strengths of Qualitative Research
·  Depth and detail—a researcher may not get as much depth in a standardized questionnaire
·  Openness--can generate new theories and recognize phenomena ignored by most or all previous research
·  Helps people see their world view --their categories, rather than imposing categories
·  Attempts to avoid pre-judgements, the goal is to try to capture what is happening w/o being judgmental / Weaknesses of Qualitative Research
·  Fewer people studied
·  Less easily generalized as a result
·  Difficult to aggregate data and make systematic comparisons
·  Dependent upon researcher's personal attributes and skills
·  Participation in setting can always change the social situation (although not participating can always change the social situation as well)

Table adapted from Patton: Qualitative Evaluation and Research Methods

In the context of this chapter, research is necessary to find out about the information needs of the community. Information – in the context of your telecenter – means any knowledge that can help to improve the quality of life of the individual members of the community or the community as a whole.

The process of collecting, translating, and presenting information in a format that is digestible is called information production. Information production in the context of a telecenter means different things. First of all it relates to the task of serving as “information intermediary” between the information available on the Internet and/or other information sources and the people in your community. The second task relates to the ability of telecenter staff to translate the form and language of this information in order to make it digestible for the community. The third important task is to produce information about the telecenter’s operation and performance to guarantee sustainability and adjust planning processes.

The process of bringing the information to the stakeholders is considered as information dissemination. Depending on the means, format and range, information dissemination (including for example information provided to traditionally marginalized groups such as women and the poor) offers opportunities for two-way and horizontal communication. This means that new communication channels, emails lists and networks, can provide communication channels for your communities to connect with other communities, intermediaries or development agencies. They provide opportunities to be

·  Sender

·  Receiver

·  Narrow-caster, and

·  Broadcaster

of information. And the Internet as a “people’s network” allows every user to be an information producer and knowledge sharer.

However, as we have stressed in other modules, the success of information production and dissemination depends on the degree of relevance and local appropriateness of the information for the community:


Relevance means that the provided information responds to the needs of the receivers and their living circumstances. If information is relevant it will likely have a positive effect on their quality of life. Relevant information for farmers, for example, includes the daily prices of their agricultural products; for health workers it can mean access to information on vaccines etc.


Appropriateness relates to the content of information and the means of presenting this information. If you have a large illiterate population, it is appropriate to supply information as audio files broadcast over the radio. The timing also needs to be appropriate, as well as the information source. Information also needs to be sensitive to the cultural context of a particular community.

Participation is one of the key issues surrounding the creation of relevant and appropriate information and in itself leads to empowerment of the participants – which is a long-term goal of community development aided by the telecenter.

Example for relevant and appropriate information provision

S. does not know how the system works, or what it is called. But he knows the power of the “Magic Box”. Every morning, together with his fellow farmers, he talks to the Magic Box; as they check the price for potatoes at all major markets in the state. Accordingly, they decide where to take their products. No more cheating middlemen, no more high prices.

Village user of an information kiosk in India,

From FAO, Discovering the "Magic Bullet"

In general, the production and dissemination of information is most likely to be successful if as many as possible of the following criteria are applied:

·  Community-driven

Information must be locally relevant and respond to the information needs of the potential users. The more users and community members are involved in identifying needs and in the planning of services the more likely are these services to contribute to social and economic community development and to sustainability of the telecenter.

·  Innovative

Information should provide innovative solutions and information that has not yet been available to most users.

·  User-friendly

In order to be used by the maximum number of people of different skills and literacy levels, the information provided by the telecenter must be as user-friendly as possible. This may mean working with Audio Files, icons, training programs etc.

·  Sustainable

In order to be sustainable, the telecenter should provide fee-based services as well as free services for the community members. Economic opportunities realizable with the help of telecenter services should be explored in order to contribute to the economic sustainability of the telecenter.