Session – 3 -Meeting the challenges: A group work

Based on the key challenges identified, the participants split into five different groups to deliberate on the key challenges, opportunities and critical success factors of the given topic. The five groups are namely Sustainability, Connectivity and Technology Operations, Content Development, Capacity Building and Knowledge Sharing.

Challenges / Opportunities / Critical Success Factors
Group – I: Sustainability
Moderator: Karishma / - no regular income (lack of services)
- Technical support
Services need to be focused on local needs+skills
- Value chain confusion SCA+VLE (Support problems – roles and responsibilities)
- Electricity/Connectivity
- Quality of educational services, certification
- Innovative VLE
- Government co-operation
- Response to tender/bid process / - End-to-end services (forward and backward linkages)
- Reduction of opportunity cost of daily/monthly transactions
- Village level business information services
- Public grievance redressal
- Rural BPO (village level database)
- Financial (Business facilitation insurance, market intelligence, etc.)
- Census Collection through telecentres, Electoral Process in West Bengal / - Information access to drive usage (Relevant content+Application+over time)
- Training/telecentre manager skills
- Selection of entrepreneurs
Local linkages
- Aligning with the existing programme
- Government support
(Physical connectivity, Resources – HR, Content, Financial, Institutional, Livelihood generation) - Pentagon
Group – II: Connectivity and Technology Operations
Moderator: / - lack of power supply in the villages
- lack of connectivity at the content providers
- lack of viable connectivity / - Basic educational training
- Power sharing to reduce cost (Solar power sharing)
- Connectivity time sharing / - Continuous Power Supply (min 6 hrs, UPS, Inverter, Solar Power, Generator, Alternate power supply)
- Telecom Connectivity
Access devices (Mobile Phones)
- Basic hardware and maintenance training
- Content Providers Connectivity
- Flexibility in pricing and licensing from technology providers
Group – III: Content Development / - Ensuring the quality and authenticity of the content
- Regular updating of the content
- Intellectual Property Rights / - Networking (in general)
- Policy initiative to promote telecentres – content and training
- Developing/emerging technologies
- Resource (Human/ Financial/ Techical)
- Cycle of content management/proposed
-needs analysis
-Design of content
-Development of content
-Try out/feedback/validation
-Implementation/Dissemination
-Evalusation
-Needs Assessment
- Conversion to Business Model
-Intellectual Property Rights
-Patents
- Include the excluded
-Language
-Disability
-Literacy
-Caste
-Socia/Economic/Development Factors
- Design process for content
-Participatory
-Multi-disciplinary
-Collaboration
-Update / - Need Analysis
- Community
- Society/social environment
- Clients
- Policy
- Awareness of content by community/users
- User friendly for learning – Audiovisual, local language
- Networking with other content providers
- Capacity building for managers
- Opportunities to try out
Group – IV: CapacityBuilding / - Tools for local content
- Selection of appropriate technology
- Create a latent demand
- Lack of literacy
- Lack of soft skills for telecentre managers / - Existence of various telecentre pilots
- Physical infrastructure and policy
- Easy access to information / - Needs Assessment
- Training the user, which may result in using technology
- Create opportunity to see result/impact
- Optimal utilization of available resources
- Telecentre Management
- Who? Why? When? Where?
Group – V: Knowledge Sharing / - Language
- Technology (connecting telecentres)
- Copy right / - To learn
- Content sharing
- Industrial level discussions
- Virtual portal for knowledge sharing
- Chamber of commerce for telecentres / - Create a common platform both upto telecentre and from telecentres e.g. solution exchange, gateway
- Physical regional forum in frequent interval
- Role and purpose of network