[Telecentres] A Rephrasing of the "Financing Mechnaisms for an Information Socisty" Questions

[Michael Gurstein]

(My apologies for this being uni-lingual English...)

As has already been circulated, the on-line discussion concerning
"Financing Mechanisms" in the context of the World Summit on the
Information Society
http://www.wsis-online.net/financing/forums/forum-view?forum_id=426395
has been extended to Nov. 24.

However, on returning to that site, I've taken another look at the
"official" items presented for discussion on the WSIS-Online forum.
Following this I've further taken the liberty of rephrasing these items
from a perspective which is concerned with enabling or empowering local
communities from the bottom up through the use of ICTs (cf. Community
Informatics (CI) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_informatics.

What follows are the "official" questions followed by a Community
Informatics (CI) rephrasing.  The rephrased questions are currently
being discussed on the Community Informatics elist. (To subscribe:
http://vancouvercommunity.net/lists/subrequest/communityinformatics 

(Official)  1. Most pressing needs and opportunities : What are the most

pressing needs and opportunities for deploying ICT in the context of  
meeting basic development objectives in the developing world ?

(CI Rephrase) From a community perspective what are the most effective
strategies for communities to identify their priorities for ICTs and ICT
implementations and what mechanisms can be set up to allow communities
to negotiate with external (financial) supporters to allow for the
implementation of ICTs within the context of those priorities?
Following from this is there any way to work with systems developers and
designers to help to create systems and applications which more
effectively support community processes and applications than current
systems?


(Official)  2. How to harness and reinforce human resources : How can
human 
resources be best harnessed and reinforced to maximize the potential of 
ICT for all segments of sciety ?

(CI Rephrase) Within the context of limited budgets what are the
priorities within communities for investment in human resources--is it
schools, is it adult/continuing education, is it specialized training?
How can communities be given the opportunity of articulating and
enforcing these priorities and the tools and access to the resources to
help them to implement these priorities so that they are in accord with
local requirements and conditions?


(Official)   3. Efficiency of existing mechanisms : How effective have
existing, 
traditional financial mechanisms been in meeting ICT development goals 
and how can such mechanisms be enhanced ?

(CI Rephrase) What means are currently in place for those communities
which have been the "object" of ICT investment to evaluate the impact
and outcomes (benefits and costs) of these investments (from their
perspective) and what means can be developed to ensure that the results
of these "evaluations" become an element in the planning for any new
round of such investment? (also see above).


(Official)   4. Innovative mechanisms : Are there any examples of new,
innovative 
or multi-sectoral mechanisms that should be considered, and what should 
be their role ?

(CI Rephrase) From a community perspective what would be the most
appropriate and useful means for funding future community based ICT
initiatives? Also as (or more) importantly what (financial,
social/organizational, and/or policy) means can be put in place to
ensure that whatever developments are supported by such investments are
designed and developed in such a way that they are "sustainable" in the
longer term within the context of local (and national and even global)
economic, social, cultural and political circumstances?

I should also point out that many of these issues were discussed at the
recent Conference of the Community Informatics Research Network (CIRN)
http://www.ciresearch.net on "Sustainability and Community Technology"
and selected papers from this conference will be made available through
the peer reviewed e-Journal of Community Informatics
http://e-journal.net in the January '05 issue. 

Best,

Mike Gurstein

Michael Gurstein, Ph.D.
School of Management
New Jersey Institute of Technology
Newark, NJ
(Interim) Chair: Community Informatics Research Network (CIRN)
http://www.ciresearch.net


-----Original Message-----
From: telecentres-bounces at wsis-cs.org
[mailto:telecentres-bounces at wsis-cs.org] On Behalf Of Andy Carvin
Sent: November 12, 2004 7:40 PM
To: telecentres at wsis-cs.org
Subject: [Telecentres] Online Forum on Financing Mechanisms Extended
Until November 24

Hi everyone,

Some of you may recall my previous notice last month that the Taskforce 
on Financing Mechanisms (TFFM) is hosting an online consultation seeking

feedback from civil society on the following question: "How can 
financial resources be most effectively mobilized to help harness the 
potential of ICT to promote human development throughout the world?"

This online consultation was supposed to end today, but it's been 
extended until November 24. During a conference call organized by 
Frannie Wellings of EPIC earlier today, we talked about the potential 
insights that might come from our particular working group, given the 
fact that telecentres all must deal directly with the challenge of 
long-term financial sustainability. So I would like to invite you to 
contribute to this online consultation, both as a group and as
individuals.

Right now, anyone may go online to 
http://www.wsis-online.net/financing/forums/forum-view?forum_id=426395 
to participate in the discussion, and I would encourage all of you to do

so. The discussion is broken down into four threads:

    1. Most pressing needs and opportunities : What are the most 
pressing needs and opportunities for deploying ICT in the context of 
meeting basic development objectives in the developing world ?

    2. How to harness and reinforce human resources : How can human 
resources be best harnessed and reinforced to maximize the potential of 
ICT for all segments of sciety ?

    3. Efficiency of existing mechanisms : How effective have existing, 
traditional financial mechanisms been in meeting ICT development goals 
and how can such mechanisms be enhanced ?

    4. Innovative mechanisms : Are there any examples of new, innovative

or multi-sectoral mechanisms that should be considered, and what should 
be their role ?

....

For more information on the online consulation, please visit here:
http://www.wsis-online.net/financing/finance-root/ForumTFFM

thanks,
ac


-- 
-----------------------------------
Andy Carvin
Program Director
EDC Center for Media & Community
acarvin @ edc . org
http://www.digitaldividenetwork.org
Blog: http://www.andycarvin.com
-----------------------------------
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