[Telecentres] From Hungary

[Gáspár Mátyás]

Dear Colleagues,

My name is Mátyás Gáspár, and I am the president of the European Union
of Telecottage Associations.  The telecottage (telehouse) is the
particular form of community access centre, or telecentre, that has
evolved in post socialist countries in Eastern Europe and the Balkans.
The telecottage movement began in Hungary ten years ago and has spread
throughout this region; numbers are now rapidly approaching 1000, more
than half of which are in Hungary.  The founder members of our
association are the telecottage movements of: Bosnia-Hercegovina,
Bulgaria, Estonia, Hungary, Russia, Serbia-Montenegro and Slovakia.  We
are working in cooperation with all the countries of the region,
pursuing intensive knowledge and experience exchange, in which the UNDP,
the OSI and USAID play a central role.  In this region it is this
community telecentre model is the best known approach.  In Hungary it is
characteristic for the technological infrastructure in the telecentre,
which is under civil ownership, to be located within the structural
forms of public institutions of local government such as a school,
community centre or public library.  They are usually operated within
this framework by private individuals or companies.  This is the typical
local PPP model.    

It is the intention of EUTA to help and provide services for the
national telecottage movements and associations in the region.  With
this aim in mind we have prepared - with the support of the UNDP - a
telecottage manual (in Hungarian, English and Russian), elearning
teaching material (this is currently undergoing extensive application
testing in English), relating to which there is a film in partnership
with USAID, which we have made available for general use.   In
cooperation with the Budapest Economic College we have also created a
teaching and learning infrastructure based in Budapest, where we can
organise international telecottage training programmes.  We recently
held the first of these for an Uzbeki delegation.   We are developing a
many initiatives for international cooperation, and it is with great
delight that we join the evolving organisation of the world telecottage
movement.  

We would be delighted to respond to any queries or requests regarding
possible cooprative projects.  For further information please visit
http://www.euta.hu