[Telecentres] ITU newsletter plugs Telecentres Caucus

[Andy Carvin]

It turns out the ITU has included a nice plug for the WSIS telecentres
caucus in its latest Prepcom newsletter:

http://www.itu.int/wsis/newsroom/2/pc2/highlights/23feb.html

Here's a snippet:

Telecentre Caucus Sees True Potential

A meeting of the Telecentres Caucus was held in order to further its work
to articulate a vision regarding the role of telecentres, community
technical centres, telecottages, and similar institutions, in achieving the
Millennium Development Goals. The caucus currently has 200 members from
more than 60 nations. Many of the participants represent local, national
and regional telecentre initiatives, as well as public libraries and
educational institutions. There are also numerous observers from
government, the private sector and international agencies.

 The Telecentres Caucus is promoting sustainable, multi-purpose telecentres
that enable disenfranchised communities to bridge the digital divide and
join the knowledge society. More than just providing Internet access,
telecentres help people build new skills, gain access to important health
information, become producers of local content and engage civically within
their communities.

The caucus, chaired by Andy Carvin of the Digital Divide Network, said that
?he hopes that the second phase of the summit will help catalyze ongoing
interactions between stakeholders in government, civil society and the
private sector that see telecentres as an important tool for achieving the
MDGs.? Telecentres are often under-resourced, with limited financial and
human capacity, yet they have enormous development mandates within their
communities. ?We hope that the summit will enable an ongoing exchange of
best practices, sustainability models, curricula and other resources that
will allow telecentres achieve their true potential and help marginalized
communities cross the digital divide.?
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Andy Carvin
Program Director
EDC Center for Media & Community
acarvin @ edc . org

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