Please find the concept note added : sustainability-first-concept-note-for-research-version-1.pdf
Please note that this Colloquium is being Skypecast at https://skypecasts.skype.com/skypecasts/skypecast/search.html?search=lirneasia
The Colloquium started out with basic introductions of Dr. Harsha Liyanage and the LIRNEasia crew.
He then went on to explain that he was interested in Telecenters and the Sarvodaya Fusion movement. He went on to tackle the issue of whether Telecenters are sustainable in their own right. He says that there is a negative perception about the sustainability of Telecenters. This is the view often shared by policy makers, regulators, researchers and donors. He went on to speak of the blog site and the telecenter network that has been created to improve the sustainability.
Helani questioned the reasoning behind the reason for focusing on telecenter networks. Harsha responded that prior research had proved that this ensures a greater success.
He went on to say that the reasoning behind telecenters can be divided into four categories. Which are policy, institutional, economic, and social reasons.
He then went on to give some case studies. Studies were done in Drishtee in India, Grameen CIC and D.Net in Bangladesh, Maule Activa in Chile and the Nanasela and Sarvodaya fusion in Sri Lanka.
He then went on to give detailed information on these case studies. With the Grameen CIC example he said that the scheme seems to be making a profit. But he admitted that most of this income comes from mobile reloads rather than for the services offered at telecenters. This could also be because Telenor considers it a corporate social responsibility project and so provides the services at cost.
Next he described the Drishtee case study in India. Telecenters generally reach break even point in 6 – 12 months.
Comments are closed.