Deploying 1.000 Telecentres in a country like Rwanda, has the potential to do more than giving people access to ICT. With 1.000 Telecentres, there's one access point for every 11.000 Rwandans. Or, looking from another angle, on selling point for every 11.000 Rwandans. And that is something a lot of organizations in Rwanda - private, public and civil society - would probably be very interested in. To sell their products, deliver their services or spread their information to the people. As a westerner, I found the added value of such a service & information delivery channel hard to understand. But what I had to realize, is that an efficient distribution channel is almost a given in the West, but not in a developing country as Rwanda. Therefore, this is one almost certain way of adding value - and sustainability - to the individual Telecentres, provided that the network can be created at high speed. But can we take it one step further? What if we could not only create a flow from the private, public and civil organizations towards the population, but also a flow from the population to the organizations? Pillars of telecentre sustainability Great examples of this two-way distribution channel are Drishtee and E-Choupal in India. Due to inefficiencies in the transport system, India relied on several middelmen to get the products from the farmers to the producers. Farmers lost up to 30% of their income to these middlemen, were unable to respond the market price and could not improve their production, since they lacked knowledge of latest techniques or even a reliable weather forecast. Drishtee and E-choupal, two telecentre organizations, equipped thousands of villages with a computer connected to the internet and ensured the right processes and information availability. As a result, farmers get a better price, can produce better quality and the efficiency of the market has increased. Service & information delivery channel So the question are : can we step take it one step further in Rwanda? How can we provide telecentres with multiple revenue streams to enhance sustainability? What does the value chain look like in Rwanda and are there any inefficiency that can be diminished using telecentres? The writer is Juriaan Deumer, Member of RTN advisory board

Less than twenty years after the 1994 genocide that wrecked havoc in Rwanda's human resource, infrastructure, and socio-economic fabric, the country is set to become a major information and communications technology (ICT) hub in the East and Central African region. Thanks to ambitious government initiatives in developing Rwanda's telecommunications infrastructure, the country's ICT sector - including mobile phone and fibre optic networks as well as PC and Internet access - has become a primary target of both international public and private investment in recent years. Most of the credit has to go to the president of the country His Excellency President Paul Kagame. Since his inception as the President of Rwanda, his Government has set up a sweeping and visionary agenda to reshape the country’s economy and society with the use of information and communication technology. In this far reaching Television interview the president gives a break down of the government’s initiatives that have bore fruits and he lists telecentres as one of the major drivers in the growth of ICT in rural areas. Watch the video

The government of Rwanda is  commited to support the  goal of Rwanda Telecentre Network of  deploying l 1,000 telecentres in Rwanda before 2015. This was said by ICT Minister Dr Ignace Gatare on Wednesday while officially opening a two days RTN partners meetings  which was held in Kigali from 16^th -17^th February. The objective of the meeting was deepen the awereness of telecentres in the development of Rwanda as well  creating partnerships for deploying 1,000 lower cost telecentres. Participants to the meeting includes international development organizations and governemet officials.

“We strongly believe that the 1,000 telecentres goal is a strategic option to move from agriculture economy to a knowledge based economy”, Gatare said

The 1,000 telecentres project is spearheaded by RTN, with the support of the Technical Centre for Agriculture and Rural Cooperation (EU-CTA) , Telecentre.org foundation and Rwanda Development Board. The goal of the project is to facilitate the deployment of lower cost 1,000telecentres countrywide, thereby allowing the Rwandan population to access services and information using ICTs.

Now is an important time in the development of the Rwanda information and communication technologies( ICTs) sector. ICTs were always a pivotal part of the Vision 2020, so to highlight their importance and facilitate their development, the government in 2000 launched the National ICT Plan (NICI I). The plan was formulated as taking place over four five year cycles. The first, from 2000 to 2005, focused on the creation of a fertile, enabling environment in Rwanda for ICTs initiatives to take hold. The second, from 2006 to 2010, placed emphasis on the development of key ICT infrastructure such as the laying of fiber optics cables. 2011 is a critical year-- not only because it marks the launch of NICI-3, but because the emphasis of this third phase is on the development and use of new services that were made possibly by phases one and two. Thus, a newly participatory phase in Rwanda's ICTs development is set to begin.

While NICIs one and two were important steps, there were also significant challenges associated with them. Not only was there a low level of understanding of the programs by the general populace, and weak monitoring and evaluation, but the length and complexity of the plans meant that they had a limited capacity to change and evolve to meet unexpected obstacles and challenges. In order to address these issues, the third phase has been broadly divided into five areas-- ICT skills development, private sector development, ICT for community development, E-government and cyber security. For each of these areas, a cluster working group has been created. These are diverse groups of planners and stakeholders in each of the five areas. In the coming five to ten years, they will set goals and develop projects to be undertaken in each area, as well as identify the greatest needs and  points of intervention. By the end of February 2011, each group will present a first draft strategic action plan showing the way forward. Through this system, NICI-3 will have a degree of creativity and flexibility absent from the previous two phases.

To inaugurate the new system, members of the cluster working groups met from the eighth to the tenth of December, 2010. They highlighted key short, medium and long-term goals, identified priorities and initiatives in each area, and presented them to the other groups. Dividing the different areas of NICI-3 into working groups made up of experts and stakeholders from each field means that maximum knowledge and expertise will be brought to each aspect of the program. By facilitating knowledge sharing between the different cluster groups, flexibility and cooperation are ensured.

This cooperation between domains is key to the success of NICI-3. E-government, which focuses on the creation and use of ICTs for delivering government services, must work closely with cyber security to ensure confidentiality and safe-keeping of records. ICTs for community development, while focused on awareness, availability and affordability of ICT services, especially in remote areas, will work closely with private sector development, which includes entrepreneurial and business training for ICT providers in these areas. To ensure continued cooperation, frequent meetings will be routinely held between members of the cluster working groups.

While NICI-3 is a big step in Rwandan ICTs development, the newly created approach of cluster working groups brings a measure of cooperation and creativity to the project that was not there before. As the National ICT plan grows in scale new tools are being brought to the process to ensure its smooth running. An increasingly knowledge-based economy cannot be achieved without significant achievements in ICTs knowledge and use, and the government of Rwanda is rising to meet the challenge.

The second day of the forum focused on local content and capacity building for telecentres managers. The managers split into smaller groups to identify potential new services which would help telecentres to be more sustainable and create impact at community level. Services such as government and agriculture related were identified as key issues in transforming telecentres into real “Community service and knowledge hubs” The capacity building for telecentre staff was seen as a critical factor affecting negatively the performance of telecentres managers and was seen as an urgent issue which needs to be addressed soon. The meeting featured several speakers from RTN stakeholders. One was a representative from the Digital Opportunity trust (DOT) who talked about community training through telecentres. The organization trains unemployed college graduates in ICTs and business skills, and then sends them into the field to offer trainings to cooperatives of youth and women through telecentres.Another speaker from the Rwanda Development Board gave a talk on the national ICTs plan. He discussed NICI and its key features, its focus areas and cluster working groups. The talk highlighted a key challenge. Telecentre managers are important players, particularly within the ICTs for community development focus area-- the speaker described them as "key salespeople" because they have the strongest understanding of the community. However most of the managers at the conference had never heard of NICI before, and had little understanding of ICTs at the national level. Their primary concerns were learning more about the plan and increasing communication between them and RDB, including Kinyarwanda translations of key materials. The RDB representative carefully noted their concerns, and promised follow-up.

The conference ended with a soft launch of RTN portal which was developed with the support of Technical Centre for Agriculture and Rural cooperation(CTA).A demonstration was done to show how telecentres manager would use the portal to share knowledge For all of the individual challenges and concerns addressed in the conference, it could be said that the common theme was stronger communication and coordination of efforts between telecentre managers. If this is improved, a significant step will have been taken in the future of Rwandan ICTs development.

In partnership with Technical Centre for Agriculture and Rural cooperation(CTA), Rwanda Telecentre Network (RTN) is organizing a two-days Telecentre Forum on 16th and 17th Decembre in Kigali.

The telecentre forum intends to give a platform for telecentre practitioners for learning and sharing experience; discuss subjects like sustainability, connectivity and relevant content. More importantly, the forum will offer to the participants a unique occasion to exchange their understanding and views on how to transform Telecentres from a mere ICT access point to community service and knowledge hub.

Objectives of the forum:

• Share ideas on how to ensure self sustainable telecentres while addressing the social economical challenges of the Rwandan community .
• Discuss critical challenges affecting sustainability of telecentres in Rwanda (connectivity, content, technology ect…)
• Develop skills for telecentre staff in accessing and utilizing online learning and sharing platform.
• Discuss recent developments in Rwanda Telecentre movement and new plans for bringing ICTs to rural masses.

The forum will also be an opportunity to launch RTN new portal which will be used as platform for knowledge exchange between telecentres operators and other stakeholders.

 

Juriaan Deumer from the Netherlands and Paul BARERA, Executive Director of Rwanda Telecentre Network (RTN), have just completed the handbook for 1,000 telecentres in Rwanda. This book, developed with the support of CTA (Technical Centre for Agriculture and Rural Cooperation), provides details of WHY and HOW 1,000 sustainable telecentres can be deployed in Rwanda.

More specifically, the handbook provides answers to the following questions:

• Why are 1.000 telecentres in Rwanda necessary?
• What should be done at national level to realize a network of 1.000 telecentres?
• What should be done at RTN level to realize a network of 1.000 telecentres?
• What should be done at telecentre level to realize a network of 1.000 telecentres?

 

This handbook is based on and includes numerous sources of input, such as:

• A national baseline study, which was conducted country wide with the aim of identifying access gap to ICTs and information need at community level
• Country visits to India and East African countries to learn from others’ experiences;
• Firsthand experience in developing and running a telecentre in Rwanda;
• Input from key stakeholders from Rwanda and from the global telecentre movement;

During a one day consultative workshop in Kigali on 20th of August, organized by RTN in partnership with the Rwanda Development Board, the book was presented to ICT4D stakeholders with the idea of seeking their input for further improvement. The official launch of the handbook is planned to take place in October this year.

For those interested, a presentation containing the highlights of the handbook is available with RTN via This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

With kind regards,

Paul BARERA and Juriaan Deumer.

Rwanda Development Board (RDB) in partnership  with Rwanda Telecentre Network (RTN)  is organizing a one-day consultative workshop which will take place on 20^th August 2010 at Hotel le PRINTEMPS in Kigali. The workshop is supported by the Technical Centre for Agriculture and Rural cooperation (CTA).

The goal of the workshop is to share with stakeholders the work that has been done so far by RTN , as well as collect inputs for refinement of road map for deploying 1,000 telecentres in Rwanda. Participants to the workshop include various government departments, major telecom companies, banks, insurance companies, civil society organizations and selected telecentre operators.

 

The 1,000 telecentres project is spearheaded by RTN, with the support of RDB, the Technical Centre for Agriculture and Rural Cooperation (www.cta.int) and Telecentre.org foundation (www.telecentre.org ). The project idea  is to facilitate the deployment of 1,000 sustainable telecentres countrywide, thereby allowing the Rwandan population to access services and information using ICTs.

 

So far, RTN has undertaken a number of activities to realize this goal, including the set up of an international advisory team, execution of a national baseline study, mapping all existing public ICT access points and the development of a five year strategic plan

 

In the year 2000, the Rwandan government laid down a plan to develop the country. In this plan, called ‘Vision 2020’, the government described why and how it envisioned the transfer of the country from an agricultural based economy to a knowledge-based economy. This transfer would be necessary due to diminishing agricultural productivity and arable land distribution, next to several other economic challenges that Rwanda faces, such as natural barriers to trade due to the land-locked geography and the narrow economic base.

 

Part of the transfer to a knowledge-based economy, is the goal to unlock rural areas through local ICT access centers, also known as  telecentres; a public place where people can access computers to use the internet and other digital technologies that enable them to gather information, create, learn, and communicate with others while they develop essential digital skills.

 

And so the Rwandan government in 2005 announced a national plan of rolling out telecentres. So far, 12 centers and 2 mobile ICT buses are operational and another 18 centers are to be launched soon. However, since the goal is to have a telecentre in every village, the current speed of deployment is not sufficient.

 

Given the unsatisfying results so far, the Rwanda Telecentre Network (RTN) has offered to support the Rwandan government and has set itself a mission to create a network of 1.000 telecentres before the end of 2015.

Apart from that, RTN has set the following sub goals:

1.      Build the capacity of people who work in telecentres;

2.      Boost the employment generation in rural areas and reduce urban migration;

3.      Facilitate  local content creation, dissemination and sharing in Rwanda;

4.      Raise awareness of the role of telecentres in the development of Rwanda;

5.    Promote innovative use of ICT4D and develop sustainability mechanism of telecentres.

An update from the Rwanda telecentre Network

Based in a small town in Rwanda, south of the capital Kigali, the owner of the Nyamata telecentre – Paul BARERA  – has taken up an ambitious plan; to deploy 1.000 telecentres in Rwanda before the end of 2015. During the months July and August, he is working with Juriaan Deumer from the Netherlands on the foundations of a new organization, the Rwanda telecentre Network (RTN). Through this blog, RTN will provide the global telecentre community with regular updates on the progress. In this edition, we will elaborate on the background of the project and the results of the first collaborative week in Rwanda.

 

 Background: why ICT access for all Rwandans is crucial for the future of the country

 

In 2000, 6 years after the genocide that took the lives of nearly 1,000,000 Rwandans in just 100 days, the Rwandan government laid down a plan to develop the country. In this plan, called ‘Vision 2020’ the government described why and how it envisioned the transfer of the country from an agricultural based economy to a knowledge-based economy. This transfer would be necessary due to diminishing agricultural productivity and arable land distribution, next to several other economic challenges that Rwanda faces, such as natural barriers to trade due to the land-locked geography and the narrow economic base.

 

Part of the transfer to a knowledge-based economy, is the goal to unlock rural areas through local ICT access centers, also known as  telecentres; a public place where people can access computers to use the internet and other digital technologies that enable them to gather information, create, learn, and communicate with others while they develop essential digital skills.

 

And so the Rwandan government in 2005 announced a national plan of rolling out telecentres. So far, 12 centers and 2 mobile ICT buses are operational and another 18 centers are to be launched soon. However, since the goal is to have a telecentres in every village the current speed of deployment is too low.

 

RTN has offered its support in deploying 1.000 telecentres in Rwanda

 

Given the unsatisfying results so far, the RTN has offered to support the Rwandan government and has set itself a mission to create a network of 1.000 telecentres before the end of 2015. Apart from that, RTN has set the following sub goals:

1.       Build the capacity of people who work in telecentres;

2.       Boost the employment generation in rural areas and reduce urban migration;

3.       Facilitate  local content creation, dissemination and sharing in Rwanda;

4.       Raise awareness of the role of telecentres in the development of Rwanda;

5.       Promote innovative use of ICT4D and develop sustainability mechanism of telecentres.

 

During the coming two months we will define how this goals can be realized

In July and August, we will define how the ambitious goals of RTN can be realized. That means that we work on:

1.       Executing a national baseline study, aimed at defining community needs with respect to telecentres and mapping all existing telecentres, with an expected sample base of 1.500 respondents.

2.       Developing the strategic plan for deploying 1.000 Telecentres in Rwanda, including a concrete implementation plan. The strategic plan will describe how 1.000 profitable telecentres can be deployed in Rwanda in a matter of years.  

3.       Create awareness in Rwanda for telecentres in general and RTN specific, through: 

a.       A consultative workshop with participants from all stakeholder categories; 

b.      A short movie, clarifying the concept of telecentres and RTN.  

 

In case time allows, additional activities include:

1.       Informing (potential) partnerships of the project;

2.       Develop a training for telecentre managers;

3.       Develop a ‘telecentre starterkit’, containing the basics for a telecentre to work under the RTN support.

 

During the past week, the strategic plan has been kick-started

In the first collaborative week, the strategic planning has seen great progress; an exclusive and exhaustive framework has been created (using the intuitive and structured mindmap methodology), containing all aspects of the strategic plan on three levels: telecentre level, RTN level and national level, as well as a draft implementation plan.

 

From this exercise, it appears that the critical success factor will be the business model of individual telecentres: how can they make sufficient profit to be sustainable? Possible revenue streams have been classified into four categories:

1.       Traditional services: internet and telephone usage, faxing, photo-copying, etc.;

2.       Non-traditional services: desktop publishing, room hire for meetings, weddings, training, etc.;

3.       Partner services: services of private and public partners that are delivered through the distribution channel of 1.000 telecentres and that add value for the community, telecentres, partners and RTN;

4.       Subsidies: donors, government.

 

Based on  our experience, we know that it is very difficult for a telecentre to make a profit based only on the traditional services. Therefore, other sources of income are necessary. The non-traditional services however are either very capital-intensive or depend largely on the skills of the telecentre staff. When it comes to subsidies: it is to be investigated whether this is possible and desirable, given the aim for individual telecentre sustainability.

 

This places enormous pressure on making the partner services work. We will examine how this can be done in the coming weeks when we detail the strategic plan, based on and including the results of the baseline study, firsthand field research, the consultative workshop and a detailed business case for future telecentres.

 

In case you would like to know more of the RTN project, please contact Paul BARERA( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) or Juriaan Deumer ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it )

 

Kind regards,

 

Paul and Juriaan.

Rwanda Telecentre Network (RTN) has decided to take the lead of eliminating the digital gap and promoting digital opportunities in rural Rwanda by creating 1,000 Teleservice centres by the year 2015. This will be possible by implementing a unique business model that RTN is already familiar with and which was successfully implemented by Nyamata Teleservice Centre since 2004 in Eastern province of Rwanda. This model is unique in a sense that more emphasis is put on local content and services rather than infrastructures. The core idea is to enable ICT access point to move from traditional oriented services to a wide range of online services.

Read more...