Community based information services: A comparative study between Bangladesh and Philippine telecentres

• Main Authors: Brown, Jeremy, Hoque, Shah Md. Safiul
• Format: Conference or Workshop Item
• Language: English
• Published: 2016
• Subjects: QA75 Electronic computers. Computer science
• Online Access: http://repo.uum.edu.my/23379/1/ICT4T2016%2052%2057.pdf; http://repo.uum.edu.my/23379/

In recent years numerous countries have initiated telecentre projects as part of their national eServices strategy to facilitate public access to Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). However these projects have met with varying degrees of success.This paper presents a comparative analysis of current Telecentre operations in Bangladesh and the Philippines.The two countries have large agriculture based rural populations, with large numbers of their population living below the poverty line, yet adoption of ICTs and online services has grown rapidly in recent years among their youthful populations.The study investigates how the different management approaches adopted have impacted upon the telecentre infrastructure attributes, as well as the types of services offered at telecentre sites.The data collection methods used include, community user surveys combined with telecentre operator interviews, supported by site observations.Simple descriptive statistics were used to compare the quantitative data collected in each of the two main areas of telecentre infrastructure, and services offered at telecentre sites in the two geographical locations of Bangladesh and the Philippines.This analysis contributes to the current Telecentre body of knowledge regarding the relative strengths and weaknesses of the public access initiatives offered in both countries.