Journal Review
“EMPOWERING THE RURAL COMMUNITIES VIA THE TELECENTRES”
Norizan Abdul Razak
1. Preliminary
In this modern era every single things that we do depends on ICT (Information Communication Technology) which is supporting all aspect of our life. Information spread every second, but unfotunately the telecentre condition of every single area in one country is very diffrent. There is a digital gap between metropolis society and rural community. For marginalized or remote areas who is limited geographically, learning and in the trading or business sectors.
Norizan Abdul Razak (2007) expressed this creates the digital gap between rich and poor digital for Malaysia people. And now it begin to widen the difference between urban and rural communities, gender and age level. Therefore need a collaboration to build telentres. With the telecentre, the community is expected to be technology literate and increase public participation in goverment activities, commerce, learning and other online activities. It will evantually lead to the empower ment of communities through telecentres. In addition there also many other efforts to bride between them and the marginalized communities.
2. Methods
The subjects of this study is 10 best telecentre located in rural Malaysia and 557 users in 20 telecentre. The journal is based on the collection of data from different reference years 2007-2008, as well as the analysis performed by taking the primary data and spread questionnaire given to respondents / research samples were selected using simple random sampling..
3. Discussion Result
Norizan Abdul Razak (2008) has analyzed and identified 6 factors to successfully run a telecentre in a community:
• Community Involvement
One of the key factor of successing empowerment via telecentres is community involvement. They have to actively involved in telecentres, support the activity there, and if needed, they also have to make decisions and support it maximally. Their involvement will make the ICT activities that have been planned could go well.
• Local Champions/Leaders
Beside the community, the local leader also have to support the activity that happened in telecentres. They have to be very supportive and attend the activity. Their presence will also give promotion to the telecentre, so the community will be attracted and go to the telecentre. For example, the head of village, or the head of the mosque.
• Leadership of Telecentres’ Operators
The success of telecentre is very depends on the operator’s personality. Their role is very crucial in the activity on the telecentre, because he is the one who fully responsible in the whole operation, from the management aspect until the networking as well. He have to have a business background to help him manage the telecentre more effectively.
• Collaboration with other Agencies and Instancies
Collaboration with another instancies offering more service. For example collaboration with local universities. They can provide education contents such as e-books. They also can provide services such as e-learning. The universities also get benefits from the community, for example they can get new students from the community.
• Adequate Infrastructure and Management
There must be an adequate infrastructure in every telecentres, such as computers. The computers also have to be updated and upgraded occasionally. The softwares and hardwares have to be the latest one, that compatible to the market and can be used for online transactions. The telencentres also have to have a great management so the upgrading and updating process won’t be interrupted by the funding factor.
• Commitment and Active Participation of the Central Agencies and Contractors
Commitment from the central agencies are very crucial, because its role is to give allocations for the development and purchasing the equipment. They also have to monitor and evaluate the development progress on the telecentres. Not also on the infrastructure, but also in human resources. Participation from contractors is also important for the telecentres, because they are the ones that will be contacted if there are any technical problems. They also responsible for equipping the telecentres with the equipment that the central agencies has ordered.
4. Conclusion
Telecentres can become effective centres for social activities. But to run it maximally, there are many factors that connected to each other. The community ICT literacy level can be upgraded. Hopefully, the telecentres’ activity will ensure the rural community empowerment.
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Comments
With a variety of factors that can support the creation of empowerment of rural communities. So that they can access and participate in online activities. But to attract people or improve the awareness of the importance of technology require socialization and training of ICT with the introduction of English language learning.
In addition, the need for supervision and security to access, although access to technologically with the goal of learning as well as businesses still need to be monitored. Because the technology at present often in the wrong use, for example such as the use to access pornography. So for the use of learning for under age need guidance and supervision of adults and the elderly. If there is abuse, rural communities will not be deceived but will mislead them. Therefore, the need for security surveillance in accessing something. Keeps people from abusing the telecentre and created comfort and safety in the use of technology.
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Comments
One areas development with another areas development even in a same country-in this topic is Malaysia never be same. Always there is a differences of it starts from community characteristic, economy growth, life style, awareness, till a digital knowing. Now day quantity of technology and ICT using in a big city and the other left areas has a big divide. To erase a digital gap between a marginalized society and rural community needs an empowerment for the rural community via telecentres (technology and communication facilitate for rural community to access any information) to bring them in a vast knowledge, increase e-participation and becoming the medium for business transactions and social communication.
For succeeding project of Telecentre it needs a good team works between the community as the user; local leaders, politicians, or state representative to promote and support it; operator as the most responsible to manage and operate Telecentre; Agencies & Organizations provides training and learning education; and contractor as the machine supplier. If every single element take their role to support it I do believe that this plan will run well and bring a huge benefit, cause when a rural community has a technology literacy it would motivate and bring them to a better condition in every age rates, there are:
1. Youth; people in this age rates usually a student which needs a much information for their tasks, lesson and knowledge. With telecentre development they can access and downloading many sites and documents such as e-books that will help them to get information without any extra cost cause it’s free.
2. Productive; people in this age rates mainly a worker that need to fulfill their family needed. With a capability to using telecentre community would able to earn higher rates of salary with a lower activity example by open an online shop to promote and sell ethnic product from it is community.
3. Elderly; people in this age rates mainly has no crucial activity in a daily, they just sit and enjoy their relax time. So with telecentre development they will able to communicate with their family in other areas with a low cost cause using technology programs.
I assume that with a capability to using technology rural community not only would get so many benefit, but also it will make a new bad case possibility from the malfunction of the telecentres technology itself, such as:
1. Pornography; with a capability to Internet accessing with a lack self-awareness which is unsual in rural community would trigger people in youth age rates surf any information including access porn sites. It would harm the person psychology with so many bad effect till the most crucial one is create a crime case.
2. Internet addicted; peoples with a surfing capability with a less self-awareness may spent too much time for using internet only for checking their mail, social sites, play online games or take a chat than doing their main job.
3. Fraud; it’s really a usual case which is targeting the new people that just using internet for a while, the case usually happen is peoples buy something in some sites, they already pay for it but unfortunately the product that they want has never comes.
So, in order to combating problems that would comes cause the using of technology of Telecentre we need do some prevention, there are:
1. Socialization from local leaders, state representative and religious leaders to inform and warn rural community when using ICT needs to aware everyone, don’t transfer money easily to someone and explain to rural community about sins that would they get if they access the porn-sites as the consequence.
2. Installing internet watchdog in every single computer units; this software will able to filtering sites, document, pop-up chat, pages etc that access by user is clear without a porn elements.
3. Limiting Internet use; the operator gives rural community a quota to using technology in telecentre, for the example: youth 2 hours, adult 3 hours and eldery 1 hours a day to access via Telecentre not only to prevent them to get an Internet addiction but also to make the benefits of this facilitate spread well and able to used by everyone.
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Comments
In my opinion, this method of empowerment is very useful. Why? Because nowadays ICT is important in our daily life. For school-aged people, ICT (specially internet access) can be used in education sector, such as search for free e-books and paper materials. For older people, it can be used as job opportunity, making business deals. And ICT also can be used as way to communicate with other people.
In this paper, I want to change my point of view. I want to see how it will works if that method is implemented in Indonesia. As the journal had said, the most important issue here is access and understanding the language that used in internet. In Malaysia, maybe the second issue isn’t very crucial, because more than half people there can understand English although passively, because Malaysia is one of UK’s commonwealth countries, so beside Malay as their mother language, they also used to talk in English as their second language. But Indonesian isn’t used to talk or even read in English, so we have to pay more attention in this issue. So they just have to concentrate on the first factor, the access issue. Beause the topography of Malaysia and Indonesia is almost the same, we are having the same issue. The internet access must have to reach every part of the country, starts from the big cities, the coasts, the forests, even the mountains.
Then we have to think about the telecentres itself. Ideally, there should be at least one telecentres in every village/district. In every telecentres, there should be a person who understands ICT well, and that person will be the one who responsible for that telecentre, called operator. There also should be a complete ICT means such as computers, speakers, printers, etc. And the most important thing is, in every telecentres, there should be something that will attract people to come and use the telecentres. For example to attract children, the operator will show them the way to use some kids programs such as Paint, or other games.
But honestly, I personally think that this program won’t be able to implement in Indonesia maximally. Because this program costs lots of money, and as we all know, some of Indonesian people have a bad habit: corruption. So if the budget of this program is cut, it won’t run maximally. For example, if the budget is cut, there won’t be enough money to pay the operator, or the internet access, so the telecentre won’t work maximally and in the end people won’t come there again.
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