Making Telecentres Sustainable: Sharing BIID Experiences in Bangladesh
description
Transcript of Making Telecentres Sustainable: Sharing BIID Experiences in Bangladesh
1
Welcome to TIS Talks We believe that today’s ICT4D (information and community technology for development) environment presents us with trends and opportunities with great potential to generate game changing innovations to telecentres and their growing number of users. Join us and learn how!
2
Host and Moderatos Jimena Betancourt TIS TALKS COORDINATOR Jimena Betancourt is an international consultant with more than 10 years of experience in social innovation, strategy and management for sustainable development enterprises and social businesses in ICT4D. She has been involved with the telecentre movement since 2009. [email protected] @jimebeta
3
Md Shahid Uddin Akbar Chief Executive Officer Bangladesh Institute of ICT in Development
Making Telecentres Sustainable Sharing BIID experiences in Bangladesh
Introduction of BIID -‐ BIID is a private sector ini8a8ve that offers a range of services aimed at development and promo8on of ICT based informa8on and services market in Bangladesh.
-‐ It’s dis8nc8on lies in clear understanding of issues & opportuni8es to benefit the poor with the use of ICTs.
-‐ BIID envisions in becoming a reliable and leading enterprise offering strategic planning, implementa8on assistance and consul8ng services to public, private and other ini8a8ves in ICT based services market of Bangladesh and in other developing countries.
Ini%a%ves and Services of BIID � Key Services - Research and Consulting - Service Development and Promotion - HR capacity Building
� Major Initiatives - Proliferation of commercially driven telecenter network - Promoting e-Agriculture (Major economic activity) - Facilitating ICT adoption in health, SMEs, Tourism - Empowering citizens with use of ICTs - Promoting innovations in use of ICTs for rural communities - Offering voice based multi-service through Short Code16250
www.sme.com.bd Proudly Bangladesh
Member Bangladesh Telecentre Network (BTN)
BIID Tanzania
Projects and Partners
Innovation R&D
Piloting & Demo Model
Strategic Partnership
Connectivity
Readiness (HR, Services)
Setting Goals and objectives
Capacity Building Regulatory
Framework
Awareness & Advocacy
Scale up (Replication)
Business Model
BIID Phases, Issues and Outcomes
Commercialization as Inclusive Model
Implementation and Fine Tuning
Pilot & Pre-Testing
QC & Certification
Service Branding
Understanding on Telecentres � A Telecenter is a hub / shared access point with ICT enabled services
targeted to the underserved communi8es in rural and Peri-‐urban communi8es as a mul8 service delivery plaJorm.
� The model developed as a Inclusive Business Model and centre owned and operated by a local entrepreneur as entrepreneurship led model, will be operated on for-‐profit basis with social benefits.
� Services managed & Quality ensured by BIID and offer various ICT enabled services covering agriculture, health, financial services and others under standard guidelines & training.
� The model will include value added services like Voice and SMS based services with strong back office and partnership network
Telecentre
Reply from Web / online
resources
Advisory Panel
Experts
Help Desk at BIID
Specialist
Extension department
Service Provider
Rural users
Services (Information and service) Solution in ICT enabled and traditional media
Telecentre/ BP / Operator maintain
the contact and communicate to
get the solution as asked by the customers
Content update team will contact with the sector
Specific focal point to meet the query
and update content
Service delivered by using Internet / mobile or any
other media
Experts may
directly contacted
Service Delivery Flow of Telecentres
BIID involvement in Telecentres � Manage the Grameen Phone Community Information Centre (GP
CIC) network of 500 telecentres : Training, awareness building, service offering and monitoring
� Developed framework of Union Information and Service Centres (UISC) and offered training and e-services
� Assessed telecentres in Tanzania & recommended business model
� Developed inclusive business model of telecentre titled Batighar (Lighthouse) and rolled out in 20 locations as pre-commercial
� Innovate & offer service basket and branding (e-Krishok for agriculture, e-Clinic for health, EPO for extension, MSME for micro enterprises and Amar Hishab for Financial literacy
� Develop strategic partnership with relevant stakeholders
BIID Strategies for Telecnetre initiatives � Serving the poor through profit in a sustainable way
� Targeting the BoP (Base of the Pyramid) communities
� Integrated approach and multi stakeholder partnership
� Balancing financial and social benefits
� Continuous innovation and demand based service development under Bundling of Services strategy where commercial and social (free) services offered
� Inclusive business model win-win proposition for BIID-Local entrepreneur and target communities
Supportive policy and commitment of the Govt.
Conn
ecti
vity
&
Tec
hnol
ogy
Busi
ness
Pl
an
Serv
ices
Capa
city
Awar
enes
s
Business model approach and need based services
Pilla
rs
Structure of Telecentre
Five Major Strands of Telecentres
Livelihood • Livelihood Analysis (Social & Economic)
Services Needs
• Responsive Service Development
Ownership • Community Engagement / Partnership
Result • Impact Assessment / Scaling up
Sustain ability
• Inclusive Business Model
Few snapshots of exis8ng telecentres
Myth vs Reality about telecentres Livelihood & ICT is a fancy combination and most hot
development agenda to solve all problems exists in livelihood
ICT is only for the ‘elite’ communities, not for the ‘mass’
Services for the poor should be FREE and there is not paying capacity of the poor
Telecentre is the major economic driver and ICT can contribute to make the people efficient and system
transparent, which improve livelihood
Challenges faced to introduce Business Model for telecentres � Perception among the telecentre practitioners (Most
initiatives run under subsidized model with donor money)
� Market distortion at field level and dominance of FREE services at the usage level
� Balancing profit vs social cause, specially at local level
� Lack of resources for innovation and model testing
� Low awareness among different stakeholders
� Conceptual limitations among the telentre practitioners
� Lack of availability of ‘success models’ to demo
Addressing the Challenges � Setting the vision with right strategies
� Targeting the untapped BoP market for growth and service packaging
� Integration of inclusiveness in the business model
� Positioning telecentres as a hub for social and commercial services
� Resilience to survive the innovations and continuation
� Building partnerships among development agencies and commercial organizations
� Combination of mobile and PC based services
Sustainability issue – The most debated issue in telecentre movement � Defining sustainability by the practitioners are not unique
and it has been framed as per the ‘requirement’ of the donors, and biased.
� Most of the organizations (previous groups) now moving to ‘revenue’ or ‘cost recovery’ or ‘no profit’ model. And again, its also due to the requirement of the donors.
� Ignoring the ground reality and long terms impact of subsidized models had been promoted
� Entrepreneurship led model with inclusiveness emerged as a solution to address the sustainability issue
Why business model is important? � Due to lack of business model, most of the telecentres
disappear after the funding is over. All rosy picture during project life and reverse when project ends.
� Without business model, scaling up or replication is impossible
� Incentive is a Must to drive, grow and innovate for initiatives at different level
� Free service cant ensure quality & accountability, and people don’t value it
� The most killer thing in FREE service model is making the beneficiaries Handicapped. It creates social imbalance.
What is unique in Bangladesh? � Both the models (Subsidy based and for profit) of
telecentres exists
� Entrepreneurship led model is growing fast
� Innovative services and availability of connectivity
� New initiatives are integrating Business Model
� Development agencies are also focusing of for-profit or cost recovery / revenue models
� Available ‘success cases’ in entrepreneurship models
� Govt. is also promoting telecentre based initiatives and e-Services
� Integration of mobile based services in Telecentres
Way forward � Promoting sustainable telecentre model
� Sharing Bangladesh experiences with global telecentre practitioners
� Facilitate intensive ‘action research’ and expert support on developing business model centric telecntre projects in developing countries
� Document and case studies on different success models beyond Bangladesh
� Mobilize resources to support innovations
Addressing the Base of
the Pyramid
Benefitting the target group in a sustainable approach
Telecentres bring smiles for the poor
Thank You
For any further information, please email – [email protected]
Next steps: 1. Help us to improve https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/TISTalks04 Need your contact info for certificates 2. Join us on Friday the 10th Ecosystems of Parnerships for Sustainability. Colnodo 10:30am GMT