January 20 - February 5, 1998

The United States Agency for International Development
Africa Bureau, Office of Sustainable Development

Submitted by:
Zoey Breslar, PPC/CDIE/DI/RRS
Ato Wilson, Consultant to PPC/CDIE/DI/RRS

March 1998

Executive Summary i

Background 1

Leland SO1, SO2 2

Leland SO3 3

Status of the Environment 3

Assessment 4

Training 4

Action Plan 6

Conclusion 8

Annex A: Information on the Leland Initiative

Annex B: Leland Background Reports: Citations

Annex C: Hand-Outs

Annex D: INEP Action Plan

Annex E: Community Learning Centers

Annex F: TIPS case study

The Leland Initiative's Strategic Objective 3 promotes broad-based utilization of information and global information technologies within USAID's development partner community to promote sustainable development. The Leland SO3 assessment and training processes are designed to help USAID Missions and their development partners become aware of and harness the potential of currently available technologies. The assessment gauges partners' effectiveness in using information, and the training introduces participants to the Internet and its tools. Equally important, the training focuses on planning for the use of the Internet in participants' institutional settings.

The Leland Initiative End-User assessment and training took place in Guinea Bissau from January 20 through February 4, 1998. During that time, fifteen participants were introduced to the Internet and its capabilities, and were provided time for hands-on practice with the web. A two-day training of trainers (TOT) session was also conducted, sharing training techniques and content for Internet instruction with eight Internet/computer trainers. Due to difficulties with leased line connectivity at the training site, the numbers of participants trained and the amount of baseline data collected were not reached as expected. However, significant progress was made in introducing USAID/Guinea Bissau partners to the power of the Internet.

With USAID/Guinea Bissau’s close out scheduled for September 1998, next steps are critical in Leland’s support of the supply and demand of the Internet. After Leland assistance helps to increase the capability of the country’s Internet connection by providing equipment and training to Guiné Telecom, the private sector will play a crucial role in promoting the Internet to the public. USAID’s role, with the help of the Leland Initiative, is to encourage Internet use among the members of the development community. To begin this, the following actions are recommended before Mission close out:

USAID/Guinea Bissau should also plan for continued collaboration with UNDP, facilitating the incorporation of Leland activities into UNDP’s Sustainable Development Networking Programme. In addition to the continuation or completion of the activities above, longer term Internet activities could include:

Guinea Bissau is undergoing many changes with the state of telecommunications, and by developing a reliable Internet connection and the accompanying customer support necessary, the Internet will quickly become a tool essential in the way the country operates. Guinea Bissau is very much in need of information for research, business, and development; Guineans also have much to offer in commodities, information, and experiences. The Internet can be the means by which Guinea Bissau benefits and benefits from a world beyond their neighbors, and beyond the Lusophone community. This is an important time in Guinea Bissau’s development, and USAID and the Leland Initiative are helping to open channels of communication essential to further progress.

The rate that Guinea Bissau has developed economically over the past six years, since its transition to a democratic regime, demonstrates its dedication and its potential for the coming years. The Internet and the information and communication tools it offers will play a major role in helping Guineans acquire what they need to participate in and benefit from the global economy. This tool will be of particular use in expanding their connections beyond the Lusophone world.

One component of the Leland Initiative, Strategic Objective 3 (SO3), is charged with helping increase the demand for the Internet, especially among development institutions. The Academy for Educational Development undertakes a two-tier assessment and training process with the USAID bilateral Missions to receive their maximum input in this process. The Leland Initiative Internet End-User Assessment surveys USAID partner institutions' information use, and their potential for using the Internet given their current communication activities. The End-User Training is designed to compliment USAID bilateral activities by providing awareness, skills training, and an action planning process to selected USAID partner institutions in countries where the Initiative is active. (See annex A for information about the Leland Initiative, the Initiative's End-User component, and the End-User Training Description.)

The Leland Assessment and Training in Guinea Bissau took place January 20 through February 4, 1998. Selected participants reflected USAID/Guinea Bissau's focus on economic growth activities, which are broadly defined, as follows:

USAID/Guinea Bissau's results framework shows many opportunities for Internet use, in all of their four intermediate results. These include: decentralization and transparency, increased public knowledge of policy and regulations, investments, businesses' increased use of information and better management, access to market information, participation in ECOWAS, and strengthened associations and private sector organizations.

USAID/Guinea Bissau is very supportive of the Leland Initiative and understands the value of this communication tool to assist in the country's development. The USAID Mission has invested a lot of resources in the Leland process to date, and the Leland training provided the opportunity for the Mission and several of its partners to further think through their near-term Internet goals. Unfortunately, USAID/Guinea Bissau is scheduled to close out its program in September 1998; however, activities will continue through the Mission's close out, whereupon the Mission will work with UNDP as they integrate the Leland work plan into their similar programs. The action plan included in this report reflects these events.

In January 1997, the Government of Guinea Bissau (GOGB) signed the Leland Initiative Memorandum of Understanding, agreeing to begin liberalizing the Internet industry in exchange for technical assistance with their national Internet connectivity. USAID/Guinea Bissau (through the Trade and Investment Promotion Support project) had been exploring ways to support the growth of the Internet in Guinea Bissau since October 1996, which included their co-funding of an Internet exposition, making Leland involvement a logical next step. [See reports from Steele, Lowenthal, and Metzger for further background on the policy and technical details - cited in annex B.]

Until recently, Portugal was the majority owner of Guinea Bissaun telecommunications, but January negotiations initiated by Minister of Finance Issuf Sanhà has changed the policy environment (Brian - help!!). (connection) Leland has begun the installation of the Internet node, and will provide training to the Guiné Telecom officials. Private sector entities will then be invited to provide service to the Guinean public; this open competition will encourage good service while driving prices down. Access to reliable service is the primary barriers to the public's Internet use at this time.

From October 8-10, 1996, UNDP and USAID sponsored an Internet Exposition designed to educate the public and create interest about the Internet and its uses at the Hotti (Sheraton) Hotel. The Expo was followed by several months of Internet training, where SITEC (a local accredited training institute) trainers continued with familiarizing the public with the Internet. This Expo also resulted in a declaration acknowledging the steps needed for useful Internet connectivity in a country, and the need for sub-regional cooperation and sharing of resources. It provided the Guinean public with more awareness about the uses of the Internet and invited them to assist in the steps needed to make it a reality in Guinea Bissau.

Currently, Guiné Telecom is the only telecommunications provider, and is owned and operated by the Portuguese and Guinea Bissaun governments. It is therefore the only Internet Service Provider (ISP) in Guinea Bissau, and has approximately 250 subscribers. The initial one-time subscription fee is CFA 15,000 ($25.00) with a CFA 1500 ($2.50) per hour charge, in addition to the CFA 95 charge per impulse (3 minutes) for telephone use ($3.17 per hour). This tariff structure will change when the number of subscribers reaches 300 (for Internet fees only, not phone charges), to make access less expensive for frequent users. Currently, many subscribers belong to the international community and use the Internet for lower cost communications with their home countries.

In spite of its limited staff for Internet activities (currently two, to increase to four in April), Guiné Telecom has plans to provide web page development services and to install a leased line to their cybercafé. The cybercafé is open during regular working hours and has six terminals with dial-up access (at $2.50 per hour) which clients line-up to use. Guiné Telecom also provides leased lines to selected customers at $1,850.00 per month.

SITEC, a private sector accredited training institute, also has a cybercafé, and has recently moved to a new location on the outskirts of the city on the road to the airport. This training facility offers several classrooms, a number of computer laboratories, and leased line access to the Internet. The cybercafé is equipped with 10 terminals, charging CFA 1250 ($2.08) per hour, open Monday through Saturday 3-10 p.m. Like the Guiné Telecom cybercafé, this one is frequently crowded. SITEC also offers one-week Internet classes for CFA 15,000 ($25.00) per person.

SITEC was created more than a decade ago by Abdoulaye and Hamidou Sila to advance the application of modern technologies to the development of Guinea Bissau. The brothers' primary goal was to create a technology training institute (Guinea Bissau has no tertiary educational institutions) focusing on telecommunications, electronics, computing, and energy. Presently, SITEC provides a wide range of Internet-related services, as well as courses in radio and electronics, and accredited degrees in a variety of technical fields. One of SITEC's wider ambitions is to obtain a license to officially operate as the second ISP and eventually as the second network operator in Guinea Bissau. They hope to offer services at a very low cost, and intend to provide free access to development NGOs and medical facilities in Bissau.

The Internet user base has the potential to grow quickly, as per Lowenthal's report (August 1997). He forecasts the Internet market to reach 500 to 750 subscribers within the first year of Leland connectivity. Before this can happen, the poor quality of the phone lines, which contributes to slow and unreliable dial-up access, must be addressed. Leland is exploring alternative technologies to by-pass decaying African telecommunication infrastructure.

This Leland SO3 trip was designed to be a combination of an assessment and training. Given the original schedule organized by the Mission in Bissau, most of the USAID partners who would have been interviewed in the process of the assessment would have attended the training workshops. Wilson and Breslar therefore revised the assessment questionnaire to be used in conjunction with xeroxes of the completed training hand-outs. This would have provided for the collection of the same baseline data which has been collected during all other Leland assessments.

However, due to the revised training schedule, only 15 participants completed the revised questionnaire and none of those participants underwent the Leland information use analysis or action planning process from which the hand-outs would have come. From the data collected, however, it can be deduced that there is knowledge of information processing through the use of databases and that information centers are a common way of making information available to development organizations. Several of the participants were already connected to the Internet, and through discussion, it was clear they had a basic knowledge of the advantages it offered. Reports and papers are still relied upon, as is inter-personal communication. Radio and television are also a notable source of information.

The Leland team conducted one two-day training of trainers (TOT) session, and two half-day sessions for USAID development partners. The original plan was to hold three two-day participant sessions and one two-day TOT session; however, due to religious holidays and the absence of a leased line to the training facility (SITEC), the schedule changed significantly.

The training workshops were held, for the most part, at SITEC, where the leased line became operational the evening of January 29th. Because of the delay in installing the connection, a half-day presentation was organized at the Hotti Hotel on Monday, February 2. Fifteen of the original invitees attended, and most participated in a follow-up hands-on session the following day in the SITEC cybercafé. Unfortunately, since participants had not had skills training the first day, action planning was not included in the second day's program. Rather, participants benefitted from surfing the web and one-on-one assistance from Breslar and SITEC trainers (most having participated in the Leland TOT).

Due to the last minute change in schedule, Wilson and Breslar conducted a morning awareness session on January 26th with a laptop and dial-up access to the Internet for those trainees who had not heard that the sessions were being postponed. This gave seven participants the opportunity to better understand the Internet, to see a demonstration of the Web and searching techniques, and time to ask questions relevant to their interests. Most of these participants attended the later sessions on February 2 and 3.

The TOT session was conducted at SITEC, without leased line connectivity, on January 29th and 30th. Though the leased line was up on the second day, there were difficulties with the connection. The TOT was successful in spite of some language difficulties, as not all technicians spoke English or French. The content of the TOT included:

· a review of AED/Leland training content

· training techniques/methodologies

· the conceptual challenge of describing/training the Internet and its benefits

· the need for information analysis and planning

· what training materials to use, and how and when to use them

· developing action plans for Internet growth in Guinea Bissau

· public end-user marketing and awareness-building

· awareness about Internet applications and resources needed for connection

· marketing/promotion of cybercafés

The Leland brochures and participant manuals (both available in French and English) were available at all of the sessions (except on January 26). Facilitator guides (in English) were distributed at the TOT, and hand-outs of web resources by sector were available at the February 3 hands-on session (see annex C for hand-outs).

Overall, the training sessions were useful. Though some participants were familiar with e-mail and had Internet accounts, only a few trainers were familiar with the Web. This training not only increased USAID partners' awareness of the Internet and its potential, but shared Leland's training approach with Internet trainers in Bissau, enhancing their skills. Another significant outcome was Guiné Telecom's installation of a leased line at SITEC, a significant step for a potential future ISP competitor. Prior to SITEC's move to their new facility, UNDP funded their leased line for training purposes. Now, SITEC is paying for its own line and can use it for a variety of services, and are bound only by Guinean telecommunications policies.

The action plan for USAID/Guinea Bissau is two-tier, encompassing activities to take place before the Mission closes out in September, and those to be considered when planning future activities with UNDP. Note that the Leland team began laying the groundwork for future activities by interviewing several USAID partners while in Bissau, and drafting a plan of action with INEP, the national research institute (see annex D for INEP draft plan of action).

The following activities are suggestions for the Mission to consider now, and to keep in mind and elaborate on when developing the work plan with UNDP later this year. The Mission should continue dialogue with Leland/W (especially SO3) for further ideas and input for the continuation of Leland activities.

The potential of widespread Internet connectivity is closer to being a reality in Guinea Bissau, given the recent policy changes concerning the telecommunications industry. Those changes, combined with increasing public awareness and the private sector's determined involvement in making the Internet useful could prove to be the starting point for a rapid increase in Guinea Bissau's presence on the Internet. Much needs to happen over the next year, and with the energy and dedication of the Leland team (in Bissau and elsewhere), it is certain to be a highly productive time.

Though the Leland SO3 visit did not yield the expected number of organizations assessed and number of participants trained, what was accomplished was successful and an essential part of the Leland process.

The African Global Information Infrastructure (GII) Gateway Project, also known as the Leland Initiative, is a five-year, $15 million project, designed to extend full Internet connectivity to up to 20 African nations. The project facilitates and encourages Internet use by Africans and their development partners to meet the challenges of achieving sustainable development. Approved by the U.S. Congress in l995, the initiative is named in honor of U.S. Congressman Mickey Leland who was killed in a plane accident in Ethiopia in 1989. Mr. Leland had worked extensively in African affairs and was a strong advocate of U.S. support to Africa.

The Africa GII Gateway Project is an interagency effort coordinated by the U.S. Agency for International Development. Project activities fall under three strategic objectives:

In each country where the Leland Initiative is active, strategic objective 3 (SO3) activities begin with a series of country assessments that address 1) national and regional policies and regulations concerning telecommunications and information access and use; 2) the present condition of the national telecommunications infrastructure; and 3) the current condition of and potential demand for Internet access in the public and private sectors. Data gathered from these assessments form the foundation for individualized country reports and action plans for SO3 activities.

The following Leland Initiative SO3 activities are implemented through the Academy for Educational Development's Research and Reference Services Project, funded through USAID's Center for Development Information and Evaluation.

The objectives of the SO3 assessment are to measure and promote awareness about the Internet and its uses for development among USAID's partners, and to appraise Internet service provision to gain an accurate picture of the availability of the Internet in the country. Assessment reports recommend next steps for USAID and the Leland Initiative to support the introduction or heightened use of the Internet in African institutions.

By focusing on current USAID partners for this assessment, the recommendations made fit well within each USAID mission's current Country Strategy Plan and established priorities. The Leland team relies on the mission's SO teams to identify their partners, and provides the following six criteria as guidelines to select organizations and individuals to be interviewed during the assessment process:

Once the assessment interviews are completed, each organization is ranked according to the following indicators, designed to measure an institution's readiness for effective use of the Internet.

Institutional Information and Communication Strategy: This indicator evaluates an institution's ability to report its mission and main objectives. The institution is measured on its ability to articulate what role communication and information play in the organization.

Institutional Information Use: This indicator examines what information sources are produced and used. The institution is measured against the types of material and publications routinely produced and collected, such as newsletters, research reports, and raw data, in combination with the amount of data used from outside sources to accomplish its goals and make decisions. The institution is measured on the amount of communication and information sources used as an integral part of the institution's operations.

Recognition of the Potential Contribution of the Internet to its Institutional Mission: This indicator measures an institution's ability to recognize the need for and the ability to articulate the potential use of information from outside its usual resources. The institution is measured on its basic understanding of the Internet and its ability to articulate the potential contribution of Internet applications to its operations.

Champion: This indicator identifies one or more individuals within the organization who promote Internet use, articulate the importance of Internet use, and set an example of effective Internet use in the workplace. In essence, the institution is measured by its ability to identify an internal spokesperson(s) who can successfully encourage integration of new technologies or ideas.

Telecommunication and Computer Infrastructure: This indicator records an institution's existing telecommunications facility and the number and types of computers, modems, and printers already in use. This indicator takes into account the required investment necessary to upgrade the existing telecommunication and computer infrastructure to effectively integrate the new communication and information technology into an existing mode of operations.

Potential for Sustainability: This indicator measures the technology against an institution's existing operational budget to calculate whether incorporating the new technology is affordable. An institution is measured for its ability to maintain the technology on a month-to-month basis.

At the end of the interview process a summary of findings is prepared for the USAID Mission. This summary evaluates the institution’s readiness for effective Internet use and indicates which are "fast-track" organizations (see Resulting Activities section below for more details on fast-track activities).

When considering the availability of the Internet in a country, the SO3 assessments appraise the barriers to Internet access and use on two levels. First-level barriers, some of which are also being examined by other U.S. government agencies, are issues at a national level that effectively block Internet access for end-users. These national-level barriers need to be eliminated before institutions can confidently rely on equitably sustained Internet access and use. These barriers include:

The second-level barriers confronted by institutions center around internal Internet and communication policies. Strategies need to be developed both within an organization and among Internet Service Providers to overcome these issues. These barriers include:

To help realize Leland's objectives, the SO3 team facilitates on-site trainings to assist USAID missions and their development partners in harnessing the potential of currently available information technologies to further their development objectives.

The training, primarily for USAID mission staff and their fast-track development partners, will introduce participants to the Internet and to Internet resources relevant to their specific areas of expertise. It focuses on raising awareness and incorporating Internet applications into development activities. The training is tailored to meet each mission's needs, and pays particular attention to applying Internet uses to the participants' institutional settings.

The purpose of this training is three-fold: to bring USAID staff to a level of knowledge to be able to use the Internet as a resource in their work; to advance the understanding of the capabilities of the Internet on the part of USAID staff in order to promote its use among their partners, and to be able to assist those partners in the development of a strategy for Internet use; and, to introduce partner institutions to the Internet and discuss applications, encouraging them to pursue connectivity and serve as an awareness builder/resource in other similar institutions.

Prior to the training, the Leland team makes recommendations regarding the training environment and composition of the group(s) of participants to maximize the benefit of the training and to ensure the Leland objective is achieved. Details of the training are worked out in advance between Leland staff and the mission. Possibilities for the training structure include:

Once national and institutional constraints (first and second level barriers) are reduced or eliminated and affordable Internet access can be made available to the public, the following activities can be undertaken to develop the Internet industry and end-user capabilities. These activities, and others, are often supported by bilateral USAID missions, with the assistance of Leland team members from Washington. Selected activities may receive funding from USAID's Africa Bureau or other sources, depending on the nature of the activity.

Important practical experience can be gained through the implementation of selected pilot activities. Through the interview process, SO3 assessment teams choose a group of institutions based on their ranking from the previously mentioned indicators and their ability to enforce USAID SO activities and show the greatest impact with minimal USAID assistance. After having participated in the Internet for Development: Applications and Training Workshop, these development institutions will act as models and catalysts of effective Internet use. To promote greater cooperation and information exchange among African countries, special focus should be given to regional institutions and projects. Strategies for encouraging Internet use in rural areas, perhaps initially through institutions with headquarters in urban areas, should be developed to improve intra-national communications systems and enhance the availability of information.

It is recommended that USAID help to create and operate an Internet end-users forum that could eventually become a national chapter of the Internet Society (www.isoc.org). This type of organization brings Internet users and service providers together in a productive forum where issued can be addressed, and where strategies can be developed for improving and increasing Internet use and access in that country.

USAID encourages the development of affordable, public Internet awareness and access centers to promote Internet use. This type of center could provide the following types of services: free, public demonstrations; fee-based Internet accounts and Internet workstations for those without access to computers at home or in the office; fee-based end-user training; fee-based web page development and training; free institutional information and communication strategy consulting; fee-based Internet publishing consulting services and training; and free proposal development consulting for Internet-related activities.

The Leland Initiative’s School-to-School Partnership Program aims to facilitate cross-cultural dialogue and joint projects between African primary and secondary schools in countries where this initiative is active, and where similar goals are adopted in schools in the United States. In African countries, this initiative, in conjunction with the USAID mission's bilateral funds, may assist schools in becoming aware of the academic uses of the Internet, and in acquiring the hardware and training needed to participate in this program.

For more information about Mickey Leland, countries participating in the Leland Initiative, the Leland Initiative's project history, or in-country and Leland staff contact information, see www.info.usaid.gov/leland.

Steele, Jeffrey V. 1997. "USAID/Guinea-Bissau - Leland Initiative Trip Report." February 23rd - March 9th.

Lowenthal, Jim. 1997. "Leland Initiative Trip Report: Strategic Objective 2, Technical Assistance to Guinea Telecom and to the Ministry of Transport and Telecommunications." August 1.

Metzger, Jonathan R. 1998. "Leland's Plan of Action in Guinea-Bissau." January.

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library.ccsu.ctstateu.edu/world_history/archives/bedell.html

www.africances.fr/afrint/default.htm

Le site de référence pour trouver des informations à propos d'Internet en Afrique francophone.

www.pagel.com/AT/

Le journal AFRIQUE TRIBUNE confirme son positionnement sur Internet et se donne de plus en plus une grille de journal électronique. Notre ambition: avec vous, assurer une présence efficace d'une Afrique en mouvement sur l'autoroute de l'information.

www.info.usaid.gov/regions/afr/abic

ABIC through research services, newsletters, and a specialized reference collection, provides

general development information support, and special assistance for democracy activities. This site includes Internet guides for African sites, and all subject areas, as well as mailing list directories. ABIC staff access and disseminate development information to USAID staff in Washington, Missions in Africa, and African non-governmental organizations and institutions.

www.nsrc.org/AFRICA/africa.html

Extensive list of African literature, including bibliographies on African studies, development and democracy. Links to books, reference materials, and journals. Comprehensive index to African affairs on the Internet.

www.columbia.edu/cu/libraries/indiv/area/Africa/ejournals.html

February 1998

Background: INEP is Guinea Bissau's National Library, National Archives, National Research Center, and has research departments for each discipline. INEP's primary function is to assist the government in making development policies for the country and conduct field studies to gather quantitative and qualitative information about Guinea Bissau. INEP publishes a significant number of English, French, and Portuguese publications each year, which could be marketed to a much larger audience if they were to advertise on the World Wide Web.

This action plan was designed by Cristiano na Betam-a (INEP) and Zoey Breslar (Leland Initiative/Washington), with the intention that INEP will review, modify, and develop it into a proposal to the donor community.

One factor not yet considered in this plan is the need for INEP employees to have a better grasp of the English language, so as to make the most of their access to the Internet.

Goal: To improve INEP's information and communication strategy.

Objective: To better their research skills and tools, and to share information worldwide.

Step 1: Train the 20 researchers (Internet skills, Internet research skills, other research skills/methodologies/tools).

Step 2: Acquire 10 pentium computers, up to 10 laptops, and 5 Internet connections for researchers' work in Bissau and in the field.

· Check prices of Internet accounts.

Step 3: Create and post INEP's web page

· Train INEP person in html(?).

· Create page.

· Investigate price of web page hosting (SITEC/Guiné Telecom).

Step 4: INEP researchers share Internet information/resources/skills and other research resources/skills with one another regularly.

· At Monday meetings?

Step 5: Researchers train INEP's 40 other staff members how to use the Internet.

Step 6: INEP acts as a model Internet user, and encourages and shares experiences with others in Guinea Bissau to help grow the Internet user-base.

Steven Dorsey, AED/LearnLink

Several indigenous and international donor-funded activities in Africa are focusing on how to assist Africa to join the "information revolution" that is transforming the way the world learns, does business, communicates and relates. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), through centrally funded activities such as the Africa Global Information Infrastructure Gateway Activity (a.k.a. the Leland Initiative) and the Global Communications and Learning Systems Activity (a.k.a. LearnLink), supports this thrust in Africa and is working to build Internet access in the continent and to incorporate information, education and communication technologies in support of learning. The Academy for Educational Development, a non-profit humanitarian service organization headquartered in Washington, D.C. is a principal contractor of USAID and as such contributes to end-user Internet assessment and training under the Leland Initiative and operates the LearnLink project, which is launching innovative electronic communication and learning activities in Africa. This paper deals with one of these innovative activities currently being launched in Ghana. This involves the creation of a pilot network of Community Learning Centers (CLCs) in Ghana that will provide communities with valuable learning and communication services, and will generate important lessons for African institutions and other international donors as they seek to bring Africa into the information age and enhance access to basic learning opportunities.

The concept of the Community Learning Center has its roots in community service points such as the post office and telegraph and telephone office. In times past, even in the more "developed" world, post offices and telephone and telegraph company offices served as central service points for information access and communication in communities. The proliferation of libraries and postal, telephone and now computer and internet technologies in much of the developed world has created a much more individualized means of meeting information and communication needs. Still, in many parts of the developed and developing world where these services have not penetrated as deeply as in some parts of North America and Europe, "business centers" or "telecenters" offering services such as typing, telephone, fax and photocopying services have emerged to meet the needs of individuals and the business/entrepreneurial communities. Some of these centers have even begun to offer computer services such as word processing, low-cost color printing, electronic mail (email) and internet access, giving rise to a new form of "telecenter," "telecottage," "cybercafe," or community technology center. In these centers, the traditional focus is on providing basic services to meet the productivity and communication needs of clients who otherwise would not have access to these productivity and communication tools in their offices, schools or homes.

The Community Learning Center builds of the notion of the business or technology center, but emphasizes the learning function of the technologies and services which are made available and their ability to increase access to basic education and life-long learning opportunities. The rationale for a developing country CLC is the same basic rationale as for other types of related centers—–given the difficulty of individual access to learning technologies and services, the provision of such tools and services at the community level will enable communities to enjoy many of the same benefits presently enjoyed in much of the developed world. Some of the possible tools and services which can be made available in a CLC are listed below:

The Community Learning Center provides the resources of trained learning facilitators who can assist clients to become familiar with the technologies, resources and services offered and to structure their learning experience so that it is tailored to their specific information, communication and learning objectives. Ideally, such a center is housed in an easily accessible, public setting with adequate infrastructure and security. The public setting could be a community school, municipal center or other publically accessible site. In some cases, a CLC could be housed on the premises of a nonprofit organization’s offices or even in conjunction with a private, for profit enterprise, as long as in the latter case the CLC is not treated as a profit- making venture. Adequate infrastructure includes a reliable supply of electricity, either from the electrical grid or provided via solar sources or generators. The environment must be regulated to moderate the effects of dust and heat on equipment. Finally, adequate security is important to ensure that valuable equipment is safeguarded against theft or vandalism.

In terms of financial viability, to be of greatest service to the largest numbers of community members, CLCs should be operated as nonprofit ventures which have a "fee for services" structure that allows them to recover operating expenses, pay staff and augment services and resources over time. Short- and long-range cost projections based on necessary, recurrent inputs (i.e., salaries, supplies, facilities and equipment maintenance and upgrades, and resource expansion) can be made to help estimate the necessary level of fees to establish cost recovery. Innovative partnerships with the for profit sector can be explored whereby the for profit sector may provide subsidies for equipment and supplies in exchange for lower fees or the rights to advertise in the centers as sponsors of this community service station. Other innovative financing mechanisms, such as contracted data entry for international companies, can also be explored.

Administration of the CLC is directed by Center staff in conjunction with the sponsoring institution. Administrative necessities include:

CLC staff will find that they must act frequently as "technology intermediaries" for significant portions of their clientele. Illiteracy and unfamiliarity with information and communication technologies will cause man clients to feel uncomfortable or to perceive the center as irrelevant to their needs. In these communities, center staff have a special responsibility to publicize the services of the center and to make the wider community aware of the resources and interested in taking advantage of the services.

Where more than one CLC exists in a confined geographic area, a networking relationship can be established between the centers in order to share resources under an "interlibrary loan" model. Especially as regards internet access, if a CLC is established in an area where infrastructure is inadequate to support connectivity reliably, one or more of the centers with the facility for connectivity can be designated as online CLCs while those without connectivity would be "offline" CLCs. The online CLCs could set up a diskette or CD-R service to provide the offline centers with remote, offline access to valuable online resources tailored to their information requests. Finally, in a CLC network, center staff can be brought together for periodic training sessions.

Where they exist in the developing world, telecottages or cybercafes are established are establshed typically in more well serviced urban centers, such as capital cities, not in remote or rural areas. While it is true that the infrastructure in primary urban centers is more conducive to the establishment of such services and a certain concentration of population is necessary to maintain a financially viable center, it is also true that secondary and tertiary urban centers, precisely because they lack the support structure available in capital cities, likely have more pressing need of the services than their primary urban center counterpoints. If we consider the case of internet connectivity in Africa, for example, the political capitals are the focus of early private sector and donor-assisted efforts at connectivity while secondary or tertiary urban centers, some of which are important educational or economic centers in their own right, are under serviced or not serviced at all. It is important that this tendency to concentrate new resources in areas already relatively well served be addressed through an effort to extend valuable learning services in secondary and tertiary urban areas.

The Community Learning Center can make valuable contributions to community development in Africa. Below are listed under some general African community development themes some potential information, education and communication needs which CLCs can help to meet:

Economic Growth (agriculturalists, importers/exporters, entrepreneurs)

Primary Education (administrators, teachers, students, teacher training institutes)

Health, Family Planning, HIV/AIDS (health workers, family planning and AIDS counselors)

Democracy and Governance (NGOs, human rights monitors, municipal officials, journalists)

Guinea Bissau's cashew industry is taking off, thanks to some advice, some initiative, and to critical information found on the Internet.

At one time, cashew exporting from Bissau was dominated by a dozen big exporting firms, who together determined cashew prices for the country. With the help of an advisor, the Farmers' Association—which represents the country's more than 80,000 farmers, 90 percent of whom are cashew farmers—investigated the market price of cashews on the Internet. With this information, and some calculations to determine exporting costs, the Farmers' Association undertook a country-wide awareness campaign to inform the cashew farmers of the fair price of cashews. After having been visited by Association members, the farmers began demanding a fair, market price from the exporters—about double what they had been receiving.

With the added income, some cashew farmers have formed cooperatives and invested in processing equipment, to shell, dry, roast, and salt their cashews. In this way, they are able to by-pass shipping their crops to a second country for processing, and sell directly to the buyer. Guinea Bissau is now benefiting from the resulting jobs and revenue that cashews processing can bring.

The next step is for the Internet to become a marketing tool for Guinense cashews. Keep a lookout for those web sites, coming soon!