Issues Affecting the Social Sustainability of Telecentres in Developing Contexts: A Field Study of Sixteen Telecentres in Jamaica

Abstract

This paper examines issues faced by Jamaican telecentres in their ongoing operations as their roles evolve to address new issues that may arise in communities they serve. An empirical study was conducted through interviews with a range of stakeholders including telecentre users, telecentre staff, development partners, government representatives and community host organizations, and participants in a conference of community access points. A thematic framework of issues that arise as the roles of telecentres evolve and the relationships between these issues was developed through content analysis. This study contributes to theory and practice by a) the use of content analysis to discover and explicate key issues faced by telecentres as they aim to fulfill their development mandate; b) support for the role of telecentre staff in enhancing participation by community stakeholders, c) the identification of core capabilities, grounded in social context, for effective, socially sustainable telecentre operations and d) the identification of the dynamic capabilities theory as an appropriate theory that can inform future telecentre research.

The Influence of Higher Education Institutions on the Sustainability of ICT4D Initiatives in Underserved Communities

“…Some specific challenges can be categorised using Touray et al (2013) CSFs: socio-cultural (telecentre not being adopted), educational and skills (required ICT skills not available), technical (insufficient resources) and infrastructural (access and privacy issues . Telecentres are also challenged by the fact that the role they play need to adapt as the challenges in their communities change over time (Bailey, 2009). …”

The “I” Between G and C: E‐Government Intermediaries in Developing Countries

“…As several authors have stressed (Flak et al, 2007, Heeks, 2000, Bailey, 2009, this group stands to benefit most from eGovernment and should have the most interaction with the Government (G). That indeed is the case with developed countries.…”

“…In a survey of 15 eGovernment projects in India by Gorla (2007), 9 had 3rd party involvement. All 16 of the telecenters in a study in Jamaica (Bailey, 2009) were operated by third parties. While these studies do not necessarily imply that all such access points need to be run by Intermediaries, it is nevertheless clear that they play a major, if not the most essential, role in enabling citizens to access government services.…”

“…Such 3rd parties can be "Civil Society" (Gronlund, 2000) consisting of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and concerned citizens such as activists and religious voluntary bodies (Wahid et al, 2011), as well as aid organizations (Bailey, 2009). While the role of these groups has been discussed in the literature (Jansen and Klievink, 2008, Mahrer and Krimer, 2005, Madon and Sahay, 2002 their involvement directly in the interaction between G and C has received less explicit attention.…”

Enabling Social Sustainability of E-Participation through Mobile Technology

“…E-participation refers to as ICT-supported processes to ensure effective participation of various stakeholders in the governance process and in e-government service provision. Social sustainability moves us beyond the conceptualization of sustainability that is limited to economic factors to embrace social factors that recognize the need to individual and community acceptance of a particular technological artifact (Bailey, 2009). Since the paper is concerned with exploring the use of mobile phones for enabling e-participation, the focus of the paper is on the social factors enumerated under the theoretical framework.…”