IATP Monitoring and Evaluation Report - IREX

ment. The deputy decided to provide the kindergarten with three of their
own computers and connect them to the internet. The director proudly
remarked, “Now we have three computers of our own with internet connections
where we can access professional information and develop games
for our kids.” The Comrat kindergarten’s success story was also covered in
a local Gagauzian newspaper. 96
Web design training targeted for guesthouse owners in Georgia assisted
the small businesses in attracting new clients and
adapting to the highly competitive tourism market.
Focus group discussions held in Telavi, Georgia
(an area in Georgia with strong tourism potential),
were aimed at investigating IATP impact on
guesthouse owners who had created websites for
their hotels after IATP technical training. Neli
Tatelishvili, a 54-year-old guesthouse owner in
Telavi shared, “Thanks to the IATP center and its
services, we have designed a webpage for our
guesthouse and it has helped us attract more clients.”
Nino Itiuridze, a 28-year-old woman who
owns a local hotel, reported she saw a 25% increase
in business after putting her website online
and adding it to a national database of hotels. In
addition to online advertisement of their businesses,
the private entrepreneurs actively use the
internet to research information, such as new services
they could offer, and market prices that keep their business competitive.
Tsiuri Zarnadze, 63-year-old guesthouse owner said, “Now we are
at least one step ahead of those [owners] who don’t know how to use computers
and internet for their business development.” 97
IATP has been training civil society organizations and government actors in
ten countries in online technologies that have helped them achieve their
goals and provide better services. IATP focused on training select target
audiences in well-conceived applications of new Web resources, blogs,
wikis, and other technologies that improved the way people and organizations
(including the government) communicate and collaborate. According
to the IATP Users online survey, 69% of surveyed IATP users believe there
is greater transparency and information available on the internet from local
sources because of IATP.
B. Local Web Content Development
Local Web content development serves as a strong informational resource
for local populations and could be one of the most important tools for fostering
civil society development in Eurasia. IATP’s local Web content
online survey, as well as focus group discussions held in Azerbaijan, Georgia,
Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Ukraine revealed that websites
in local languages are essential especially in IATP host countries
where Russian or English is not widely spoken among the majority of citizens.
96 Midline focus group discussion, IATP users group, Comrat, Gagauzia, Moldova, April 7, 2009.
97 Midline focus group discussion, IATP users group, Telavi, Georgia, April 15, 2009.
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