IATP Monitoring and Evaluation Report - IREX
IATP Monitoring and Evaluation Report - IREX
IATP Monitoring and Evaluation Report - IREX
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VIII. CONCLUSIONS<br />
A.Summary of Findings<br />
<strong>IATP</strong> successfully fulfilled the objectives set forth its workplans. Target outcomes were not<br />
just met but exceeded. Based on an analysis of statistics, survey data, <strong>and</strong> focus groups with<br />
<strong>IATP</strong> users <strong>and</strong> non-users, <strong>IREX</strong> has empowered thous<strong>and</strong>s of citizens to use the internet to<br />
support democratic reform; has networked hundreds with civil society representatives at the<br />
local, regional, <strong>and</strong> international levels; <strong>and</strong> has introduced vanguard technologies <strong>and</strong> solutions<br />
to dozens of local development initiatives, including other USAID-funded projects.<br />
Since USAID funding began in 2007, nearly 85,000 individuals have used <strong>IATP</strong> centers over<br />
670,000 times. More than 44,000 have participated in one of the 8,000 <strong>IATP</strong> training sessions<br />
over the last two years. A total of 83 centers that are or were at one point administered by<br />
<strong>IATP</strong> are spread across ten Eurasian countries, continuing to offer free technical training <strong>and</strong>/<br />
or internet service to communities where such access is out of reach for many reasons.<br />
Through strategic outreach, <strong>IATP</strong> not only successfully targeted key actors in the democratic<br />
reform process (i.e. representatives of NGOs, local governments, media, small businesses,<br />
libraries, etc.), but <strong>IREX</strong> also had a great impact on the next generation of ICT users hungry<br />
for the kind of quality ICT training <strong>and</strong> internet access still unavailable in most Eurasian educational<br />
institutions.<br />
When asked, <strong>IATP</strong> users are clear that <strong>IATP</strong> centers are not just a free version of an internet<br />
café. Time <strong>and</strong> again in surveys <strong>and</strong> focus group discussions, users distinguished <strong>IATP</strong> centers<br />
in several ways. First, <strong>IATP</strong> is unique in offering free training. But it was not just that the<br />
training was free, but that it was of high quality <strong>and</strong> matched to their personal <strong>and</strong> professional<br />
needs. Some <strong>IATP</strong> users reported having participated in ICT training elsewhere<br />
(including a minority at free locations like schools or universities), but almost all surveyed<br />
said the training at <strong>IATP</strong> centers made otherwise complex concepts easy to underst<strong>and</strong> <strong>and</strong><br />
taught users very practical ways to apply them to their personal<br />
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