IATP Monitoring and Evaluation Report - IREX

or professional lives. Users also reported that the
technical assistance was never limited to formal
training sessions but was available anytime a user
came into the center to use the computer or internet;
users always felt comfortable asking the administrator
or other, more-experienced users for
help. Many commented that an internet café did
not serve these purposes but relied instead on a
primary goal of turning a profit. The centers’ professional
environment was another difference users
noted between internet cafes and IATP centers.
IATP users were expected to use the space for their
educational or professional development, creating
a more serious environment than that of most
internet cafés, where many customers use computer
and internet resources mainly to play games
or chat. Finally, in focus group discussions, some
users commented that at IATP centers they felt a
sense of community or a place where they were
among friends. In Georgia, IDPs reported they
could gather at IATP centers with other IDPs to try
to focus on building a new future and forget their
troubles for a while. In Azerbaijan, IATP centers
were often the only public space women were allowed
to come together to discuss new ideas and
connect in their community. Focus group responses
indicate that in many countries IATP centers are
evolving into “public squares.” Users mentioned
the friendliness and helpfulness they felt at from
center administrators, as well as from the other
visitors, saying they had made many new friends
and could easily exchange ideas.
IREX often served those who had fallen through the
cracks unnoticed. In Georgia IATP served IDPs who
were forced from their homes and jobs due to
separatist military conflicts, offering them skills
that contributed to their professional development
and competitiveness in their new environments. In
Turkmenistan, where educational reforms limited
access to education for local youth, IATP served as
a network of centers where young people who
wanted a higher education could come to receive
ICT training and then pursue individual academic
enrichment using online resources. In Belarus, IATP
helped modernize library systems across the country
making them once again primary information
centers in their communities.
IATP centers throughout Eurasia have become integral
parts of their communities, providing spaces
for educational and professional growth as well as
offering tools to support the development of civil
society. IATP has equipped the unemployed and
working poor to find new or better paying employment—assisting
bankers and businessmen, farmers,
and fashion designers alike. IATP has helped small
businesses, media outlets, local governments, and
NGOs integrate technology into the workplace,
connecting them more effectively with their partners
and stakeholders and enabling them to provide
better services. IREX has played an important role
by working to ensure another generation in Eurasia
keeps pace in the rapidly-developing information
and technology age.
Since Eurasian populations without available local
language Web content have less incentive to learn
modern ICT tools, IATP introduced Web 2.0 technologies
into training in an effort to help accelerate
the generation of local language websites. As a
result, 342 blogs, 115 wiki resources, and 646
websites have been introduced on the internet in
Georgian, Tajik, Turkmen, Ukrainian, Romanian,
Uzbek, Kyrgyz, Kazakh, and Azeri. The e-
government initiative aimed at introducing technologies
such as blogs, wikis, and websites into local
government services is helping establish effective
communication contributing to their greater
transparency and more effective collaboration with
their constituents. Finally, civil society organizations
use advanced ICT technologies for better networking
and more effective information sharing.
B. Next Steps in ICT4D
IATP was a unique program in Eurasia strengthening
civil society development through ICT. IATP users
benefited from IATP resources and services, and
their personal and professional accomplishments
contributed to their local communities’ development.
After IATP completes its operation in host
counties, however, the need for ICT as a supportive
factor fostering democratic development in the
region will only continue to grow.
Based on its now 15 years of experience in promoting
IT skills and broader access to information
among civil society representatives in Eurasia, and
based on the results of the monitoring and evaluation
carried out by the program, IATP recommends
the following steps for ICT4D in Eurasia:
1. In Eurasia, especially in the countries with sufficient
internet penetration and cheaper prices for
internet like Ukraine,
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