report - Community-based Networks and Innovative Technologies ...

New models to serve and empower the poor
were developed in response to expressed local demand, and that the local population
participates fully in all stages of development and use. 9
In Chile during the mid-1990s, the FAO’s Communication for Development group pioneered
a participatory approach to the development of internet-based information and
communication networks among organisations of small-scale producers. The organisations
were provided with data on crops, market timing, prices, market conditions, weather, etc.,
as well as full access to the internet so that users could to find other information relevant
to their lives and communities. However, the most important aspect of the initiative was
its attention to local information needs and provision of assistance to farm organisation
personnel to help them develop the skills necessary to analyse information needs and
disseminate locally relevant information. The methodology emerged from previous development
communication experiences using small format video, print media and rural
radio and it was probably the most user oriented approach to designing internet services
in the developing world at the time (Ilboudo & del Castello 2003).
Box 3: The Pinamar telephone cooperative (Case Study 2)
From the moment it was conceived in Pinamar, Argentina in 1962, TELPIN has been considered
as a community cooperative mixing strong social obligations with a business policy as efficient
as a private enterprise. It is managed by a Management Council, integrated by a president, a
vice-president, a secretary, an under secretary, a treasurer; five senior counsellors, and four deputy
counsellors. Each member is a shareholder, but the difference between the cooperative and a
corporation is that each member represents one vote, independently of his or her involvement
in the cooperative or the money he or she contributes.
Although all the households in Pinamar are TELPIN´s shareholders, their participation is not
direct: the cooperative organises an annual general meeting at which members of the management
council are elected. Except for one year, there has always been a single slate of candidates. Whenever
there is dissent, the policy is to incorporate it to the slate and to reach a consensus within the
council. The members of the management council are individuals considered to be representative
of the whole community.
The resulting commitment to the community has been fundamental to TELPIN’s success:
inspiring continuous efforts to provide managerial efficiency and better, cheaper services. The
Cooperative has special payment plans for users with financial difficulties. Moreover, in months
when the Cooperative’s balance is particularly plentiful, a discount is granted to all users. For
a monthly payment of $10 pesos (US$3) associates receive a telephone line with unlimited local
calls. In the winter months there are special discounts, and seasonal workers pay seven pesos
per month, which is less than the cost of bus fare to travel in the area to search for work.
In 1999 Telefónica, one of the two national telecom companies, employed twenty-eight people
to call on each residence in an effort to sell its own long-distance service. By the end of
two weeks, only one user had agreed to switch.
These are by no means isolated examples. In May 2003 the International Institute for
Communication and Development (IICD) convened a workshop to examine a broad
range of experiences of ownership and partnership in ICT development projects. Discussion
covered different types of ownership and how high levels of local ownership can be fostered.
The workshop report concluded:
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