Telecottage Handbook- How to Establish and Run a

Preface
Amidst the numerous information society initiatives advanced by governments,
international agencies, NGOs and other organisations, to deliver the
benefits of modern information and communication technologies and services
to disadvantaged, rural and remote areas, the Hungarian telecottage
movement is an outstanding success story.We use the internationally recognized
term telecottage for these non-profit based community enterprises.
Hungary currently has the world’s highest number of telecottages per capita
and persistent dynamic growth.This rapid expansion has occurred within the
timeframe of a couple of years, in a country in transition.The telecottage idea
was first manifested in Hungary in 1994, with an initial substantial grant
awarded in 1996. Today, more than 500 telecottages operate in the country.
With this proliferation of community access points, the number of telecottages
has reached a critical mass. This enlarged network has become the
national backbone of community access and is proficient in finding unique
ways to sustain its operations. Telecottages also jointly provide the public,
civil and business spheres with a wide array of services, more than 60 in total.
New possibilities are gradually explored and added to applications, based on
regional characteristics.
One very important feature of Hungary's expanding telecottage network is
its civic initiative. In spite of attracting the government’s attention and support
as well as raising business interests, the core of the movement has
remained civic or grassroots in nature.The local telecottage strategy is based
on identifying and serving the needs of local communities through meaningful
cooperation with local civil society, local governments and local businesses.
The key to success has been that telecottages remain the concern of
the locals!
The Telecottage movement has garnered a great deal of interest and enthusiasm
both at home and abroad. The network’s potential for expansion
appears to be unlimited. Most of Hungary’s neighbours have adopted the
model within their own countries, and it has been recognized from even
more remote places. Apparently small communities face similar problems
regardless of where they are in the world. And, as already experienced, the
core solutions to these problems might be similar as well.
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