Sustainability of Community Online Access Centres

Community Online Access Centres (or telecentres or E-community centres) have been established in many countries to provide rural and remote communities with access to a wide range of information and communications technologies (ICTs) including computers and the Internet. The centres are typically established with at least initial government financial support. In many cases, the centres have been established by development agencies on a pilot basis and often their sustainability cannot be assured after the initial project period. Indeed, after initial establishment, many centres have experienced difficulties in sustaining their operations without ongoing financial support from public or private sources. This chapter draws on Australian field research into the feasibility and sustainability of establishing broadband-enabled Community Online Access Centres in remote communities, and also practical experience with the highly successful Western Australian Telecentre network. The study conducted by the authors for the Australian Government examined the feasibility and ongoing sustainability of community-based telecentres that were being considered for establishment in remote indigenous communities (Farr 2003). The scenario for consideration was that the initial establishment and early operations of the telecentres would be funded with financial support from government sources. However, in the longer term, the telecentres would be expected to continue operating with minimal direct funding by Governments. The primary objective of the study was to explore practical models likely to promote sustainability of the telecentres with minimal ongoing government funding.