Information and Communication Technologies for Development in Africa Volume 2: The Experience with Community Telecentres

Volume 2 examines the setting, operations, and effects of community telecentres. It describes the telecentre experiences of a variety of local and often rural communities, exploring the management structures and mechanisms that have been established to support these telecentres. The book provides profiles of telecentre usage and discusses the potential and challenges of setting up and maintaining community telecentres in the context of poor information infrastructure and limited human capacity. It will be useful for researchers, policy- and decision-makers, and development practitioners and professionals with interests or active programs in the area of "ICT for development," particularly those with a focus on universal access and universal-service or public-access centres. It will also be a very useful reference tool for scholars, students, and academics.

The editors

Florence Ebam Etta is Senior Program Officer for Acacia in IDRC’s Regional Office for Eastern and Southern Africa in Nairobi. She holds a doctorate in the psychology of learning from the University of London Institute of Education. Dr Etta has authored a number of books and articles in the areas of cognitive psychology, learning, childcare, development and nutrition, gender studies, and the environment. She is a member of British Psychological Society, the Society for International Development, the Association for Women in Development, and the Kenya Information Society.

Sheila Parvyn Wamahiu has over 20 years of experience in the fields of education, gender, and development. Dr Wamahiu has consulted for a variety of nongovernmental, bilateral, and multilateral agencies, including research on child protection, female education, early childhood education, and Islamic communities. As a senior academic at Kenyatta University, she was involved in the development of educational materials and programmes for tertiary level students. A prolific writer, Dr Wamahiu’s publications have ranged from newspaper stories to research reports and textbooks for students in higher education.