Telecentre.org Is Now In The Philippines

I-Café Pilipinas, represented by Ed Zafra and Bien Balajadia, attended the launch and turnover ceremonies of 2.0 Telecentre.org at New World Hotel in Makati City last March 3, 2010. Telecentres are public places where people can use computers, the Internet, and other technologies to  freely join the knowledge society while Telecentre.org is the worldwide network of people and organizations committed to increasing the social and economic impact of tens of thousands of grassroots telecentres by making telecentres stronger and better at what they do.

By investing in the networks and organizations that work with telecentres directly, Telecentre.org empower people who want to use technology to promote community development in whatever way they chose and wherever they live. Telecentres or community ecenters (CeC) as they called here are targeted mostly for areas unserved or underserved by entities offering access to the Internet.

Created in 2005 by Canada's International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Microsoft Corp. of USA, and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, Telecentre.org is a $21-million social investment program originally located at the IDRC in Ottawa, Canada.  This year and until 2015, the organization will be hosted by the Philippines and will hold offices at the CICT-NCC Building in Diliman, Quezon City. From here, Telecentre.org with established presence in 70 countries around the world will continue to provide the support, tools, and opportunities that telecentres need to help people overcome poverty and create economic opportunities.

The transfer of the headquarters of Telecentre.org to our country is a welcome development for all of us because it means that the funders of the socially-oriented initiatives believe in the capability of our people to support and implement its programs targeted at improving the social and economic well-being of people around the world. Let us keep our minds open to the opportunities that this presence of Telecentre.org in the country will bring about.