Pusat Internet 1 Malaysia (formerly known as Community Broadband Centre, CBC) Assessment 5 th April 2013 Gary Loh Ng Koh Ping Tariq Zaman
Background Goals of the CBC s Program. The ultimate goal of the CBC s project (Jaringan My Telecentre, 2013) is to ensure that communities living in underserved areas are: Providing Internet access facilities to the local communities Provide exposure to the local community of computer technology and the Internet Social and economic upliftment of society through the facilities provided and the activities carried out in the CBC Bridging the digital divide between the urban and the rural areas in line with the government's objective 2
Objectives of our assessment To assess the capability of the CBCs management; To identify the ways to enhance the centres capacity, community engagement; To identify desired and useful services to be delivered through the CBCs and To provide recommendation for the CBCs staff capacity building programme 3
Assessment Sites Sites at Sarawak Sungai Asap Daro Meradong Lubok Antu Engkilili Serasot Sibuluh Krokong Sites at Kedah Guar Cempedak Yan Kechil
METHODOLOGY 5
Methodology Planning and understanding the assignment Preparing required setup for project deliverables Field visits and Data collection Data analysis and validation Results consolidation and report writing 6
Timeline 4-7- 8-9- 10-11- 12-13- 14-15- 16-27- 28-29- Mar Mar Mar Mar Mar Mar Mar Mar Mar Mar Mar Mar Mar Mar Tea m 2 Team 3 Team 4 Yan Engkili Lubok Antu Meradong Daro Sg Asap Yan Kechil & Guar Cempe dak Team 1 Bau (Serasot, Krokong & Sibuluh) 7
Manager and Assistant Managers Awareness level Indicates the CBCs staff awareness about the objectives of overall CBCs project and general perception of the term sustainability Ownership Represents the staff empowerment and participation in decision making and planning, the level of loyalty and volunteerism if the CBC needs to be run on a volunteer basis. Operation Signifies the different operational procedure and tools implemented in the CBCs by the staff or project implementers. Sustainability Evaluates the financial income and expenditure and the CBC 8
Understand and Measure Impact at Local Level (Community) Ownership Indicates the level of community involvement in the project development and implementation and the community s level of awareness about CBC services Operation Represents the community participation in CBCs operation, activities and awareness campaigns Services satisfaction and Quality Describes the community s perceived level of service satisfaction and CBC products quality 9
FINDINGS 10
Assessment of Managers and Assistants Manager Perspective Aware ness (0-4) Owner ship (0-4) Operat ion (0-4) Financi al Sustain ability (0-4) Overall Score Total: 16 Overall in % Krokong 3 4 2 1 10 62.5 Guar 3 4 3 0 10 62.5 Cempedak Yan Kechil 3 4 3 0 10 62.5 Daro 3 4 2 1 10 62.5 Meradong 3 4 2 0 9 56.3 Sibuluh 3 2 2 1 8 50.0 Sungai Asap 2 2 2 1 7 43.8 Serasot 1 1 2 2 6 37.5 Lubok Antu 1 2 1 1 5 31.3 Engkilili 2 1 1 0 4 25 Average 2.4 2.8 2 0.7 7.9 49.4 Assistant Manager Perspective Aware ness (0-4) Owner ship (0-4) Opera tion (0-4) Financ ial Sustai nabilit y (0-4) Overal l Score Total: 16 Overal l in % Krokong 2 2 2 2 8 50 Guar 3 2 3 0 8 50 Cempedak Yan Kechil 3 3 3 0 9 56.3 Daro 3 3 2 1 9 56.3 Meradong 3 3 2 0 8 50 Sibuluh 1 1 2 1 5 31.3 Sungai Asap 2 2 2 1 7 43.8 Serasot 4 4 2 2 12 75 Lubok Antu 1 0 1 0 2 12.5 Engkilili 2 2 1 0 5 31.3 Average 2.4 2.2 2 0.7 7.3 45.6 11
The assessment results of the Managers and Assistant Managers capability in managing the CBC 12
The results shows the communication and expectation gaps between the staffs and awareness about the overall objectives of the CBC project (Awareness = 2.4 in average) The staffs - to provide ICT training to the community and to bridge the digital divide between the urban and the rural areas as objectives of the CBC project Missed out the next important objective of the CBC to use the provided facilities of CBC for social and economic development to the community. The staffs of CBC needs a capacity building program so they can market the services of CBC and promote the CBC as catalyst for social-economic development in the community 13
The staffs showed their high commitment of project ownership and operation of the CBCs The staffs at Yan Kechil and Daro are capable to manage their CBCs efficiently Serasot, we noticed that the gap between the staffs are quite significant. The manager had just joined for a few months and she is still in need of much training In all the CBCs, we can see that all the managers are more capable than their assistants. This also may due to the trainings had only been given to the managers where else the assistants were just trained by the managers In the case of Sungai Asap, the assistant manager has a long term relationship and experience in the CBC projects (9 years) 14
The communities perception of the CBCs Community Awareness and Ownership (0-3) Operation (0-3) Satisfaction (0-3) Overall Score Total: 12 Overall in % Daro 3 2 3 8 66.7 Meradong 2 2 3 7 58.3 Guar 2 1 3 6 50.0 Cempedak Sibuluh 2 2 2 6 50.0 Yan Kechil 1.5 1 3 5.5 45.8 Sungai Asap 3 1 1 5 41.7 Serasot 1 2 2 5 41.7 Engkilili 1 2 2 5 41.7 Krokong 1 2 2 5 41.7 Lubok Antu 1 1 1 5 41.7 15
Communities perception Overall results are in the average Community engagement and active participation in the CBC activities need to be emphasized To promote social-economic development in a particular community, we must know the characteristic of the particular community. The Ms&AMs are lacking the capacity to build rapport with the community and engage community in CBC activities and decision making 16
There are two types of networking observed in a community that is the horizontal and vertical networking Horizontal networking means coverage of interaction and information mostly is internal in the community Vertical networking refers to interaction and information which occurred between the communities with outsider nationally and globally In terms of telecentre/cbc roles to promote socioeconomic development of a particular community, vertical networking is much needed. It is just because through such kind of networking, the community marketing is able to maneuver The ICT trainings were given by the managers and assistant managers to the community so far did not take the advantage of promoting the vertical networking of the community. The ICT trainings were given are just to bridge the digital divide gap but not to promote potential business or income to the community 17
The results of the average capabilities by the Managers and Assistant Managers versus snapshot of community s demands/perceptions 18
Due to limited time and resources, the community assessment is just a snapshot of the areas and may not represent the entire community Yan Kechil - respond was that the CBC is just another cyber café and it only for the kids The adults were reluctant to join the training as they thought the training are only for the school children or youth There is not enough awareness program that reaching out to the adults in the areas This scenario also happened to Guar Cempedak, which is not far away from Yan Kechil 19
Daro the staffs were capable of handling the daily operations and also promote collaboration with local governments as well as the surrounding community The staffs will need to learn how to develop business plan in order to fully exploit the advantages of using the CBC as a one stop ICT centre and as a business centre for Daro 20
Serasot and Krokong the communities knew about the existence of the CBCs in their areas but they just did not find any reason for them to use it Their regular visitors were school children, teachers and youth The adults in these areas commented that they would like to pay their utilities bills at the CBC if the service is provided 21
Meradong and Sungai Asap - Both had initiated collaboration with local agencies to promote activities at the CBCs Their skills will need to be improved in order to serve a higher demand from the community Sungai Asap - there is higher demand from the community but there are limited facilities to be used 22
Sungai Asap - The location of the CBC is just next to the local government and it may create discomfort for the adults to visit the CBC Roger Harris (2007), A framework for designing telecentre, the paper mentioned that if your telecentre is not located centrally, people may not come If they have to travel great distances, they may not come However, in rural areas, people do travel some distances always for one reason or another. If your telecentre offers them something very special, they may make the effort to come If it is next to places that they need to visit, then they may also come In the paper, it also mentioned that sometimes people are not comfortable near or in government buildings. But, you can also ask this question as you go about talking to potential users of the Telecentre. When we interviewed the adults in Sungai Asap, they just said they are not so comfortable to go to the CBC as it is far and in the government building. 23
PROPOSED TRAININGS 24
ISITI-CoERI experience Critical success factors for the Telecentres projects Technology cannot function successfully without the community s aspiration and readiness to improve their well-being Community participation is critical. This can be achieved by establishing a steering committee made up of the community leaders and the project team. The cooperation provided by the community acts as a catalyst to the success of the project Building a good rapport with the community, establishing relationship built on trust will pave the way for an easier passage for the project Local champions are the key component in the success of the telecentre. They act as a motivator and vision carrier of the project Smart partnerships with various organisations, such as funding organisations and government bodies, are also critical to ensure a smooth completion of the project 25
There should be continuous training programs to ensure the community is being updated on the latest advancements in ICTs It is imperative to focus on the very people that will use the ICTs because they are the ones who will determine the success of the technologies in bringing socio-economic change. The deployment of technology is relatively easier than to convince people to embrace change The sustainability of the telecentre depends on the project initiator s ability to offer services which are tailored to the needs of the community. This is to ensure that the telecentre remains relevant to the community There is a need to provide ICT training to community members who will then help to administer the telecentre - computers or the Internet access break down - members can fix the problem right away Trained community members can help to manage the daily operations of the telecentre, hence allowing them to be independent and empowered to dictate their own future 26
MCMC annual report on 2008 Universal Service Provision Division (USPD) had conducted an impact or assessment study on all the 12 pilot sites and below are the recommendations after the assessment:- the sites recommended by the respective state Governments need to be re-looked since some sites require larger space to accommodate the increasing clientele especially for students who adopted the CBC and CBL as a learning centre. Therefore, USPD recommended for improvements to be made on the CBC and CBL projects such as its placement in strategic locations for future rollout, and active branding and promotional activities in order to promote public awareness on the existence of the CBC and CBL projects MCMC to ensure that the CBC model is sustainable over a period of time; the model should be application and service-based rather than provision of peripherals; the outcome of the model deployed must ensure that there will be tangible benefits both economically and socially for the target communities. For instance, the benefit that could be derived by the community should not only improve their ICT literacy but it should also enhance their income and quality of life; 27
the element of entrepreneurship should be incorporated into the business model as well to ensure its sustainability and independence from SKMM for funding at certain point in time; a champion is to be selected from the community to promote the benefits of the project; on a wider scale there should be community engagement to promote the take up; MCMC to create a social entrepreneur to ensure that there will be elevation of community life and social change; there needs to be a strong monitoring mechanism to ensure the projects are not only successful but also effective; and MCMC to test the twelve (12) pilot CBC sites along some key criteria to reflect its impact to the beneficiaries. 28
Stage 1: Training of the Capacity building for Community Engagement and Mobilization community engagement training that covers a broad range of activities and includes: engagement and consultation with community leaders such as the Penghulu/Ketua Kampung and literate local champions (JKKK members, spiritual leaders, entrepreneurs). These individuals form an important part of the communities social capital hierarchy; consensual decision-making on CBC involving all levels of community; engagement of all members of community (or their representatives), irrespective of genders, age, status, etc., to ensure a comprehensive, multi-level participatory process cooperating with government at the federal and state levels and their executive agencies in order to develop the community vertical social capital which will enable the communities to form effective collaborations with outside agencies and channels. engagement with other stakeholders (who are also external participants) in the communities: headmaster and teachers of nearby schools spiritual leaders of Muslim, Christian and etc (who have been successful in engaging and integrating into the communities); Non-governmental organizations (NGO) that are able to provide grass-root support in contemporary social capital development. If conflict or tensions exist within the community, it has to be settled before mobilisation commences. All steps of mobilisation have to be seriously considered. 29
Stage 2: Training for writing proposals Enhance the staff capability in developing business plans and sustainability programs. Staff will be train to explore the business opportunities for CBC projects and link the CBC activities with community socio-economic development. Training for developing business plan Training on writing proposal to get funding and projects for the CBC Training on leadership Training on potentials of using ICT to promote local products Training and mentoring includes awareness creation on policy changes in the country especially with regards to functions of rural development and institutions of governance related to it 30
ownership ownership to be passed to the community in the later stage the buy in must be there community engagement involving the community in activities the community will need to see beyond ICT training but cbc as tool for generating income - finance manage by the JKKK exit strategy a business plan/strategy need to be in place a local champion from the community Taking up social-economic development for the community 31
Recommendations CBC Community engagement training Developing business plan training Daro x Meradong Serasot Engkilili Guar Cempedak Yan Kechil Sibuluh Sungai Asap Lubok Antu Krokong 32
Bil Modules Date 1 Telecentre Management I April 2013 2 Telecentre Management II May 2013 3 Management Skills July 2013 (Communication, Negotiation, PR) for Ms & AMs 4 Developing Business Plan I October 2013 5 Developing Business Plan II January 2014 33