A Model for Economic Development With Telecentres and the Social Media

Abstract

In 2000 the General Assembly of the United Nations accepted their Millennium Declaration. Two of their main foci are the eradication of poverty and the economic upliftment of disadvantaged societies. In Thailand, three initiatives contributed to the eradication of poverty. The “One Tambon, One Product” (OTOP) that was launched in 2001 has as its mission to stimulate the economy by creating small economic hubs in each subdistrict (Tambon). The OTOP initiative grew exponentially and a total of 85,173 products have been registered by 2010. The growing network of telecentres helped to close the digital divide. It also anchored many of the OTOP projects. In the third instance, the social networks redefined the business environment and created new communication platforms to promote entrepreneurial hubs. The researcher combined field studies with content analysis of the social media in order to establish to what extent these drivers of poverty eradication have been integrated.

Assessing ICT Access Disparities Between the Institutional and Home Front: A Case of University Students in South Africa’s Eastern Cape

“…To mitigate against social exclusion, several measures have been employed to ensure sustainable and affordable access by disadvantaged communities. These measures include the use of free basics [10] community networks [6]; telecentres [11] and infrastructure sharing [12].…”