A lot has been said and done around the organizational and financial sustainability of telecentres throughout the history of the movement. Telecentre.org Foundation (TCF), believes that today’s ICT4D (information and community technology for development) environment presents trends and opportunities with great potential to generate game changing innovations to telecentres and their growing number of users.

Because today is the moment to grow into powerful actors of development, TCF, in partnership with Intel, is launching the "Technology, Innovation and Sustainability Talks", or "TIS Talks", a series of webinars that will run from July to November 2012and will bring together telecentres, telecentre networks and partner organizations to learn about successful telecentre sustainability models and entrepreneurs, as well as identify opportunities for partnership and involvement.

Participants in the TIS Talks webinars will have the opportunity to exchange ideas, forge collaborations, and build collective action towards social enterprise innovation and partnership-based sustainability across the telecentre movement

TIS Talks webinar 1

To launch TIS Talks, Miguel Raimilla, Executive Director of Telecentre.org Foundation, and Florencio Ceballos, former Managing Director of telecentre.org and Senior Program Specialist for the International Development Research Centre, will conduct the first webinar on July 23, 07h00 CEST* in English and 18h00 CEST* in Spanish. 

This webinar will provide an overview of telecentres, lessons learned since their establishment, and the challenges and great opportunities ahead. Miguel will also provide an overview of the upcoming TIS Talks.
» RSVP your attendance to this webinar

The first webinar will be immediately followed by the Phase 1 TIS Talks that will feature models for sustainable development:

TIS Talks webinar 2

Syrian Telecentre Project: The Case of Salamieh Telecentre
Presenters: Ahmed Shaban, Community Development Coordinator for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) ICT Trust Fund; Jimena Betancourt, TIS Talks Coordinator

Schedule:    July 24, 2012:

• in English: 10h00 CEST*
• in Spanish: 18h00 CEST*
• in Arabic: 12h00 CEST*

» Flag your attendance to this webinar

TIS Talks webinar 3
Sustainability at ATN (Associação Telecentro de Informação e Negócios), Brazil
Presenters:  José Avando Souza Sales, ATN General Director; Valter Cegal, ATN Director of Operations

Schedule:     July 30, 2012:

• in English: 11h00 CEST*
• in Spanish: 18h00 CEST*

» Flag your attendance to this webinar

TIS Talks webinar 4
Sustainability Models in Telecentre Networks: Bangladesh Institute of ICT in Development Network
Presenter: Shahid Uddin Akbar, Chief Executive Officer, BIID

Schedule:     August 6, 2012:

• in English: 13h00 CEST*

TIS Talks webinar 5
Sustainability Models in Telecentre Networks: Colnodo, Colombia
Presenters: Julián Casasbuenas, Director, Colnodo; Olga Paz, Projects & Administration Coordinator, Colnodo

Schedule:     August 10, 2012:

• in English: 12h30 CEST*
• in Spanish: 17h00 CEST*

(*) CEST= Central European Summer Time = GMT+2 (convert to your local time)

Overview TIS Talks

TIS Talks areas we plan to cover in the next couple of months:

Phase 1: (July – August)

• Introduces successful sustainability models and telecentre entrepreneurs.
• Builds knowledge on innovation, social innovation and social enterprise.
• Explores the potential forms, opportunities and challenges of social innovation and social enterprise in telecentres and telecentres networks as means for sustainability.

Phase 2: (September – October)

• Presents service and products providers and partners with potential to work with telecentres and telecentres networks.
• Identifies opportunities for adding value to telecentres and users.

Phase 3: (November)

• Introduces planning, management, communications, and resource mobilization tools for telecentre sustainability
• Generates action plans on opportunities for collaboration and partnerships among telecentres, networks, and providers of ICT innovations and services.

» For more information on TIS Talks, download the attached Frequently Asked Questions or contact Jimena Betancourt, TIS Talks Coordinator at jbetancourt@telecentre.org.

» To join our webinars, visit http://engageteachers.adobeconnect.com/telecentre on the scheduled dates.
Be sure to join about 10 minutes early to test your connectivity!