Searching for 1st global telecentre awardees

By Philippine Information Agency (PIA 8)
January 29, 2013

TACLOBAN CITY  –  The search for the first-ever Global Telecentre Awards, was recently launched by the Spark (the 4th Global Forum on Telecentres) and Telecentre.org Foundation organizers in order to recognize the best players in the international telecentre arena.

The Search also aims to encourage the best players in international telecentres to continue raising the status of excellence in the delivery of ICT-based services to the communities, according to the Philippine Community eCenter Network which led by chairman Dr. Angelo Juan O. Ramos.

The Search has five categories, namely, Telecentre, Telecentre Manager, Telecentre Network, Telecentre Intiative, and Telecentre Innovation. A special award, the Global Community’s Choice Award, will be chosen by TCF community members in a month-long voting process.

The Best Global Telecentre Award shall recognize the best performing telecentre in the global telecentre movement. The specific areas that will be looked into include innovation, sustainability, content and services, and community impact.

This award shall highlight the telecentre that has proven to be most successful in strengthening its operations, offering high quality and diverse content and services, and implementing innovative and creative solutions, making it more relevant to the community it serves.

The award will cite the telecentre that has been operational for at least 2 years and has made the greatest and most positive impact to the community it serves, where the lives of people have significantly improved as a result of the telecentre’s presence.

The second category, the Best Global Telecentre Manager Award shall be given to the telecentre manager who has demonstrated exemplary leadership and initiative in managing the telecentre, steering it towards growth and innovation that positively impacts the community it serves. The individual should have at least one year residency as manager in the same operational telecentre.

Meanwhile, the Best Global Telecentre Network Award shall pay tribute to the network of telecentres that has not only emerged as a sustainable entity but has also managed to create an enabling environment for the telecentres under it, facilitating knowledge exchange among them, building their capacities, and making them self-sufficient, thereby enabling them to contribute to the attainment of the ultimate goal 1st Global Telecentre Awards Guidelines of digital inclusion. Only networks below the regional level shall be eligible for this award.

Moreover, the Best Global Telecentre Initiative Award shall honor the organization that has successfully implemented a telecentre-related initiative and has supported and directly benefited a minimum of 10 telecentres. Such initiative must have been in place for at least two years as of nomination date and must have clear and concrete evidence of success, thereby making a valuable contribution to the global telecentre movement. The criteria for this shall include the community empowerment value of the initiative where both the telecentre and the telecentre users are working together.

Finally, the Best Global Telecentre Innovation Award seeks to recognize the most innovative telecentre solution introduced. It enables solution providers and telecentre and ICT4D project implementers the opportunity to showcase new innovations that expand opportunities for telecentres to become more sustainable. It could be any product, service or concept that represents innovative development and addresses a specific need.

All the award categories put premium on the 3 important aspects of the global telecentre – Movement, People, Innovation and Sustainability, which are also the 3 main themes of the upcoming SPARK (the 4th Global Forum on Telecentres) event.

All registered members of Telecentre. Org’s online communities may participate in this international search. Entries will be accepted until February 28, 2013.

The winners shall receive a Certificate of Recognition, plaque, travel grant of up to US $2,500 to attend the awards ceremonies, waived conference fees for the Spark event, and visibility in TCF’s corporate and community websites and online communication channels.

The Global Community’s Choice Awardees, on the other hand, shall receive a Certificate of Recognition, a plaque, and exposure in TCF’s corporate and community websites and online communications channels.