RTN:Connecting hill by hill

Rwanda Telecentre Network (RTN) to manage some of the government Telecentres »The Rwanda Telecentre Network(RTN) has signed a contract with Rwanda Development Board (RDB) for the management and provision of Business development services centres (BDC) formally known as Community Multipurpose Telecentres(MTC) located in the Northern Province of Rwanda. In 2006, the government of Rwanda started a national wide program to establish Telecentres. In total 30 telecentres were established in 30 districts of Rwanda. Later in 2010, all telecentres were transformed into Business Development Services Centres as “extended services that improve and sustain the performance of the enterprise, its access to information, markets and technologies and its ability to compete.” The government of Rwanda recognizes BDS Centers as crucial to the growth of SMEs in Rwanda. They have the potential to help new entrepreneurs and existing businesses to grow and become more competitive. The services to be provided by each BDS centers include the following among others: ICT related training, Information Services, Entrepreneurship Development Services; Business Advice and Counseling, Facilitating Access to Finance; Facilitating Access to Markets;; Export Development Services; Facilitating Business Registration; Training on Business Skills . In addition to the new project, RTN has taken a challenge to deploy 1,000 sustainable Telecentres in Rural Rwanda. Tuesday, 01 May 2012 13:36

Business Registration through Telecentre can create a win win situation »Several members of the local business community have called on Rwanda Development Board (RDB) to decentralise its services, particularly the business registration services. Despite RDB’s launch of an online registration programme, it does not favour those not conversant with Information Communication Technology (ICT), especially those in rural areas. Speaking to The New Times yesterday, some traders led by Claude Habimana, an entrepreneur from Rusizi District, said that they were finding it difficult to travel from their localities to RDB offices in Kigali to register their businesses. “We appeal to RDB to at least establish business registration centres at the district level to enable people to access these services with ease,” he pleaded. Habimana mentioned that people were facing difficulties registering online, especially those who don’t know how to use ICT services. According to Hamidu Hakizimana, a fourth year finance student at Kigali Independent University (ULK), RDB should decentralise its services to the local level to consolidate good governance principles and practices. “RDB operates from Kigali; people come from upcountry, deep in the villages, for instance Kamembe, to register their companies. I find this unfavourable to the business community,” he asserted. Speaking to The New Times, John Gara, the CEO of RDB, said that his institution has put in place business development centres in some of the rural areas that will be handling registration services. “We are going to expand the centres to areas where they are not. Our intention is to provide support to these centres so that people can register at their convenient point and at the same time, learn how to register online,” he explained. Gara admitted that it was indeed tiresome for people to travel from upcountry to Kigali to register their businesses. “I encourage people to start learning how to use online registration so that it becomes a culture,” he advised. Gara stated that the institution is currently focusing on boosting the capacity of the private sector in rural areas. Registering a business at RDB takes only 24 hours and the service combines all registration requirements under one roof which include incorporation, taxes and employee social security. Friday, 27 January 2012 17:25

Web 2.0 learning workshop increases Rwanda presence online »The Rwanda Telecentre Network (RTN),in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources(MINAGRI )and The Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation EU-ACP(CTA) hosted a 5-day web 2.0 learning opportunity which run from Monday 07th to 11th November at Agricultural Information and Communication Centre(CICA) in Kacyiru,Kigali-Rwanda. Technology innovation is taking place at breath-taking pace. Simple, open source internet-based applications and services designed to enhance online collaboration are now available to the wider public at little or no cost at all.These new online technologies known as web 2.0 applications-sometimes called ‘social media’-enhance people to collaborate to create,share and publish information. It is in this line the organizers selected participants from different organizations including government ,educational institutions ,non-government organizations(NGO),Civil societies groups,media houses and private sector companies to facilitate them to adopt web 2.0 applications in their work for networking ,accessing and disseminating information more effectively. “This time round we have selected participants from diverse background to promote these new technologies tools to rich the mass in different part of the country “says Paul Barera, Executive Director of The Rwanda Telecentre Network at the closing day. “we hope that Rwanda after this learning opportunity will increase its presence on the web “adds Paul Paul Barrera also urged participants to become the champions of ICT especially web 2.0 technologies by applying them in their organizations and Institutions. Participants were introduced to selected web 2.0 applications and learnt how to use them hands –on. Eric Sebasore is a participant who works for Digital Opportunity Trust(DOT),a non-profit organization that train disadvantaged communities in ICT and Business skills.He says that he will train the Organization beneficiaries in these innovative technologies that they need to improve their business in this information age. “This training workshop was also an networking opportunity for me as I met like-minded people whom we will stay in touch to exchange knowledge and information for career and professional development”adds Eric ,”I will also add this web 2.0 tools package to my business services” With web 2.0 people can contribute information,provide feedback,share ideas and connect to other users with similar interests.There are several examples of this relevant to development organizations in Africa Caribian Pacific(ACP) countries:wikis,blogs,social networking,social bookmarking. “We have learnt how to work on the same document being at distant places using Google docs and wikis, teleconference using Voice over Internet Protocol(VOIP),and professional Networking among others”,says Marcellin Habimana,a weather forecast who works in the Rwanda Ministry of In fracture(MININFRA),Department of Meteorology. He also says that web 2.0 tools especial’ social media ‘can be a channel to disseminate weather information to reach the population to protect their life and property. The Rwanda government is promoting ICT use in national development programs. This web 2.0 learning opportunity is a great boost towards achieving this goal. The Writer is Jean-Pierre AFADHALI ,beneficiary of web 2.0 leaning opportunity -Kigali Monday, 14 November 2011 10:51

"The internet is the greatest changer I can see"says one of the participants of web 2.0 training »Having concluded the third day of the week-long Web 2.0 training hosted by RTN and MINAGRI with the support of CTA, participants have been trained in many subjects. They include search magic, remote collaboration, online mapping and voice over Internet Protocal other voice . While this has been helpful to those in attendance, it is intended as a training of trainers. As such, it will ultimately be successful or unsuccessful based on how well participants are able to carry out their mandate to train others. We spoke to three trainees about their experiences so far. Rukundo Sebasore Eric works with Digital Opportunity Trust (DOT), an NGO active in many African countries, which came to Rwanda in 2010. DOT is involved in delivering ICT and business skills to their beneficiaries. Sebasore works with many young interns, so dissemination of Web 2.0 technology skills is important within DOT, as well as without. Regarding skills learned in the sessions, he says that "We are like trainers." Sebasore sees himself passing on his training to the interns, so that they can help others. As a member of an NGO heavily involved with ICTs, he has experience with the internet and basic technologies. However, he is learning new features of familiar programs. For example, while he has used GoogleDocs before, he has only just learned about features on it such as designing survey forms-- and he is learning other tools, such as Wikis and online mapping, for the first time. He hopes to use his new skills to support his colleagues and others in the business world, in addition to DOT beneficiaries. In the end, Sebasore says, "I would like to see people using these tools to change their lives." Nambajie Anaclet is an owner of ICT access centre member of Rwanda Telecentre Network(RTN).., in Nyabihu District. He has many young customers who come for basic services like email and facebook, and he sees the opportunity to provide them with additional knowledge. Many Rwandans have some computer skills, but "some people are not able to navigate websites." Many Web 2.0 tools are being used, but not at their full capacities. Anaclet intends to introduce the new skills that he is learning through his business. Upon returning home, he plans to install Skype in his computers, and use it as a teaching platform. Finally, Moses Turatsinze works in the ICT department of the Rwanda Development Board(RDB), where he heads the monitoring and evaluation department. He sees an oportunity to share the skills that he is learning with colleagues at RDB. Echoing Anaclet, he feels that some potential for the internet is being wasted: for many ICT users, "they don't know how to intelligently use these applications." For Turatsinze, educating many people quickly is especially important, because "the internet is the greatest changer I can see." In other words, given the way that the internet has connected the world, those with the knowledge to use it well have a great advantage: "When appropriately used, these Web 2.0 applications are tools to usher us in a knowledge economy." Thursday, 10 November 2011 08:55

Web 2.0 leaning opportunity:Day One »On October 7th, 2011, the first day of a training in web 2.0 tools was jointly hosted by RTN, and the Rwanda Ministry of Agriculture with the support of CTA. The participants were drawn from diverse backgrounds namely government insitutions,civil society organisations and Telecentres. In fact the training is primarily intended as a training of trainers, so the one unifying thread among the participants is that they were selected for their ability and willingness to share what they learn with others. Those in attendance had an opportunity at the beginning to share their hopes and expectations for the week. Although they work in different fields, most of their expectations revolved around learning more about social media tools and sharing their knowledge to benefit others-- whether in the public at large, in their businesses, or in the government. The focus of the training is familiarity with Web 2.0, or interactive online technologies. As Nicholas Kimolo, one of the trainers, pointed out, Africa currently accounts for only four percent of online content, with South Africa contributing fully half of that. However, African entrepreneurs and businesspeople are taking on greater prominence. As African infrastructure increases and prices for its use become lower, they are poised, after receiving trainings such as this, to make proportionally greater contributions. Day 1 introduced the theoretical framework of web 2.0. The focus of ICTs training is not on web technologies in and of themselves, but about the people using them. Due to the inter-connectedness of the web and the volume of copyleft, or open source technology and information, internet users can readily draw on the work of others to make their own contributions, rather than starting from scratch. Participants also were informed on the accompanying risks of such technologies, including privacy risks stemming from posting material online, as well as quality assurance-- copyleft information sources such as Wikipedia are very helpful, but since anyone can post information, it may be less reliable than other sources, and researchers need a sense of discernment to use them well. After the introduction, subjects covered were search engines and directories, Google news alerts, and RSS feeds. The common theme was finding information online-- in the case of search engines and directories, by searching for it, and in the case of alerts and RSS feeds, by setting programs so that it is automatically received. This was the basis for future lessons, since if participants are to contribute online material, they must first have the understanding and knowledge to do so. Midway through the day, those in attendance were given the opportunity to write comments and suggestions related to the training, and they were shared at the end of the session on democracy wall. This is to be done throughout the week, and it reflects the spirit of the training. Participants are to train others, so sharing feedback with each other is a logical beginning. Feedback was positive overall, with some desire for more concrete information being expressed. Since the training will provide increasingly technical information in the days to come, this should be satisfied. Tuesday, 08 November 2011 12:38

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