Government Public Access Centres (PACs): A beacon of hope for marginalised communities

C. Uys, S. Pather
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引用次数: 11

Abstract

Notwithstanding massive injections into broadband infrastructure, large sectors of the world’s population remain without access to the internet.  One of the strategies employed by Government and the private sector to address the digital divide has been to provide basic computing services and internet access to communities in the form of public access centres (PACs) or otherwise known as telecentres.  Over the years PAC related interventions have been subjected to much introspection, and critique, given a number of examples of failures.  This paper examines a PAC program in South Africa which has been running with success for ten years.   The paper reports on a study which includes data collected from more than two thousand four hundred users of PACs.  The findings provide critical insights into the value proposition of PACs for communities in impoverished areas and whether this is still relevant from a policy perspective to tackle the digital divide.  The findings also provide insights into the profile of users; the factors which impact on their choice of a PAC as an internet access point; and the extent to which there is a reliance on PACs.  The most revealing finding from the study indicates that PACS provided the average user with something more than just an internet access point.  The study has determined that PACs have a significant effect on the hopefulness a citizen has for his or her self, community and country.
政府公共服务中心:边缘社区的希望灯塔
尽管向宽带基础设施投入了大量资金,但世界上仍有很大一部分人口无法接入互联网。政府和私营部门为解决数字鸿沟所采用的策略之一,是以公共上网中心的形式向社区提供基本的计算服务和互联网接入,或以其他方式称为远程中心。多年来,鉴于一些失败的例子,与PAC相关的干预措施受到了许多反思和批评。本文考察了南非的一个项目,该项目已经成功地运行了十年。该论文报告了一项研究,其中包括从2400多名pac用户收集的数据。这些发现为政治行动委员会对贫困地区社区的价值主张提供了重要见解,以及从政策角度来看,这是否仍然与解决数字鸿沟有关。研究结果还提供了对用户概况的见解;影响他们选择公共帐目中心作为互联网接入点的因素;以及对政治行动委员会的依赖程度。这项研究最具启发性的发现表明,PACS为普通用户提供的不仅仅是一个互联网接入点。该研究确定,政治行动委员会对公民对自己、社区和国家的希望有重大影响。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
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