Mobile Telecentres project wins award at GK3 IN KL Malaysia

One of our 1st graduates from the GLOW telecentre project in Manila won an award at the GK3 Knowledge event held in Malaysia in early Dec 07. Christine Lopez of the Phillippines - MobileTelecenters.com became the 1st 2008 inductee into the the Young Social Entrepreneurs program with her Mobile Telecentre project. Christine and her team will receive up to USD$15,000 in grant financing and 12 months of mentoring as part of the YSEI Innovators 2008 program.

www.MobileTelecenters.com outfits trikes (eTrikes) with technology such as wireless laptops and trains school students in Manila in ICTs. The team also had the opportunity to vote on the 20 Ideas for creating a World of Entrepreneurs, as generated by themselves and the other GK3 participants through the BrainStore’s ideaFactory process.

About The Mobile Telecentres Project

In the urban regions of Manila’s metropolis, 5 young Filipinos are building the country’s first mobile, self-contained, wireless telecentre program.

The students are all graduates of the Philippines 1st fixed base telecenter, GLOW, which launched in 2000. They have designed a new and innovative and mobile approach of delivering ICT learning combined with a sustainable model, to communities that typically have no access to these services

About Mobile Telecentres (By Christine Lopez - Team Leader)

Our team are comprised of 5 young people, all from Manila. We graduated in 2004 from the Philippines 1st telecenter program called GLOW (Global Learning Opportunities on the Web).

We are a youth-led, ICT enabled, social business venture.

Christine Lopez – Team leader
Cris Gillegao – Operations manager
Patrick Ebdani – Technical manager (mobile units)
Larry Capara – Technical manager (mobile units)
Marlon Regenio – Technical manager (mobile units)

After further IT training, over the last 3 years, we have come together in early 2007 to create the first mobile telecenter program in the Philippines that helps educate and train youth about the internet, computers, the uses of ICTs, computer training and further training opportunities and careers.

We do this onsite, using internet-connected eTrikes, that are outfitted with two operators equipped with wireless internet, 3 laptops, a colour printer, digital camera, 3 cellphones and a generator. Training and our commercial services are carried out, onsite, at schools which are all located in disadvantaged areas of Manila, Philippines

Our Vision

We envision, that through onsite tutorial and assistance, our student recipients will become competent and literate in the job and business opportunities which ICT’s represent. Our vision is to help empower Filipino youth to become independent and productive citizens of the Philippines.

Our Mission

- Today’s young people need to be ICT literate. Our mission is to pass on our training to future youth.
- To teach, share and apply ICT training to elementary and high school level students in public schools.
- To be an instrument of social change for Filipino youth.
- K.E.Y.S. in ICT – Kabataan(tagalong word means youth) Envision Your Success in ICT.

We are being advised and sponsored by OrphanIT.com

Our objective is to take ICT training to local schools in disadvantaged areas of Manila initially and then expand out our reach from there.

Future Plans - The eJeepney

Aside from initial funding our project aims to be sustainable by late 2008 from the sale of our services such as Cell Phone Repair, Cell Phone Recharges, Cell Phone Sales, Cell Phone Calls, Onsite Computer Repair, Email Access, SMS Texting, Onsite Web Sites, Onsite Digital Photography, Basic Printing and Food sales.

Our on-board technology

The eTrike mobile unit carrys 3 laptop computers, a mobile cell phone repair unit, a battery operated printer, 1 camera camera, 3 cell phones and a printer. The Internet is provided via a wireless connection from PLDT’s WeRoam’s wireless service and our electricity is provided from an onboard generator and batteries.

Additionally we have a roof rack that allows the vehicle to haul our extra equipment such as our cellphone repair kit and a hot food unit. We are working on a new design now that will allow us to fold out a table with an awning which will make the mobile telecenter all weather proof, a necessity in the Philippines unpredictable conditions.

Our sustainability model

The Philippines is the world’s capital of SMS (Texting via cellphone) and this is why we have incorporated the cellphone services into our program. Not only are we able to generate income to sustain our service by offering the services listed above, we are also able to use SMS to communicate with all the local schools we service and announce the telecentre’s schedule in advance before it arrives at it’s designated location. The weekly schedule is broadcast via SMS to inform teachers about the location and time that it will arrive at their school.

Why we’re doing this

The mobile capability of the eTrike allows fast access to reach schools in Manila’s notorious traffic. The objective of our project is to serve youth in the communities we work in, who are marginalised through gender, poverty, and other factors that make them feel they have no participation in ICT initiatives. By providing internet access directly to the schools, who typically don’t even have computers, let alone an internet connection and doing this in their own environment, the technology and training we provide is made less challenging. Our mobile solutions means students do not have to travel long distances to benefit from the lessons. Our trained operators help assist in overcoming ITC illiteracy and open up the possibilities that ICT can offer to even the most disadvantaged in these communities.

In our first year of operation we anticipate being able to provide onsite training to 100 schools with a combined student population of more than 100,000 youth. We believe we will be able to provide ICT training to approximately 5% of these youth in the 1st year of operations.

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