Establishment of Nenasalas

Establishment of Nenasalas  1. e-Sri Lanka Initiative The e-Sri Lanka Initiative initiated by the Government of Sri Lanka aims to provide access to “diverse and unrestricted sources of information and means of communication” to all the citizens.
The Government of Sri Lanka in recognizing the great potentials that Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) can play in: • strengthening the democratic processes in the country, • the advancement of the peace process, • improving the quality of life of the people, and • enhancing the social and economic development
2. ICTA’s 1000 Nenasala(Knowledge Centre) Project The Nenasala Project is one of the projects implemented under the e-Sri Lanka Initiative. Formally known as the “Vishva Gnana Kendra Project (Nenasala)”, ICTA has incorporated it under the “Nenasala” label to introduce several models of the telecentres or knowledge centres to be established in all parts of Sri-Lanka to spread ICT services to the rural and semi-urban population. The Project will aim to meet the infrastructure requirements in order to address the information and communication needs of rural areas in all parts of the country through the establishment of Nenasalas, and the provision of ICT based services.
As the diffusion and the use of ICTs in rural areas is limited, it is recognized that the most effective and efficient way to provide access to ICTs for rural areas will be through the establishment of Nenasalas. The main objectives of a Nenasala is to assist communities in: • poverty reduction • social and economic development, and • peace building.
It is important to note that all the services and support to be provided by the Nenasalas are done in such a way as to aim / guarantee long-term sustainability. The lessons learned from the evaluation of the initial Nenasalas will be used in the establishment of the Nenasala Network across the country using the following models. ICTA will have 3 different types of Nenasalas or Knowledge Centres depending on the complexity and the type of services that will be offered. namely,
	1. Rural Knowledge Centres, 2. e-Libraries, 3. Distance & e-Learning centres 4. Tunami camp computer kiosks.
	2.1 Nenasala: Rural Knowlege Centres – (Entreprenual or Commercial Model)   Running under the banner of “Vishwa Denuma Gamata” or “global knowledge to the village”, the key objective of this programme is to establish multi-service community information centres which provide access to internet, e-mail, telephones, fax, photocopy, computer training classes and other ICT services as well act as a hub of local, national and global information resources to provide an catalytic effect for the rural communities in poverty reduction, social and economic development and peace building while aiming at providing these services in a long-term, sustainable manner. Section 3(Phase one) of this report onwards explains the complete selection process of the locations and the owners. In the first phase, 100 centres will be created in Grama Niladhari Divisions in the South and North East regions with little or no access to Information Communication Technology by the end of 2005. Another 100 Centres will be implemented by 2007 in other parts of Sri-Lanka.
	2.2 e-Library Nansala –Community Model   e-library will be a smaller version of the Rural Knowledge Centres but will follow a community model where some services are provided free with a few paid services to maintain the sustainability of the centre. These centres will have telephones and computers with high speed internet to access national, international and local information. Computer based training (CBT) media is available to use off-line in Sinhala, Tamil and English as well as a large e-library of books and periodicals for the use of students of all ages. These centres are in the process of being established in the centre of village, mainly in places of worship, public libraries and community centers. IT trained clergy will also be used as instructors. 800 of these Nenasala:e-libararies will be opened within the next 2-3 years.
	2.3 Distance & e-learning Centres (DeLs)   A DeL centre will have distance and e-learning services inclusive of all infrastructure facilities such as video conferencing room, multi-media computer laboratory and a playback room. The overall objective of the DeL Centre project is to provide new information sharing and learning opportunities to a large spectrum of users in the country, through the establishment of an interactive, multi-channel network linking to existing domestic e-learning networks, and global networks for distance and e-learning, such as the Global Development Learning Network. DeL centres will aim at raising the skill levels of a broad spectrum of the population in key urban areas outside the Colombo area. ICTA is currently in the process of implementing 4 DeL centres inclusive of Jaffna University and South Eastern University, Oluvil campus.
	2.4 Tsunami Camp Nansala  As a special project, ICTA has undertaken to provide ICT facilities for tsunami victims by establishing small computer kiosks or Nenasalas in welfare camps where people who have been displaced due to the tsunami. This programme will provide much needed information on health, education, and other relevant content in local languages and create a database of information on residents. All services to the camp residents are provided free of charge. “Tsunami Voices” database will contain information on camp residents, their livelihood, what they lost and what they need to re-start their lives and also medical information on special ailments, treatments, etc. This database will be of immense help to the government during their relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction phase and to donor agencies and well wishers who are looking to provide assistance to these camps. This database could also serve as a single entry point to interested parties who are currently collecting information thus avoiding the creation of multiple databases and inflated figures. Though the Tsunami Camp Nenasalas, ICTA wishes to create awareness amongst the people about ICT, its benefits and how it can make a difference; to give hope to those who have lost hope. It will provide vocational training to those who may need to look for alternative employment. The Project is to have a 6-month lifespan, but closings will be flexible based upon camp longevity. A special feature of this initiative is that it will tap into human resources available within the camps themselves. It hopes to find the personnel to run the centers from amongst the youth in the camps, tapping into the potential and genius of our rural communities. These young people will be trained by volunteers of Volunteer-Sri Lanka. If these centers are a success, ICTA will consider converting them into permanent Nenasala: e-library centres following the same criteria. Centres have been opened in 20 camps in the affected regions. The rest of this report will deal with all the activities and the implementation of the Nenasala: Rural Knowledge Centre (Entreprenual or Commerical model)