Content critical to Philippines public computer centers

12.01.2006
For Community e-Centers (CeCs) to successfully serve more Filipinos, the centers must provide content that is useful to the community.

Dr. Segundo Romero, senior fellow at the Development Academy of the Philippines (DAP) said that the CeCs should service the people by fostering a sense of community.

One of the major projects carried out by the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT), the CeCs are designed to provide public access points to as many communities as possible. The centers are equipped with multimedia PCs connected to the Internet and all-in-one printers -- a similar set-up found in most Internet cafes in the country. Romero, however, said that today's CeCs should extend beyond the features of the run-of-the-mill Net cafes.

'Internet cafes service individuals. CeCs should service the community as a whole. CeCs should allow communities to converse. CeCs should create a sense of being a community, sort of like an artesian well,' said Romero. He added that computer facilities are important, but the contents play a much more significant role.

Dr. Romero said that ICT is the country's answer to making a nation of the country's 7,100 islands. A specific example of an ICT application is a Community e-Center or CeC. The centers were designed to serve as a venue for disseminating and mobilizing knowledge for increased awareness in ICT. The centers are also designed to further develop existing technologies and eventually increase productivity for all.

'It (CeCs) could do so much for the people. It could house electronic copies of all-weather community databases -- fiesta souvenirs, telephone directories, town information, and genealogical references, to name a few. It could provide an electronic version of the town's history. The possibilities are endless,' said Romero.