One of the activities that was originally included in Conectándonos al Futuro’s plan was the creation of a number of information and connectivity pilots, as well as an assessment of their acceptance, use, and impact. Towards this end, the project adopted the model known as "telecenters", which have been implemented in many parts of the world –particularly in Africa– and which essentially consists of a community access center for information and communications services, using the Internet, telephone, fax, and other means.[1]

In spite of the exponential growth of the Internet, those who have access to its services are truly a small proportion of the world’s population. Scarcely 2.5% of the world’s population is currently on-line, and most are in the United States, and to a lesser extent in Japan and Western Europe.[2] In El Salvador there are approximately 15,000 Internet accounts, which represents coverage for approximately 1% of the national population.[3]

This low coverage can be explained in part by the prohibitive cost of accessing the Internet, compared to national income levels. Individual access involves an investment of approximately $1500 (in other words, eleven times the monthly minimum wage), plus a monthly outlay of $30-$60 (20-45% of the monthly minimum wage).[4]

The traditional Internet development model is based on "dial-up" connections using a computer, a modem, and a telephone line in the user’s home. This model is valid and has produced extraordinary results in the United States, where over 97% of all households have a telephone and 50% have a computer, in contrast to El Salvador, where only 20% of urban households and 2% of rural households even have a telephone.

An alternative Internet development model for El Salvador, known here as "Infocenters", is based on the importance of communications for Salvadoran families, of which the vast majority have one or more members living abroad. We must also not forget the great need for businesses to have access to up-to-date, timely information in order to flourish and increase their competitiveness. This model is also based on the premise that solutions to the people’s communication and information needs must be within their means, both in technological and economic terms.

Thus, the Infocenters model seeks not only to meet local needs by developing a culture of communications and information exchange, but also to lay the groundwork for building new businesses and new styles of development of all kinds, including in technological, economic, social, and cultural aspects.

In terms of infrastructure, an Infocenter is a physical center equipped with a network of computers, a scanner, printers, and other related hardware, as well as a classroom with projector, screen, whiteboard, and a network connection.

An important principle governing the Infocenters model is efficient management of the centers, so that each may not only become self-sustaining, but also generate a surplus for each individual center and for the model as a whole. Thus, innovative management of each Infocenter, which will offer a wide variety of products and services to the community, is of the highest importance. This will be more feasible if those who manage each Infocenter are close to their clients, either because they are area residents, or because their clients are also members of the Infocenter Association. Thus, we have designed a model in which each Infocenter is a small business which sells connectivity services, but also helps design electronic information resources (Webpages) and conducts training.

The Infocenters are not independent, but belong instead to a national network made up of center managers together with all individuals and organizations interested in participating in this initiative. The network provides technical assistance to each center and ensures quality of service, promotes the establishment of Infocenters throughout the country in an effort to achieve maximum coverage, and facilitates the creation of relevant Webpages and on-line applications for the diverse Salvadoran client base.

Physical access to an electronic network, as the Infocenter Association proposes, is a prerequisite for using the Internet. However, merely consuming information produced in other countries considerably limits the potential of the Internet as an instrument of development. A critical factor in the success of the Infocenters network will be a dynamic process of generating relevant contents and on-line applications for all Salvadorans. Thus, the Infocenter Association places a priority on producing and publishing information and applications that will be useful for all sectors, and also as a way to project El Salvador throughout the world.

The work carried out by the six learning circles set up under Conectándonos al Futuro, which involved sectorial assessments of bottlenecks in terms of information and knowledge, has laid the methodological groundwork for future efforts to define priorities of content production for the Infocenters. We hope that the existing circles, and others yet to be created, will continue working under the auspices of the Infocenter Association to define which types of information resources to produce, as well as refine the methodology used to produce them.

3. Based on the assumption of one account per four users, in other words, a household.   [return]

4. The investment is calculated in the following fashion: 1 computer ($1100) and a telephone line (ca. $350). The monthly cost is calculated on the basis of an Internet subscription ($20-$40 per month) plus local impulse charges ($10-$20 per month at minimum).   [return]

5. We must stress the fact that a minority of people "on line" is not enough to state that a country enjoys all the advantages of connectivity. The most interesting Internet application, as well as certain aspects of e-commerce, require economies of scale which cannot be achieved with incipient national connectivity.   [return]

6. The investment will be repaid to the government after 10 years.   [return]