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INFORMATION SERVICES FOR RURAL COMMUNITIES: THE “TELECOTTAGE” PROJECT
Abstract
The establishment of a network of ‘telecottages’ or community teleservice centres in Scandinavia commenced in 1985. These centres provide public access to computers and a broad range of software, databases, communications, distance education and other services, and are now making an important contribution to economic, social and cultural development, particularly in more isolated rural communities. Similar installations are being planned or contemplated in several European countries (France, Spain, Portugal, Wales and Scotland), in Canada, and in the developing countries of Bhutan, Benin and Sri Lanka. The telecottage concept has appeal for Australia and New Zealand, where rural isolation is relatively great. This paper discusses the rationale and history of the telecottage project, the services provided, achievements to date and future prospects. The relevance of the concept for Australasia is then examined. The material presented here is based on visits by the authors to a number of telecottages in Denmark, and has drawn on findings reported by Qvortrup.
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NOTES AND REFERENCES
L. Qvortrup, ‘Telecottages: Scandinavian information and community service centres for rural communities’, paper presented to the International Conference on Information Technology in Agriculture, Food and Rural Development, Dublin, 1988; idem., ‘The Nordic telecottages: community teleservice centres for rural regions’. Telecommunications Policy, 13, 1, pp. 59–68.
ITU, The Missing Link, Report of the Independent Commission for the World-Wide Telecommunication Development, Geneva, 1984; L. Engvall, Teleservices to Sparsely Populated Areas, Geneva, 1988.
Commission of the European Communities, Telecommunications and Europe's Future, Brussels, 1986; H. Ungerer and N.P. Costello, Telecommunications in Europe, Commission of the European Communities, Brussels, 1988.
Commission of the European Communities, The Future of Rural Society, Bulletin of the European Commissions, Supplement 4/88, Brussels, 1988.
L. Qvortrup, 1989, op. cit.
S. R. Harrison, ‘Electronic technology and management information in agriculture’, Prometheus, 4, 2, 1986, pp. 344–65.
Commission of the European Communities, 1988, op. cit.
ibid, pp. 54–55.
ibid, p. 54.
Qvortrup, 1989, op. cit.
Commission of the European Communities, 1988, op. cit., p. 55.
ibid, p. 55.
A. Damgaard, ‘Gaester fra Australien, Kina og Canada sa Lemvigs tre telehuse’ (Guests from Australia, China and Canada see Lemvig's three telehouses), Lemvig Folkeblad, 11 May 1989 (in Danish).
For example, see DLG, Knowledge Based Systems in Agriculture — Prospects for Application, Proceedings of the International DLG Conference for Computer Technology, Frankfurt a.M. — Bad Soden, 1988.
E.g., see S.R. Harrison and P.C. Sharma, ‘Social impacts of changing land use in the brigalow region’ in A. Bailey, (ed.), The Brigalow Belt in Australia, Royal Society of Queensland, 1984, pp. 215–56.
Harrison, op. cit.