re-inventing the wheel
Writing by admin on Saturday, 4 of August , 2007 at 7:17 pm
The tuktuk, a three-wheeled motorcycle, is a familiar sight on the streets of South Asia. Its usefulness for getting people from place to place, squeezing into the smallest lanes and over the bumpiest roads, has made it indispensable. But in the rolling hills of Kothmale in Sri Lanka, the humble tuktuk has evolved into something much more than a mode of transport.
The eTUKTUK is a self-contained mobile telecentre and radio broadcasting unit, housed within a traditional three-wheeler, which literally takes the Kothmale Community Multimedia Centre (KCMC) to the community’s doorstep. For more than eight years, KCMC has been serving as an interface between rural communities in the central hill region of Sri Lanka and new communication technologies. The eTUKTUK is stocked with a laptop, battery-operated printer, camera, telephone and scanner, with Internet provided via a CDMA-enabled wireless connection and a 1000W generator for electricity.
By directly accessing villages, eTUKTUK immediately strikes a chord with the local community, and it makes new technologies less daunting by presenting it to users in a familiar environment. The weekly route of the eTUKTUK is broadcast over the radio to inform listeners of the location and time that it will arrive in their community. The two loudspeakers mounted on the roof rack and powered by an amplifier and CD player can narrowcast radio programmes and announce the telecentre’s presence in a village. Judging by the scores of curious observes that the eTUKTUK attracts, it can safely be said that for once, reinventing the wheel actually did make sense.
The previous article is an excerpt from the UNESCO photo study publication ‘from access to engagement’. To download the publication click here
Category: press
- Add this post to
- Del.icio.us -
- Meneame -
- Digg
No comments yet.
