Report (Part 2): International Symposium on Volunteering and Development of Capacity in the Information Society (ISV 2003)

Workshop 2: Training

Date: 24 October 2003, 9h00 to 17h30
Moderators: Olivier Nzepa, ANAIS (Cameroon); Mostafa Massmoudi (Tunisia)
Reporter: Daniel Dory

Methodology

Through an inventory, it was possible to identify the main areas of intervention of volunteers and the target groups towards which their efforts should be directed. Participants differentiated several types of training depending on:

• Target public
• Level of training (content)
• Actors involved
• Training methods used (online, on site)

They then made recommendations on how volunteers could contribute.

Synthesis

It is possible to distinguish four basic types of training:

• Basic education directed towards:
  a) Children and adolescents education, where teachers play a fundamental role;
  b) Adult education, where volunteers play a key role (for example, aimed at the local electorate).
• Basic technical training (related to the use of hardware, networks, software and equipment) which should be accessible to all actors of the information society. Here, volunteers play an important role in Africa and elsewhere.
• Training focusing on contents creation, which is the responsibility of the schools for higher education in different countries as well as volunteer organizations.
• Dissemination of fundamental knowledge according to education and research policies of individual countries.

ICT training includes a range of aspects, where each actor, public, private or NGO, has a specific role to play.

There is a need to identify the areas in which volunteers should particularly focus their action, taking into consideration the essential role of volunteers as irreplaceable actors for training in certain sectors of the population not reached by the government training institutions. ICTs need also to be fully integrated into the activities of volunteers, as a means of communication and a tool of work, regardless of where the volunteers are active.

Recommendations

• Reinforce the capacity of volunteers in order to enable them to train ICT users at all levels and with all groups outside the official national system of education.
• Guarantee the necessary financial means for volunteer action in the field of ICT training. This can be obtained through multilateral agreements regarding the channeling of resources.