Communication Hotspots for Communities
The idea is to improve communication facilities in slums by installing a Kiosco Magico in a central place within the community. The aim is to build communication and social capacity in the poorest communities throughout the world and thus support self-help. – Kiosco Magico is a concept that can also be applied to other communities sharing a common interest, i. e. a school in Brazil or an elderly’s home in Chile – or an editorial department for journalists-to-be in South Africa.
A Kiosco Magico Gives Access to Communication
The basic idea of our Kiosco Magico is to provide access to the internet and thus also Voice-over-IP (VOIP) communication in slums, i.e. in South America, South Africa or India. The hotspot will be installed in a central place, e.g. in a community house or assembly room. The installation will enable citizens to communicate and thereby improve their living conditions and/or realize a community project based through communication.
Upgrading Slums + Informal Settlements
Informal settlements used to be called slums. In 2007, for the first time in the history of mankind, the global urban population outnumbered that living in the countryside. Urban planners and architects try to tackle this enormous growth of cities and started work on what is called slum upgrading. This means to improve living conditions exactly in those places where the population increases.
Enabling Entrepreneurship
The Kiosco Mágico will provide an excellent example of how mature, cheap communication tools can help build social and entrepreneurial capacity. Secondly, the idea is to help improve social structures and leverage entrepreneurial activities for micro business by teaming up with business and institutional partners throughout the (developing) world. The project will support the slum inhabitants by helping them with courses in self-help architecture or self-marketing. Similar projects could be realized in different social contexts, where people have a common need and interest to communicate and/or draw knowledge and information from communication tools to improve their situation or realize projects of significance.
Bridging the Digital Gap
The benefits are manifold. First, the inhabitants of the community get access to communication tools and specially designed courses on self-made architecture, self-marketing or other (micro-) business-related subjects. Classes via VOIP could be a follow-up after the project. This will enable them to improve their living conditions, get access to communication and information. By becoming internet-savvy, they will be able to retrieve and exchange knowledge. It is bridging the digital gap. And it means, offering the appropriate tools for participation in decision-making processes in society. Secondly, our business and academic partners will benefit from the experience, research and knowledge that the project provides. Using information technology to achieve social change is an increasingly interesting subject for (research) projects in international universities and business organizations. Using social media to feature real people improving their lives can be an excellent way to show social responsibility in practice.
The Task Force
The team consists of seven “kiosqueros” – committed individuals with an academic background who have expertise and experience professional fields such as journalism, interaction design, social entrepreneurship, education and project management. Members of the Task Force team have expertise and experience from different projects realized in South Africa, Chile, Mexico, Nicaragua, Uganda, as well as educational and media experience. The members share a common vision: to combine social commitment, research and communication tools in entrepreneurial spirit. In cooperation with specific local NGOs and business partners, they make sure that sponsoring is tax-deductible. For every project, they create a custom-designed solution and choose the partner that best fits every project. (The prototype case study of a pilot project in the outskirts of Valparaíso, Chile, South America, is available upon request.)
Becoming a Partner and/or Sponsor
Since they have contacts in journalism, media, academia and engineering, the Task Force is looking for one or more sponsors. The support can be logistical (material, expert time, air fares or transportation) or simply financial. The overall cost can vary (i.e. according to country, challenge, scope of project) but as a rule of thumb, the estimate is EUR 50,000 for one pilot project in South America. Of course, various options to realize such a sum are possible: One partner might want to cooperate, for example, and contribute EUR 30.000 as a main sponsor, while two co-sponsors could be contracted each on EUR 10.000. The sponsoring concept will, of course, be tailored in cooperation with each individual partner.
Kiosco Magico also looks for network partners that are not necessarily sponsors. The idea is to exchange ideas and knowledge, contacts and info between individuals and associations that share a similar interest, by linking up each other’s we pages to begin with. The idea is to generate a wider appeal and brand recognition.
Rolling out the Kiosco Magico
The Kiosco Magico will be installed in the community centre, equipped with a WiFi hotspot. The free access to the internet allows VOIP and gives access to the internet through a public terminal or by using private equipment such as a WiFi-ready mobile phone. The kiosco will carry a unique and robust design with a unique name and an easily recognizable logo. The sponsor may provide additional user terminals or handsets to the community. One co-sponsor could pay construction materials or micro-business courses for the citizens living in the favela.
Being Sustainable
In order to be sustainable, we apply various ideas. First, each kiosco installed is viewed as a “nucleus” for change in the very favela. The team will assist the community until the members know how to help themselves and share their newly-gained knowledge further in the community, and until they are able to use their new tools for better participation to the fullest. Secondly, the knowledge gained from the classes and courses for academic and experience purposes will serve to define best practice cases. Third, “Kiosco Magico” is conceived as an open source concept that can be used and copied freely by any individual or institution that pursues a similar idea or project. We help networking and share our experience. Thus, we want to spread the idea and the “manuals” that we develop with anyone who wants to make a difference in this world.
For more detailed info, please contact us:
Berlin Office
Birgit Heitfeld, Chilecita Press Office
E: birgit.heitfeld@kioscomagico.org
T: +49 30 4403 4363 M: +49 171 1407 569
Malmö Office
Nils G. Indahl, European Centre For Digital Journalism AB
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Page created by Birgit Heitfeld on 9 Jan 2010
