Impact of telecentres on Sri Lankan society

Telecentres have been considered as the instrument to empower the underserved communities to achieve a wide range of socio-economic development targets in the developing countries. In 2004, the Sri Lankan government initiated a telecentre project to establish 1,000 telecentres with the World Bank funding. The main objectives of the project were to assist underserved communities in poverty reduction and social and economic development. This paper, through a field study of 17 telecentres in Sri Lanka analyses the impact of telecentres on the society. It has been found that the telecentres helped to: improve the ICT literacy levels, to increase supply of ICT manpower, to improve small business and enhance the use of ICTs in daily life.