WCIT 2008: Pikom to set up community PC centres

KUALA LUMPUR: A nationwide network starting with 20 or 30 serviced community PC centres will be established soon under an initiative by the Association of the Computer and Multimedia Industry of Malaysia (Pikom).

The initiative, called Projek Menguasai Aplikasi Internet dan PC (or Projek Main PC), seeks to give all citizens access to ICT (information and communications technology), especially the lower income group which generally cannot afford PCs.

Pikom intends to start setting up these PC centres by December and the staff at the facilities will include instructors who will be around to guide users and newbies to computing.

It is hoped, this will help lessen the “digital divide,” that gap between the technology haves and have-nots that could contribute to further socio-economic disparity between the two groups if left unattended.

The move is a collaboration between Pikom and several partners, and will start with the conversion of 10 existing Economic Planning Unit (EPU) telecentres into community PC centres.

“There is a valid fear that the divide is getting bigger. Thus, Pikom sees a need to address this issue by bringing ICT capabilities to people in rural areas,” said David Wong, Pikom chairman.

He said this is only the first phase of Projek Main PC. If successful, the second phase — which is expected to kick off sometime next year — will see more of such centres mushrooming nationwide.

Projek Main PC’s long-term goal is to create 150 community PC centres, as well as integrate the 1,945 existing EPU telecentres by 2010.

With the centres and telecentres, Pikom aims to greatly increase both total learner-hours as well as new-learner coverage by that year.

The project’s partners include software giant Microsoft, volunteer organisation The Lions Club, computer maker Hewlett-Packard, chipmaker Intel, Telekom Malaysia and Cuscapi, a business management solutions vendor.

Projek Main PC has the support of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, and the Ministry of Rural and Regional Development.