Technovation 22 (2002) 785–798
www.elsevier.com/locate/technovation
The economic and organizational aspects of telecentres: the
Spanish case
Ana Rosa del Aguila Obra a, Sebastián Bruque Cámara b, Antonio Padilla Meléndez a,∗
a
Management Department, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, University of Malaga (Spain), Plaza El Ejido s/n, 29071Málaga, Spain
b
University of Jaen, Jaen, Spain
Abstract
In this paper we present the following concept: the economic and organizational characteristics and the main aspects of the
development of telecentres or telework centres, in a wide-ranging context of the use of telecommunications as an instrument to aid
social-economic development of deprived rural and urban areas. To be more specific, we analyse how these Telework Centres are
set up in diverse information related service enterprises aimed at other businesses or individuals. These initiatives are being subsidized by different public organisms as pilot development aid projects on an international scale. We have made an empirical study
on a national scale, using 27 sample centres, from which we have obtained, amongst other things, the characteristics, economic
objectives and results achieved from the initiatives that are underway in Spain or that are expected to be achieved from the setting
up of these centres. Finally, we present our conclusions on the subject and list the literature used.
 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Telecentres; Teleworking; Telework; Telecommuting; Telecommunications; Business to business services
1. Introduction—aspects of telework
In recent years, an intense debate has arisen on the
possibilities that the development of ways of working
from a distance, based on intensive use of telecommunications and Information and Communication Technology (ICT), could have for society in general and for
organizations in particular. This situation has been favoured by the special interest shown by Public Administration in taking advantage of ICT as an instrument of
development support, through grants for the installation
of telecentres or Telework Centres in underdeveloped
areas. In general, each country has set up diverse projects
to ensure that this technology is available under better
quality and price conditions1 (Benı́tez and Padilla, 1999).
Corresponding author. Tel.: +34 952132692; fax: +34 952131293.
E-mail address: [email protected] (A.P. Meléndez).
1
In the first World Conference on Telecommunication Development, organized by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU)
in Buenos Aires (Argentina), in 1994, in relation to the Resolutions and
Recommendations in its Plan of Action 1994–98, the need to promote
integrated development in rural zones was underlined, thereby making
it possible for them to benefit from access to information resources,
telematics and computer networks. In fact, in 1996, the ITU promoted
∗
This technology can help to redistribute wealth and
balance the demand for employment for socially and
economically deprived areas (European Commission,
1996)2. Moreover, there is an ever increasing number of
studies that consider the strategic importance of telecommunications and ICT on a sectorial and business level
from a Business Management perspective (Powell and
Dent–Micallef, 1997). For this reason, in this paper we
concentrate on analysing the current situation of telean interorganizational United Nations project, on universal access to
basic communication and information services (ITU, 1998). The
initiative was put forward by Pekka Tarjanne, General Secretary of the
ITU, with the aim of achieving the fullfilment of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This Declaration lays down the bases of factors
common to all Humanity, irrespective of their differences, and states
that in order that all people may enjoy equal rights, they must have
access to basic information and communication services, thereby recognizing that the right to communication is a fundamental human right.
Tarjanne stated that if the International Community did not intervene,
there would be a danger that the world would be divided into two
categories, those rich in information and those poor in information,
which could later become an insurmountable obstacle to developing
countries (ITU, 1998).
2
For a description of European Union policies and action in this
field and in telework, see, amongst others, Benı́tez and Padilla (1999).
0166-4972/02/$ - see front matter  2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0 1 6 6 - 4 9 7 2 ( 0 2 ) 0 0 0 3 2 - 9
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centres in Spain. They are organizations that provide
ICT related services which can be seen as a type of Teleworking. Thus, we must consider the aspects of Teleworking, albeit on a general level, given that it is not a
main objective of this study. Moreover, to appreciate its
true dimensions, we offer some quantifications which
have been made on an international level.
Regarding its concept, Teleworking consists of working in places other than those considered to be the normal workplace (spacial flexibility); remote supervisionmanagement; intensive information related activity;
intensive use of ICT; and the predominance of
inter/extra-organizational electronic communication,
which allows cooperation at a distance, based on the
development of mutual trust. Teleworking can be considered from the teleworker contract point of view by
either taking into account the employer–employee
relationship or teleworking as a customer–supplier
relationship. However, Teleworking can be studied from
several other perspectives, which leads us to look at its
concept from different approaches: strategic, organizational, human resource management, and economic,
social, legal, political and technological aspects
(Padilla, 1998b).
From a strategic point of view, we consider Teleworking to be a way of organizing work that can offer companies competitive advantages, as well as meaning technological and administrative innovation (Yen et al., 1996),
a way for companies to be flexible and reduce costs.
From the economic point of view, we can make reference, in general, to the assessment of costs and profits
that the organization and employees will obtain from
Teleworking, and, in particular, to the economic assessment of the viability of initiatives related to Teleworking, such as telecentres. In its social aspect, we take into
account both the implications that this organizational
model has on employees’ working conditions and potential employment conflicts, as well as the relationship
between Teleworking and the incorporation of the disabled into the job market. Furthermore, and as we will
be able to verify later on, when we talk about telecentres,
which is one of its modalities, we discover other social
implications like its contribution to the development of
economically deprived areas.
From a political perspective, we look at how efforts
are being made in more economically developed countries to move forward in the so called ‘society of information’, where Teleworking is a key element, and international organisms such as United Nations, have
promoted similar initiatives in developing countries (see
Benı́tez and Padilla, 1999. As far as technology in Teleworking is concerned, we consider how organizations
currently have the opportunity to use technology already
available, although we are previously obliged to evaluate
and recognise the organizational implications that it
entails. With regard to the aspect of Human Resource
Management and Teleworking, its application gives rise
to numerous, important implications (see Padilla, 1998a,
whose analysis falls outside our line of work.
Finally, the organizational aspect refers to different
organizational patterns which are included in the generic
concept of Teleworking. Using organizational criteria,
Teleworking can be divided into the following categories
(Padilla, 1998a): Teleworking at home, mobile Teleworking and Teleworking Centres; Teleworking
modalities which have been used since 1973, when
Nilles first used the term telecommuting, to refer to the
possibility of exchanging routine daily commuting to
work for the use of telecommunications (Nilles, 1994).
We do not intend to go into the diverse aspects related
to teleworking, since this would distance us from our
aim to characterize the types of telecentres that currently
exist in Spain; although other papers which are centred
on the analysis of teleworking taking into account different analytical perspectives can be consulted (see Padilla,
1998a, amongst others).
In virtue of what has been mentioned, we can say that
not only is the concept not accepted, given the different
modalities that exist, but there are many related lines of
research, basically the following:
1. State or Public Administration: Research on existing
initiatives to develop the society of information.
2. Society: Analysis of the relationships between Teleworking and transport:3 and between Teleworking and
social and economic development in both rural and
urban deprived areas.
3. Individuals: Identification and analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of Teleworking for people.
4. Organization: Identification of organizational restructuring that makes Teleworking possible, its bearing on
Business Management, the establishment of activities
outside the workplace and also the new organizational
models that arise with the implantation of Teleworking, as well as the organizational and economic models of new organizations linked to Teleworking, such
as telecentres.
5. Technology: Analysis of the development and evolution of ICT.
In this paper we concentrate on a line of research that
analyses how ICT and Teleworking can contribute to the
social and economic development of rural and urban
deprived areas, and to the analysis of organizational
aspects (analysis of running) and economic aspects
(analysis of viability) of telecentres. This is therefore
3
This is one of the first lines of research developed at international
level and it has a bearing on Teleworking as a factor capable of reducing traffic and pollution, using the term Telecommuting (Nilles, 1988,
1993, 1994, 1996). Bagley et al. (1994) are other relevant authors in
this field.
A.R. del Aguila Obra et al. / Technovation 22 (2002) 785–798
787
Table 1
Estimations of number of teleworkersa
Country
Germany
Austria
Belgium
Denmark
Spain
Finland
France
Greece
Holland
Italia
Ireland
Portugal
Sweden
United
Kingdom
European Foundation of Living European Telework Development (1997) TELDET4 (1994)
and Working Conditions (1997)
Total
%
Total
%
Total
%
30,000
–
–
–
–
150,000
16,000
–
80,000
3,000
–
–
500,000
250,000
0.08
–
–
–
–
5.93
0.06
–
1.06
0.01
–
–
11.60
0.88
600,000
50,000
200,000
250,000
80,000
150,000
240,000
20,000
600,000
250,000
50,000
60,000
180,000
1,800,000
1.53
1.29
4.68
8.86
0.50
5.93
0.94
0.47
7.98
1.07
3.35
1.23
4.18
6.30
150,000
–
–
–
100,000
–
215,000
–
–
95,000
–
–
–
600,000
ECaTT5 (1999)
Total
0.38
–
–
–
0.62
–
0.84
–
–
0.41
–
–
–
2.10
2,132,000
–
–
280,000
357,000
355,000
635,000
–
1,044,000
720,000
61,000
–
594,000
2,027,000
%
6.04
–
–
10.48
2.81
16.77
2.87
–
14.53
3.59
4.44
–
15.17
7.62
a
Source: The authors from TELDET (1994), the OCDE (1997), the European Foundation of the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions
(1997); Benı́tez and Padilla (1999); the European Commission (1999); and Gareis and Korte (2000).
related to the organizational, social, economic and political aspects of Teleworking. The numerous lines of
research previously mentioned, could suggest a merely
theoretical interest in Teleworking, but we should point
out that the interest shown in the subject is not merely
theoretical, given that the number of Teleworkers on an
international scale shows a certain positive tendency (see
Table 1).
Few studies have been made, and their results differ
on the number of teleworkers in each country and, in
some cases, they are even contradictory. This is due to
the different methodologies used to make these quantifications, amongst other reasons. We must therefore indicate that the most comparable studies of the ones which
appear in the Table, are those made by Teldet and Ecatt,
given the similarity of the methodology used. In the case
4
It is a study at European level, within the project Telework Developments and Trends, Project T1016, of the Program of Actions of
Stimulus to the Telework of Directorate XIII-B, coordinated by
Empirica (Bonn, Germany) and financed by the mentioned Directorate.
The partners were: Empirica (Germany), INMARK (Spain), IDATE
(France), Work Research Centre (Ireland) and INNOVATE (Italy) and
its intention was to generate a representative empirical base with trustworthy numbers on the incidence of the Telework, allowing an estimation of its probable future development. For this, studies of cases
were made (64) and representative surveys to directors of organisations
(2502) and to employees and population in general (5300) in the five
greater States of the European Union (Germany, United Kingdom,
France, Italy and Spain)
5
Also it is a study at European level, within the ECaTT project
(Benchmarking Progress on Electronic Commerce and New Methods
of Work), that is led by empirica GmbH (Bonn, Germany), and is
financed by programmes ESPRIT and ACTS of the European Commission.
of the Ecatt project, that reveals the latest available data
at a European level and in the case of Spain the data
corresponding to 1999, quantification covers selfemployed teleworkers; corporate teleworkers (those
employed by a company) that spend at least one day
a week away from the office teleworking; and mobile
teleworkers who spend at least ten hours or more away
from the office. In the case of Spain the figures given are
357,000 teleworkers, not counting data on telecentres.
In the United States, according to the United States
Department of Transportation, 50.3% of the teleworkers
that will exist in 2002 in this country (about 15 million)
will have their usual workplace in a Teleworking Centre
(Department of Transportation, 1993). We believe that
this forseeable positive evolution justifies at least a
descriptive analysis of the organizational and economic
aspects of telecentres, in the context of the Teleworking
phenomena, more so since no studies have up to now
been made in this field in Spain.
2. Telecentres or teleworking centres6
This paper concentrates on telecentres or Teleworking
Centres, organizations which are set up in private or pub-
6
We will use indistinctively the terms ‘telecentre’ and ‘Teleworking Centre’. In international literature the following terms are used:
telecentre, telecottage, multipurpose community centres, community
technology centres, digital club houses, public booths, infocentres,
telestugen, community access centres, electronic village hall, telehaus,
televillages, community communication shops, village knowledge centers, espaces numériés, phoneshops.
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lic business initiatives, which provide ICT related services, and which usually have, at least at the beginning.
public financial backing, in the shape of subsidies. The
development of this type of initiative, especially in
Spain, requires studies which imply, from an economic
and Business Management perspective, an analysis of
the creation and development models which are being
produced, underlining in particular the current organizational or running models and future economic viability
models. These telecentres can be considered in a wider
context. As is pointed by the French Agency CATRAL
(Agence Régionale pour l’Aménagement du Temps),
they can be considered an instrument to change the nature of commuting and the way in which distances are
managed (Dorin, 1994). Furthermore, in a general sense
the spacial effects derived from the diffusion of ICT
have been analysed (Graham, 1998) as well as the social
and enviromental effects (Marcus, 1995), in a more specific sense regarding transport the ways in which the
problem of traffic in large cities could be reduced have
also been analysed7.
Taking into account the very reduced number of studies published8 on this subject, and its recent real development as a business initiative9, this paper has two main
objectives. The first is to look at the approaches existing
in diverse areas on the creation and development of telecentres, particularly those which have an effect on economic and organizational aspects, all of which can be
deduced from the description of modalities we outline.
The second is to present the results of an empirical
exploratory descriptive-type study we have carried out
on a national scale on telecentre initiatives in Spain.
As we have indicated previously, telecentres or Teleworking Centres, in a wide generic sense, can be considered a modality of Teleworking. Regarding the telecentre, this is an organization that provides a given
community with information and telecommunication services, with the aim to achieve a variety of development
objectives. These organizations are usually subsidized by
international or governmental organisms or other organizations that are not usually linked to the community
(Benjamin and Dahms, 1999). According to Hudson
(1999b) there are two criteria to consider a telecentre to
7
As was mentioned, this is related to the line of research on Teleworking and transport. In this line of research the following studies
are considered important: Nilles, 1988; Salomon, 1988; Bagley et al.,
1994; Marcus, 1995; Handy and Mokhtarian, 1996.
8
From the literature we have studied, we can deduce that there are
no empirical studies on the situation of telecentres in Spain, except in
the references made by Nieto (1990) and Malagón (1989) to the experience of telecentres in the context of the European STAR Programme
and Telecommunications General Management (1994) on the experience of rural telecentres, of which many are a continuation of previous projects.
9
As will be mentioned later in this paper, the first telecentre was
set up in Spain in 1991.
be such: it must provide services related to ICT and the
public must have access to it, that is to say, it is not only
for the use of one specific group of users.
In this paper we consider telecentres to be private or
public organizations that provide services related to ICT,
mainly for a local community and suppose technological
innovation in the areas where they are set up. They are
set up in office spaces equipped with computer and telecommunication systems, used by one or several
employers, thereby making it possible to work at a distance using the Internet. They make CIT related services
available in isolated areas. Their basic function, as far
as Teleworking is concerned, is the use of the telecentre
services by teleworkers on a customer–supplier relationship basis. If they are situated in urban areas they are
called urban telecentres, if in a rural area they are called
rural telecentres.
Due to the great quantity and variety of practical
experiences existing in the international field (see,
amongst others, Bagley et al. (1994); Campbell (1995);
Gómez and Hunt (1999), the types of telecentres that can
be considered are numerous and have very distinctive
characteristics, as we will see later. In fact, in international literature, the first reference made to a modality
of telecentre appears in 1974, when the term satellite
offices is used in California to refer to centres that are
relatively close to the employees’ homes and at a considerable distance from the company’ s main offices
(Nilles et al., 1974). However, the first urban Teleworking Centre to open its doors was the Marne-la-Vallé
Neighbourhood Work Centre (France) in January 1981
(Bagley et al., 1994). In Europe, the first telecentres, in
this case rural telecentres, were set up in Härjedalen
(Sweden) and in Lemvig (Denmark) in 1985 (Qvortrup,
1988, 1989) as social experiments, and were named telecottages. Since then, these Scandinavian telecentres are
called Community Teleservice Centres, since they are
multifunction centres, with their own staff that provide
a local community situated in remote rural areas or in
low income urban areas with computer and telecommunication technology, making the use of this technology available to the whole community (Qvortrup,
1994a).
3. Economic and organizational aspects of
teleworking centres
The specific objectives of Teleworking Centres, which
may or may not be of an economic nature, change
according to their siting and general aims (see Table 2).
In order to be able to later draw relevant conclusions
from the empirical study, we must necessarily describe,
albeit briefly, the characteristics of the different telecentre modalities, from both an economic and organizational
point of view. We will do this by using the list of the
A.R. del Aguila Obra et al. / Technovation 22 (2002) 785–798
789
Table 2
Objectives of the telecentres
In its conception of neighbourhood centres located near
great cities
In its conception of telecentres (rural mainly)
In its conception of shared resources centers
—Reduction of the traffic in the great cities (Nilles et al., 1974; Bagley et al.,
1994)—More socialization than in the telework at home (Eurotechnolopis Institut
(1994); Nilles (1994))
—Economic and social development of depressed urban and rural zones
(Lorente, 1989; Malagón, 1989; Qvortrup, 1989, 1994a; Holloway, 1994;
Campbell, 1995; Mahoukou, 1997; Whyte, 1999)
—Supply of specialized equipment to the companies (Carrasco and Salinas,
1994)
different types of telecentres which have arisen, which
share some characteristics and at the same time present
differences, thereby allowing us to characterize the
Spanish telecentres. From an integrative approach, and
fundamentally taking into account the previous classifications made by Qvortrup (1989); Bagley et al. (1994)
and the Eurotechnopolis Institut (1994), the following
organizational models of Teleworking Centres can be
listed: Neighbourhood Work Centres with various
employers or Shared Resource Centres; urban Teleworking Centre with only one employer or Satellite
Office/back office; rural Teleworking Centres or Telecottages; Telecentre or Teleservice Centre; Company
Hotel or Community Teleservice Centre [CTSC] or telecottage; Urban Executive Office Suites or Comm Centre;
Residential or mixed use development; Creative Office;
Resort Office. We consider essential a brief description
of these types of telecentres to understand telecentre
experiences more fully.
Urban Teleworking Centres with various employers
are premises rented by various employers from the private sector, from the public sector or from both, where
mainly employees who live near them work. As a result
there is a reduction in commuting on working days. They
are also called Neighbourhood Work Centres or Shared
Resource Centres10 (Carrasco and Salinas, 1994), in
France they are called télélocal or bureau de voisinage.
This modality is comparable to a type of business from
the service sector such as business centres in which ICT
are available to rent. The urban Teleworking Centre with
just one employer, or Satellite Office, differs from the
previous type in that the employer is a sole organization
also responsible for the entire investment and usually
offers 15 to 20 jobs (Nilles, 1994). The teleservices
Centre is a supplier of specialized business services at
a distance, or teleservices, such as: telesecretariate, telemarketing or teletranslation, through Teleworking in a
service supplier–customer relationship, that is to say,
they are really a type of micro-enterprise. A Company
10
The term Shared Resource Centres was the term applied to the
first experiences in Spain. In this case the majority of these centres
were located in rural areas (Alamo, 1993; Telecommunications General Management (1994)).
Hotel is a Teleworking Centre created with the aim of
promoting employment and local economic development, and is basically a specialized business service
centre for companies and residents of the area.
Urban Executive Office Suites11 are businesses that
provide their customers with office facilities. They are
located in prime commercial areas, and their services are
aimed at medium to high level managers rather than at
administrative staff. Residential or mixed use developments12 are apartment complexes that, besides offering
accommodation, have at their disposal a small business
centre which provides services to passing trade or business services to those residents who are homebased teleworkers. The creative office, developed in Japan, is an
incubator for small businesses focused on creative arts.
They are used by business people, and to some extent
facilitate the use of human resources that would otherwise be lost (senior citizens, young creators, amongst
others).
The Resort Office is situated in a tourist area and is
equipped with telecommunication and computer infrastructure. The users visit the Resort Office for short periods of time or a few days a week either alone, in a
group of workers or even with members of the family.
These offices are the most innovative of telecentre
modalities, since they suppose the combination of work
and leisure through the use of tourist facilities for more
than just holiday reasons. It can be defined as an alternative office location away from home and at a distance
from the main office13, usually in a natural environment
with access to leisure facilities. Workers stay in a Resort
Office several nights, living and working under the same
roof (Spinks, 1993; p. 2). They are Teleworking Centres
which allow us to combine high value added productive
activity and leisure, situated in traditionally touristic
areas (Molinı́, 1993). These Resort Offices have been
11
In the US we can also find the Comm Centre (Communications
Centre) which is a combination of the office suite and the Neighbourhood Work Centre, offering advanced communication services and
office services (word processing, spreadsheets, etc...).
12
In France they are called Résidence bureau (office-residence) and
are a kind of motel for business people.
13
The main office is where the employee is based for administrative reasons.
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A.R. del Aguila Obra et al. / Technovation 22 (2002) 785–798
designed for business employees, more than for selfemployed teleworkers, although they can also use them,
but at an international level few have been set up (see
Padilla (1998b).
The objective of rural telecentres is to promote socialeconomic development in areas that are far from urban
centres and normally offer, as well as jobs, auxiliary services (basically Teleworking and tele-education
courses). They are, therefore, offices equipped with all
the advanced telecommunication services available, they
are located in rural areas in medium or small-sized
populations, and their aim is to provide small businesses
and the residents in general with access to the same services as would be available in a large city (Sanz Villegas, 1989; p. 13). In this way, we can consider the
telecentre to be an element in a chain designed to help
populations in rural areas to make the most of current
computer and information technology (Correira, 1989;
p. 14).
On the question of these modalities, irrespective of
their location and services, we consider two telecentre
models from the economic perspective: telecentres with
social aims (telecentres for development) and telecentres
with economic aims (business telecentres). The essential
aspect of a telecentre for development is that it can provide a service to the community, in this way the imbalance that already exists between rural and urban areas
is not worsened by modern ICT. In a telecentre all
decisions made are determined by its social objectives
(considering outputs to be the promotion of ICT in
deprived
areas,
education,
social-economic
development...). It is normally situated in deprived urban
and rural areas.
In business telecentres the objective is economic profit
(in this case the outputs are generated cash-flow and
financial profit), and they are located mainly in urban
areas. Telecentres also play an important part in
decentralizing work in big businesses that can “export”
their jobs to rural areas (Devine, 1994). We therefore
consider that telecentres do not constitute an end in
themselves but are a type of organization that aids in an
area’ s development process (see Fig. 1).
In this sense, it is important to note the different services offered by a telecentre, which in turn determine its
set up (Qvortrup, 1989; p. 21): (1) information services,
such as access to data bases; (2) telecommunication services; (3) computer services; (4) information technology
consultancy: the manager of the telecentre will act as
a consultant to businesses and local organizations; (5)
teaching and education: computer courses and access to
tutorials in correspondence courses; (6) municipal facilities: meeting rooms; (7) equipment for distance working:
work stations for Teleworking; and (8) miscellaneous
services for local business. To these services we must
add those of a social nature, such as bars, casinos, meet-
Fig. 1. Development and telecentres. Source: the authors following
Benjamin and Dahms (1999).
ing halls, municiple, provincial, regional and national
information stands.
Regarding the relationships we have previously mentioned between telecentre facilities and development,
some interesting conclusions were drawn in the Seminar
for Arab States on Community Telecentres, organized
by the ITU, where community telecentres or telecentres
for development were analysed. They established the following considerations, which are relevant to our study
given that they specifiy even further the characteristics
of telecentres (ITU, 1999): the great potential of modern
ICT as a tool for development; the importance of also
providing access to ICT to people who live in rural or
isolated areas and in deprived urban areas; the fact that
community telecentres could offer means of universal
access to ICT for people who live in such areas; the
different types of telecentres which all contribute to the
aim of providing universal access; the need of adequate
telecommunications infrastructure, as well as relevant
content and services that can support the required investment to provide access to ICT and, of course, contribute
significantly to economic, social and cultural development; and, finally, the need for the collaboration of various sectors in the development of adequate infrastructure
or info-infastructure. In this sense, the willingness of the
agents of each of the sectors is underlined as being crucial to the success of the telecentre (Ervin, 1998).
4. Teleworking centres throughout the world. A
comparison with Spain
As we have previously pointed out, the first urban
Teleworking Centre started up in France in 1981. Subsequently, the first rural telecentres got under way in
Sweden and Denmark in 1985. That same year, a telecentre with varios employers was set up in Hawaii as a
project to demonstrate public initiative. After these
experiments, during the following decade, the setting up
of telecentres or other similar initiatives spread to other
A.R. del Aguila Obra et al. / Technovation 22 (2002) 785–798
Table 3
Telecentresa
Country
Number Country
Sweden
Finland
Ireland
23
49
6
Austria
Brazil
5
4
Total (November,
1993)
a
Denmark
Norway
United
Kingdom
Germany
Australia
Canada
Number
9
5
57
26
9
7
200
Source: the authors, following Qvortrup (1994b).
countries, such as the United States, Australia, Canada,
Finland, France, Ireland, Jamaica, Japan, Holland,
Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. In 1993,
on an international scale there were some 200 telecentres
located in different countries (Qvortrup, 1994b), as is
shown in Table 3.
This international study also revealed that private telecentres were used more than public ones, except in the
case of teleeducation and general services, and that each
telecentre had an average of 2.5 fulltime employees and
an average of 37 visits per week (Holloway, 1994). The
services offered by telecentres were also analysed (see
Table 4).
On an international level, a wide range of policies and
innovative groups have arisen, such as the use of public
telephones14, private tele-shops and community teleTable 4
Distribution of the servicesa
Services
Number
Information Technology Training
Photocopying
Fax service
Office devices
Graphical design
Teleworking
Translations
Distance learning
Other common services
Other business services
Videoconferencing
81.5%
80.0%
76.9%
76.9%
75.4%
43.1%
35.4%
18.5%
12.3%
12.3%
7.7%
a
791
centres (ITU, 1998). In the context of the ITU Buenos
Aires Action Plan Programme 9, to which we have
already
made
reference,
telecentre
projects
(Multipurpose Community Telecentres) have been
developed in Benin, Buthan, Honduras, India, Mali,
Mozambique, Suriname, Tanzania, Uganda and Vietnam; furthermore, viability studies have been made for
pilot projects in Haiti, the Maldives and Rumania
(Ernberg, 1997, 1998). Some of these telecentres are
pilot projects in a series of joint initiatives in Africa,
between the International Telecommunications Union,
UNESCO, the International Development Research
Centre (IRDC), the local members of the continent, and
the Acacia Initiative (Fuchs, 1997; Gómez and Hunt
eds., 1999). In Senegal four private telecentres were also
set up in 1992, run by business people who rented the
lines from Sonatel. By the end of 1996, 5416 private
telecentres had been set up and more than 1000 jobs had
been generated.
South Africa has also promoted the setting up of telecentres equipped with telephone lines, fax, computers
with access to Internet, etc. (Hudson, 1999a). These telecentres are described as excellent ways to spread access
to telecommunications (OCDE, 1998), although it is
necessary to develop adequate techniques to evaluate
their impact (Gómez et al., 1999; Whyte, 1999).
In the United States in 1998, the Community Technology Centre’s Network (CTCNet), a non-governmental organization which has hundreds of telecentre
projects in low income rural and urban areas in the US,
carried out a study (Chou et al., 1998) with the aim of
looking further into the evaluation of telecentres by inteviewing 817 users.
One of the most interesting results obtained from this
study is the fact that these telecentres serve people who
are out of work, have precarious jobs or who are looking
for a better post. Some take classes and use other
resources to learn and practice things such as computer
skills. They improve their job skills, look for work,
improve their English, and take part in tutorials or adult
education programmes. In this study it is also pointed
out that the majority of users of these centres are people
with low incomes and of a non-white population. The
findings regarding languages and ethnic groups suggest
that an important number of users of the centres belong
to minority groups or to immigrant populations. In Table
Source: the authors, following Qvortrup (1994b).
14
The 1998 ITU report confirms that, despite the important progress
made in several countries to widen the access to telecommunications,
there are still great divides between regions and countries. Taking telephonic density as a base (number of main telephone lines per 100
inhabitants), the report shows considerable variations, such as the density in Camboya in 1996 of 0.07 and a density of 99 in Monaco. Similarly, in developing countries there are isolated areas that do not have
access to telecommunications which impedes their development. Telecommunications are essential to fight against poverty and improve
living conditions (Mahoukou, 1997). Currently, only 34% of homes
worldwide have telephone services, that is to say, about 500,000 (ITU,
1998). In other countries, the concept of universal service, a telephone
for each home, has been changed to the use of a telephone at a reasonable distance (OCDE, 1998), a distance that depends on a diversity of
variables (coverage of the telephone network, the geography of the
country, population density and dispersion of the homes inhabited in
rural or urban areas).
792
A.R. del Aguila Obra et al. / Technovation 22 (2002) 785–798
5 the motives for resorting to the use of the telecentre
are shown.
In the European Union, rural telecentres emerge half
way through the 1980s in the form of development telecentres. Subsequently, the European Commission has
promoted telecentre initiatives in several countries
through projects such as the ERDF Programme, the European Social Fund, or the LEADER or NOW programmes, although official statistics with reference to the
number of telecentres have not been released.
For statistical data we can quote a study made by
Small World Connections and TCA in 1998 on a population of 150 telecentres in the United Kingdom and Ireland. A third of the telecentres responded to the questionnaire and results showed a considerable increase in
the number of telecentres opened during the previous
year, going from 130 in 1994 to about 200 in 1998. The
services offered by these telecentres were administrative
services (photocopying, fax), word processing, courses
(particularly in ICT and Internet), computer access, computer designing, translations, updating of web sites and
commercial and tourist information services (Murray
and Cornford, 1998).
In Spain, several attempts were made at the end of
the 1980s to develop telecentres in the STAR Programme (Nieto, 1990), as a driving force in the adquisition of knowledge and in the use of ICT in underdeveloped areas, with the Telecommunication Service Centres
or Integrated Telecommunication Services Offices
(ITSO) (Malagón, 1989). Subsequently, the majority of
these initiatives disappeared and half way through the
1990s new unlinked initiatives arose.
Table 5
Motivations of the usersa
Reason
% of answers that
consider the reason
enough or very
important
Comfortable support atmosphere
Low cost
To obtain information of the state or
federal government
Proximity to the home or place of work
To make the projects
Access to the Web
Socialization
To obtain information of the local
government
To find information on local events
To play with computer games
82%
81%
77%
a
74%
69%
62%
54%
54%
53%
35%
Source: Chou, Ellis, Mark and Wise (1998).
5. An empirical study. The Spanish case15
With the aim of understanding in greater depth the
situation of Teleworking Centres in Spain, we have
undertaken an empirical study which we will now
present. The study was made between October 1998 and
June 1999, and was based on a questionnaire of 25 questions for the managers16 of Teleworking Centres running
at the time or in the throes of opening. The objectives
of the survey were basically the following: to know how
many Teleworking Centres exist in Spain; to identify
their state, modality and organizational characteristics;
to discover what services they offer; to determine the
marketing strategies they employ; and, lastly, to identify
the principal factors that determine their success.
To carry out the study questionnaires were sent to
those responsible for a series of initiatives or known projects. Furthermore, the collaboration of other people was
required sending e-mail messages to a list of distributors
specialized in Teleworking17, and asking that the questionnaire be sent to anybody responsible for this kind of
initiative18. The qualifications of those who participated
in the survey is quite notable, with a predominance of
engineers and computer programmers who make up
51.8% of the cases. Regarding whether the experience
should or not be divulged, 88.9% do want to make the
experience public, while in three cases anonymity is preferred. For this reason specific details of telecentre
initiatives are not mentioned in this paper. On the other
hand, 90% of the initiatives surveyed are aware of other
experiences that exist, the most known and named of
which is the Gordexola telecentre.
15
A summary of the results of the empirical study was presented in
the first Meeting of Promoters of Telecentres and Teleworking, held
in Gordexola (Biskaia), on the 21st, 22nd and 23rd of June 1999.
16
We would like to thank all those responsible for telecentre initiatives who responded to our questionnaire and collaborated in our
research.
17
It is a “Teleworking and Virtual Organization” list
(http://www.rediris.es/list/info/teletrabajo.html) in the academic and
research network RedIRIS of CSIC. In the list at the end of 2000 there
were about 800 members from some 20 countries.
18
We made contact with 27 Teleworking Centre projects or initiatives in Spain, from which 27 valid questionnaires were received. As
on other occasions, where no official statistics are available, and given
that in this case no other previous studies exist, it is not possible to
state the total population, for which the study of these 27 Telecentres
must be taken as an approximation. The sample analysed is not random
in its modality of intentional sampling (Ander–Egg, 1982; Sierra
Bravo, 1995). This type of sampling is valid for the compilation of
data, particularly for small very specific samples, as is our case
(González Rı́o, 1997). In this modality a sampling with strategic
informants has been applied, to gain access to those people who have
direct information on initiatives in Spain. This subtype of sampling
called snowball, or chain sampling, is used to gain access to special
populations (Miquel et al., 1997). Regarding the questionnaire, 18 of
the questions were closed questions and the rest open ended type questions, nine of the closed questions being multiple choice.
A.R. del Aguila Obra et al. / Technovation 22 (2002) 785–798
We will now analyse the results of this study. The
coordinating organizations of these initiatives are of
varying kinds, local Public Administration, public foundations, associations, a learning centre, and a research
team from a public university. The descriptive variable
values are shown in Table 6.
Seventy percent of the initiatives have an information
service available on the Internet, which shows just how
much interest there is in making their experiences public.
Regarding the current state of telecentres, 13 are in the
throes of opening and 14 are already running. Of those
that have not yet been set up, 12 are ntended to open in
1999 and one in 2000 (these initiatives were contacted
in December 2000 and six of them confirmed that they
had opened at some time in 2000). As far as the type of
initiative goes, ten are private with public financial backing, of which nine come from European projects, and
one from a national project. Sixteen of the initiatives are
public, and in nine of them private businesses do not
participate. Only one initiative does not have any kind
of public financial support.
With reference to the type of Teleworking Centre, the
ones that stand out are the ‘Teleservice Centres’ (ten
cases) and ‘Rural Telecentres’ (nine cases) followed by
urban Teleworking Centres with several employers
(eight cases). In Table 6 we can also see that the Autonomous Communities with most Teleworking Centre
initiatives are Aragón, La Comunidad Balear and the
793
Basque Country, with four experiences. In total, experiences have been observed in 12 communities. The number of jobs or work stations anticipated in the telecentre
(see Table 7), is between one and 28, with an average
of about ten in each centre. The approximate investment
made in the telecentre is an average 15.1 million pesetas,
the highest anticipated investment being 94 million
pesetas. The number of users who regularly frequent the
telecentre or who will probably use it is an average of
42.6, the maximum estimate being 500.
Table 7
Statistical value of other variables
No. of
positions
N
Rank
Minimum19
Maximum
Sum
Average
27
27
1
28
266
9.85
Investment
(ptas)
No. of
users
27
93,500,000
500,000
94,000,000
407,828,000
15,104,766
27
497
3
500
1152
42.66
19
We considered that this case is excellent for an innovative study
like this, for which previous references do not exist and in which is
persecuted like objective to describe to the greater amount and possible
variety of initiatives of telecentres in Spain.
Table 6
Descriptives variables
Location
Regional state
Andalucı́a
Aragón
Asturias
Canary Islands
Castilla–León
Galicia
Balearic Islands
Rioja
Madrid
Navarra
Paı́s Vasco
Valencia
TOTAL
Type of telecentre
Answer
Private, without p.s.a
Private, with p.s.b
Public, without p.b.c
Public, with p.b.d
TOTAL
a
b
c
d
Private, without public support.
Private, with public support.
Public, without private businesses.
Public, with private businesses.
Availability of web page
Number of initiatives
2
4
2
1
2
2
4
1
3
1
4
1
27
No. of initiatives
1
10
9
7
27
Answer
Yes
No
TOTAL
No. of initiatives
19
8
27
Present state of the telecentre
Answer
No. of initiatives
In operation
In project
Closed
TOTAL
14
13
0
27
Modalidad Centro de Teletrabajo
Answers
Teleservice centre
Rural telecentre
Urban telecentre with various employers
TOTAL
No. of initiatives
10
9
8
27
794
A.R. del Aguila Obra et al. / Technovation 22 (2002) 785–798
Fig. 2. Type of user of the telecentre. Source: the authors.
As far as the type of user goes, self-employed teleworkers predominate with 32% of the responses. They are
followed by casual and permanent teleworkers in businesses with 19% and 17% respectively (see Fig. 2). In
11 cases, the category titled ‘Others’ has been marked,
refering to ‘tele-education’, ‘all types of professions’,
‘small business managers’, ‘development agents’, and
‘school-age youngsters (for educational activities to
divulge new technology)’.
Regarding the sectors the users come from, (see Table
8) web site designing stands out with 26.2% of the
responses and commercial activities with 20%. We can
therefore conclude that professionals from different sectors work in telecentres. In the category titled ‘Others’,
the following options are given: ‘all types of professions’, ‘design, consultancy, assessment’, ‘any type of
office work’, ‘administrative and publicity design tasks’,
‘business services (information searches, secretariate)’
and ‘education’.
In the motives for opening section, the outstanding
motive, with 74.1%, is “to increase employment opportunities in the area”, and is followed by “to contribute to
the economic development of businesses in the area”.
As in the previous case, we can come across experiences
Table 8
Occupations of the users
Variable
Data processing
Translation
Web page design
Commercial activities
Delineation
Others
Total of answers
Number
11
9
17
13
5
10
65
% Answers
16.9
13.8
26.2
20.0
7.7
15.4
100
that have several simultaneous motives (see Table 9). In
the category titled “Others” the following motives are
given: “to contribute to the influx of tourists in all four
seasons, and not just during the summer months”, (three
cases) and “to demonstrate the viability/capacity of telecentres”.
In the factors considered in the actual design of telecentres, the Cost factor and the Privacy factor stand out
(56% and 32% of the cases respectively). In the telecentre location variables, the Access to Telecommunication
Networks stands out with 32% of the cases (see Table
10). In the category titled “Others”, the following
locational motives are given: “because the cession of the
building by a public entity”, “its location in the Town
Hall”, “to create a structured network in the area”,
“because of its location in the regional capital”, “in order
to take advantage of a social centre in the area” and “in
order to use of premises owned by the Town Hall”.
In 95% of the cases the continuous presence of a ‘person in charge’ in the telecentre is confirmed. It is
important to note that the services offered by telecentres
are diverse (see Table 11), highlighting the availability
of jobs for teleworkers, access to the Internet and e-mail,
video conference rooms and courses and assessment on
varying topics. In the category titled ‘Others’, other services are mentioned such as telesecretariate, teleservices
for private and public entities, courier service, messengers and information searches for businesses.
In the security systems used in telecentres, the most
outstanding is the use of electronic alarms, in 30% of
the cases. One of the most relevant aspects is how telecentres become known. They are mainly advertised
using publicity leaflets, local press, conferences and
seminars to that effect, and web sites, amongst others
(see Table 12). In the category titled ‘Others’ the following methods are also named: “information in international press, in those cases in which the motive for
opening a telecentre is to contribute to the influx of tourists throughout the year and not just during the summer
months”; “the selection of students of a teleworking
course held at the telecentre, direct contact, visits to local
businesses and free courses”. This type of project does
not usually have the anticipated response from potencial
users of their services. In this sense, the limitations for
development of Teleworking Centres are diverse. We
can mention, for example, the lack of understanding in
the area of the concept of telecentre (65.4% of the cases)
as well as the lack of demand for activities which use
Teleworking (38.5%) (see Table 13). In the category
titled ‘Others’, the following limiting factors are given:
“the lack of interest in Teleworking Centres on the part
of tourists and residents in the area, the high maintainance cost, and the rural population’s reluctance
towards new technology”.
A.R. del Aguila Obra et al. / Technovation 22 (2002) 785–798
795
Table 9
Reasons for opening the telecentre
Variable
No.
No answer
To determine the viability of rural teleworking
To increase the employment opportunities in the zone
To contribute to the economic development of the businesses of zone
To diminish the traffic problems of the zone
To provide with infrastructure of information technologies to the zone
To facilitate the location of teleworkers in zone
As complement of existing tourist services
Other
Total answers
% Answers
1
5
20
16
0
15
11
7
8
87
% Cases
1.2
6
24.1
19.3
0
18.1
13.3
8.4
9.6
100
3.7
18.5
74.1
59.3
0
55.6
40.7
25.9
29.6
Table 10
Criteria of telecentre location
Variable
Location near residential zones
The use of an existing historical building
Location in a countryside
Proximity to a hotel
Cost of land
Access to telecommunication networks
Proximity of public transports
Other
Total answers
No.
% Answers
4
4
5
2
0
8
4
14
41
% Cases
9.8
9.8
12.2
4.9
0
19.5
9.8
34.1
100
16.0
16.0
20.0
8.0
0
32.0
16.0
56.0
Table 11
Services that the telecentre offers
Variable
No.
% Answers
% Cases
General Information service
Service of access to online or CD-ROM data bases
Training in technologies of information
Training in other subjects
Space for meetings, conferences and seminars
Advising in the starting of companies
Workstations for teleworkers
Rent of computer equipment
Tourist information service
Library
Cafeteria
Baby-care centre
Access to Internet, including electronic mail
Web pages hosting
Web page design
Service of translation
Companies location
Service of word processing
Private offices
Videoconferencing room
Other
TOTAL
17
10
20
17
18
14
22
8
7
9
4
2
22
13
20
7
8
10
4
20
3
255
6.7
3.9
7.8
6.7
7.1
5.5
8.6
3.1
2.7
3.5
1.6
0.8
8.6
5.1
7.8
2.7
3.1
3.9
1.6
7.8
1.2
100
65.4
38.5
76.9
65.4
69.2
53.8
84.6
30.8
26.9
34.6
15.4
7.7
84.6
50
76.9
26.9
30.8
38.5
15.4
76.9
11.5
796
A.R. del Aguila Obra et al. / Technovation 22 (2002) 785–798
Table 12
Marketing strategies used by the telecentres
Description
Postal mail to the potential users
Electronic mail to the potential users
Information in local mass media
Information in national mass media
Organization of open days and/or seminars to present the telecentre
Edition of informative pamphlets
Promotion of the telecentre web page
Nothing
Other
TOTAL
No.
% responses % Cases
9
9
23
5
23
23
18
0
8
118
7.6
7.6
19.5
4.2
19.5
19.5
15.3
0
6.8
100
33.33
33.33
85.2
18.5
85.2
85.2
66.7
0
29.6
Table 13
Limitative factors of the success of the telecentres
Variable
Little demand of teleworking made activities
Little supply of activities that can be made by means of teleworking
Lack of public support
Little knowledge of the concept of telecentre in the zone
Nothing
Other
TOTAL
6. Final considerations
We have looked at two models of telecentres: telecentres for development and business telecentres. In both
cases, we considered different organizational characteristics that are determined by the objectives they seek,
social objectives in the first case and economic objectives in the second. In the telecentres in Spain, telecentres for development predominate, which implies a
serious viability problem as soon as European or national
public subsidies disappear. Telecentres on an international basis are shown to be a valid instrument in
social–economic development in deprived areas, as has
been revealed in the international studies described as
well as in our own national study. However, despite the
length of time that has passed from the moment the first
experiences took place, evaluation models still haven’t
been published in any literature. What’s more, and partly
as a result of what we have just said, no one particular
telecentre model can be described as being the best way
to create and run a telecentre, for which reason we are
not able to make any recommendations On the other
hand, we believe that the most important aspect for the
success of telecentres, being as it is, a technological
innovation, is not merely the access to technology, but
the capacity to understand the community where it is to
be set up, and to adapt itself accordingly. In Spain, in
1998 and 1999, the number of Teleworking Centres has
risen, although there appears to be no clear geographic
No.
13
3
5
17
0
10
48
% Responses % Cases
27.1
6.3
10.4
35.4
0
20.8
100
50.0
11.5
19.2
65.4
0
38.5
concentration, but the number is far lower than those
being experienced in other countries, such as in the
United Kingdom. Regarding our objective to discover
the number of telecentres in Spain, as we have mentioned previously, it is not easy to reach an exact number, but we can at least indicate the existence of 27
initiatives.
With reference to our intention to describe the characteristics of telecentres, we can say that, in Spain, several
agents are usually involved in the initiatives, the
majority of them being backed by public money, normally from European projects. However, despite this
economic aid, telecentres often face difficulties in their
development, mainly arising from the lack of information on the potential benefits they can offer. They are
mainly an alternative for the residents of rural and urban
areas with special characteristics to access ICT more rapidly and at a lower cost, by centralizing in one establishment various facilities, previously out of reach, which
can be taken advantage of by people and local businesses.
Although we can consider them positive instruments,
or tools to aid in the development of specific areas, the
possiblity to generate employment and income is still
a challenge for the majority of telecentres. Therefore,
telecentres, although they can be maintained by private
support, need public financial help, given that, amongst
their objectives, those of a social nature predominate,
such as the social and economic aid for the development
A.R. del Aguila Obra et al. / Technovation 22 (2002) 785–798
of certain deprived rural or urban areas, and the majority
of them are not governed by economic profitability criteria. This fact has serious implications in the economic
viability of telecentres, that is not sought in the short
term, but we believe should be sought in the medium or
long term given the limitations of public financial aid
and the necessary profitability of the investment made
in the telecentre, which may have come from the provision of services or from business projects or initiatives
that it has generated. In reference to the limitations of the
empirical study presented, its descriptive and exploratory
character does not allow us to go deeper into the causality relationships that may exist been the variables analysed. However, we must point out that this is the first
study centred on the description and analysis of telecentres in Spain, for which reason we believe it to be of
obvious use. In this sense, we consider it necessary to
carry out more research from an economic and organizational perspective, that will lead to the development of
useful methodologies to evaluate telecentres in their
social, economic and organizational aspects; and, at the
same time, develop management models according to the
objectives sought, either of a social nature, from the
point of view of the telecentres for the development
model; or from the economic perspective if the objectives are set for the business telecentres model.
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Ana Rosa del Aguila Obra is a Senior Lecturer on Management at the
Málaga University, Spain. She is a member of the E-business Research
team at that University and she has several publications about electronic
commerce and Management. [email protected]
Sebastián Bruque Cámara is a Senior Lecturer on Management at the
Jaén University, Spain. He has publications about information technology
and Management and the pharmaceutical sector. [email protected]
Antonio Padilla Meléndez is a Senior Lecturer on Management and
responsible of the E-business Research Project Team at the Málaga University, Spain. He has publications about information technology, telework
and Management. [email protected]