IATP News: Small but Strong: IATP Georgia Graduates 13th Center, Trains Record Number of Users

The final IATP center in Georgia will graduate as an Independent Internet Center (IIC) on December 10 of this year in Gori, joining a long line of sustainable centers that have continued their services after IATP funding ended since the program began its activities in Georgia in 1997. Georgia has a solid track record of successfully graduating centers as stand-alone IICs thanks to its dedicated partners, well-planned transfer strategies, and quality services.

The Gori IATP Center will become Georgia’s 13th IIC. Gori State University, its current host, will take over operations after the December graduation and will continue providing free ICT training and internet access to the Gori community. The center will also maintain its special focus on serving internally displaced persons (IDPs) from the 2008 conflict with Russia who live in the local community.

Three other IICs are also based in universities across Georgia—in Tbilisi State University, in Kustaisi’s Georgian Scientific Academy, and in the Poti Engineering-Economic State Institute. IATP also has transferred services to successful IICs in libraries in Telavi, Khashuri, Batumi, Kutaisi, and Tbilisi, as well as in NGOs in Rustavi, Zugdidi, and Gori.

Because a primary focus of IREX’s mission for IATP emphasizes internet access and technical training for the most marginalized segments of society, transfer strategies ensure that partners do not take over an IATP center as purely commercial ventures. Each partner signs an agreement when they become an IIC to continue offering a minimum number of hours of internet access and technical training to their community free of charge.

Some IICs in Georgia go above and beyond; the IIC in the Batumi Public Library (graduated in March 2009) does not simply offer a minimum number of hours, but continues the full spirit of IATP by offering free services and training at all times. In many sense, libraries are a natural partner of IATP as the IICs’ missions are similar to their own—to be a resource of information and education to an entire community, free of charge. Batumi Public Library Director Genadi Makharadze addressed a room full of the IIC partners in September, explaining, “I definitely understand the importance of the center for the local community, as well as for improving library services, and therefore I vow that as long as I will be the head of the library, all the services at the IIC will remain free of charge and the center will work for the benefit of the whole community.”

The library worked hard to find money in their budget to retain the experienced IATP trainer and administrator so that the proven, high-quality training courses would continue. The bustling center continues to see nearly 200 visitors every month, including users, such as Lela Verdzadze, who recently drew on her ICT training to conduct market research, come up with a business plan, and launch her own driving school business with her father.

Other IICs in Georgia are using paid services to subsidize free internet access for the public. The Rustavi IIC, for example, partnered with the local NGO Georgian Association of Educational Initiatives (SIQA) to charge a fee for technical training courses and maintain four hours of free internet services per day. “People pay because our trainings are of high quality,” explains SIQA Director Giorigi Tvaliashvili, who says the strategy has been sustainable for a number of years.

Since June 2007 alone, IATP in Georgia has welcomed over 9,000 visitors to its centers and has trained over 10,000 local residents in ICT skills. Not only do these impressive stats rank Georgia in the top three of all IATP countries in Eurasia for the combined number of visitors and trainees (outpacing even Ukraine, with a population of 45 million), but Georgia ranks first in the number of users who receive technical training from IATP staff. In fact, it is the only country where the number of trainees, on average, exceeds the number of regular visitors at IATP centers. With an excellent record of graduating sustainable IICs, IREX expects these local internet access centers will continue to meet the growing demand for information and technology training in Georgia for years to come.

IATP activity begins in Georgia: 1997
Centers offering free services: Gori (2), Tbilisi (3), Telavi, Khashuri, Rustavi, Batumi, Kutaisi (2), Poti, Zugdidi
# users (since June 2007): 9,211
# trained (since June 2007): 10,373
# of visits to IATP centers (since June 2007): 90,031
# of training sessions (since June 2007): 1,372