Follow this link to view videos of INFOBUS in action.
Follow this link to download a regional project presentation.

 Service : Platform : Cost : Sponsors : Funding Needs : Contacts

BRIDGING THE INFORMATION DIVIDE

The Mobile Information and Communications Centers, or InfoBus, are designed as an information delivery vehicle to reach out to disadvantaged communities, empowering rural residents and improving development prospects in the process.

Initial thinking at the Information Program of Open Society Institute in Budapest was that few mechanisms exist to address the information needs of communities isolated from mainstream society by recent conflict and ongoing social or political restraints. Even fewer development vehicles worked to coordinate and advance the combined impact of donor initiatives. Communications that would otherwise provide this access are expensive, unreliable, or simply unavailable. A persistent lack of funding prevents local governments from resolving such concerns. With these conditions, empowering tools for provincial populations to communicate, learn, and develop remain out of reach to those who need it most –those in a position to overturn cycles of tension and lead the rebuilding process at a level where change is sustained.

With co-funding from Canadian International Development Agency, InfoBus implementers set into motion a cooperative coalition within which libraries, municipalities, schools, non-governmental organizations, ministries of culture, international organizations, and public and private enterprises committed support. What’s more, cooperation has been initiated among institutional counterparts across the region.

Combined, provincial populations served by InfoBus number well beyond 175,000. In 2003 InfoBus provided direct, interactive contact with up to 8,000 rural residents of multi-ethnic origins.

Already the service has achieved an immeasurable impact region-wide. Schoolchildren gain access to mandatory reading curricula they would not otherwise obtain. New sources of information reach youth and adults in search of better prospects. New public spaces are formed for discussion and debate. Given its mandate, InfoBus delivers books and non-book materials to ethnic groups whose access to materials in native tongues remains limited. Local governments have initiated ideas to improve government-citizen communication through InfoBus.

With full ICT capacity, the process of reconciliation and rebuilding is enhanced by connecting families separated or forcibly migrated by recent conflict and tension. Minority groups have instant access to news and entertainment in their mother tongues. Farmers and businessmen can seek the technical skills and expertise necessary to advance livelihoods. Interactive multimedia tools open a whole new range of options to strengthen and unite communities.

InfoBus operates on the belief that awareness is a precondition to growth. The discovery and use of information, programs, and services advance understanding. Informed individuals build knowledge and confidence through the exchange of ideas. The introduction of new sources of print and electronic media further serves to counter national monopolies on news sources. With myths destroyed, accurate and impartial information flowing freely, it is hoped that InfoBus can initiate movement toward resolution of multi-ethnic tension and encourage citizens to broadly participate in the development of their community, its political direction, and its economic prospects.

SERVICES FREE OF CHARGE

Soros foundations enabled OSI to identify implementing partners in communities worst hit by conflict, economic recession, unavailability of independent information and educational stagnation. The Soros foundations network is a source of advice, funding and monitoring.

Ownership rests with national libraries, municipalities or regional libraries, depending on which option proved sustainable in the long term. Operational costs are born by municipalities and/or Ministries of Culture, with assistance from third party donors.

Organizational and administrative preparations took place during 2001-2002, with manufacture of five vehicles in Slovenia. Emphasis was placed on the adaptation of the vehicle to the realities of Balkan infrastructure, regional logistical coordination and multi-cultural content development, along with in-country project development and enhancement of local capacity to carry out—and sustain—the service.

In 2002 InfoBus staff—driver, librarian—and managers attended operations and management training at Tolmin Public Library, Tolmin, Slovenia. Participants met to exchange information and experiences in Budapest in 2003; a similar meeting is planned for 2004 on site. Introductory services offer reading space, reference services, book loans, local government and community resource points.

Nearly All vehicles have computers for record-keeping, basic word processing and electronic library catalogues. Most sites have computers in use, although additional non-book materials and training are needed to advance ICT capacity.

Services free of charge:
Loan of books and multimedia (non-book) materials, daily newspapers and magazines;
Reading Areas, with special sections on civic education, human rights, public health, agriculture development and government benefits and services;
Listening/Viewing Stations (television/VCR, stereo/cassette/CD player, digital camera, VHS, e-books, audio books);
Electronic reference service; Computer workstations, with “training of trainers” and community facilitators;
Internet access (GPRS, microwave/satellite, dial up);
E-mail accounts; Printing (limited);
Special Services for Children and Adult Learners (puzzles, games, storytelling);
Open competitions and exhibitions for promotion of literacy and scholarly literature;
Seminars and lectures.
 

The InfoBus project has been accepted well in all five target areas, where local government and community leaders see a substantial benefit in running such a service. ICT services and education are in great demand, but the local municipalities alone cannot sustain this.
Viljem Leban, Operations and Management Advisor; Director, Tolmin Public Library, Slovenia

When we enter the villages, the children run up to InfoBus and burst into song and dance. They cannot [contain] their excitement. One little girl told me, ‘Thank God we finally have a library’. But it’s more than that. For many people in the areas we serve, it is the first time they have seen a computer!
Jasmina Sokolovska, InfoBus Librarian, Štip, Macedonia

Without outside financial and material support, we have no possibility to update our users’ knowledge and skills or reach illiterate or uneducated populations.
Hadija Krijestorac, InfoBus Coordinator, Prijepolje, Serbia

As an Outreach Vehicle, InfoBus is a multi-purpose delivery vehicle. Local government, schools, non-governmental organizations, writers and community leaders work with the implementing library to address ongoing concerns in education, economic and business development, unemployment, public health, human rights, and personal and professional growth. The combined community effort channels resources and empowering tools to those in most need: unemployed men and women, children without access to basic textbooks, young adults whose employability and educational achievements diminish daily due to a lack of local funding and economic recession. Equally important is the unique position of InfoBus to reach marginalized groups or people with special needs.

Teachers have volunteered their time and space in the classrooms to make full use of the multimedia potential. There is great excitement and huge demand for the ability of InfoBus to bring Internet access and educate people about computers and new [technologies]. Many students and residents cannot gain regular access to computers and the Internet. There are financial problems in the municipality and regular electricity [outages] in the Sandzak region, which makes InfoBus an answer to many problems.
Slavka Lukovic, Library Director, Bijelo Polje, Montenegro

As a Multimedia Mobile Classroom and Internet Access Point, the MICC introduces users to computer-based programs and ICTs–often for the first time. On offer are electronic mailboxes, connecting users to the international community as well as to relatives abroad. With Internet access, users discover independent, diverse information resources that enable them to develop informed opinions and alternative viewpoints. Education and training programs on hand enable users to update the skills necessary to excel in a period of profound transition. Special workshops and courses conducted at scheduled stops allow teachers to reach target groups that would not otherwise have access to contemporary concepts and practices in a range of issues that impact lives.

We have people who migrated in mass from the villages of northeastern Albania to Tirana in search of work and better opportunities. Many of them do not have secondary education. InfoBus is able to fulfill a function that schools and libraries cannot.
Eda Naqe, former InfoBus Librarian, Tirana, Albania

As a Local Language Provider, the MICC delivers ‘live’ and ‘canned’ content, access to ‘group gateways’, and informative materials to minority or displaced groups. A considerable portion of these populations exist without fluency in the official language; their choices and opportunities are further limited by the inaccessibility of information in their mother tongues.

There were so many schools and materials destroyed in the war. Children didn’t have access to basic texts.
Dashnor Xerxa, Head of Cultural Center, Prizren, Kosovo

As a Lending Library, the MICC rotates the existing collections of the affiliated library, provides access to books produced in one country for use by minorities in another through the OSI ‘Books Across Borders’ Project, develops new information resources through the purchase of new materials, and provides reference services to assist users in making the full use of its resources.

It is said that if someone reads 300 books,

he will write the 301st.
Mak Novakovic, Tomaševo, Montenegro

PLATFORM

Vehicle Specifications

Vehicle type: Mercedes Benz Atego 815/42 wagon
Producer: Daimler Chrysler (D)
Year: 1999/2000
Engine: 112kW, 4249 cm3
Type of engine: OM904, 904.922
Construction: Steel construction,
wooden plates, PVC floor, insulation
Seats: 3 (cabin) + 3 (library part)
Windows: 3 (cabin) + 5 (library part)
Doors: 2 (cabin) + 1 (library part)
Ventilation: Ceiling window 2x, air condition 2x
Lighting: 2 lines ceiling lamps

Add-ons: Mini-kitchen
AV equipment: TV set, VCR, CD player, radio
Furniture: Metal shelves, wooden shelves, bench, circulation desk, chairs
Electric supply: 8x batteries (130W,130Ah, 6V) with stabilizer SV-220/24-50A/G, generator 7KW, transformer 800W 24V/220V, external hook-up

ICT Specifications

Equipment: 1 desktop PC; 1 laptop; digital camera; dish/antennae; mobile phone
Drives: CD-ROM; Floppy

Technical solution: GPRS; satellite/microwave
ISP: private enterprise

Networking: cataloguing automation software; GPRS telephony
 

FUNDERS

Open Society Institute, Information Program
Canadian International Development Agency
Balkan Trust for Democracy
 

SPONSORS

SDC-Macedonia
UNDP-Albania
UNMIK
Fund for an Open Serbia
Foundation Open Society Institute-Macedonia
Open Society Foundation-Albania
Kosova Fund for Open Society
Municipality of Bijelo Polje, Montenegro
Municipality of Prijepolje, Serbia
Municipality of Tirana, Albania
Municipality of Prizren, Kosovo
Ministry of Culture, Macedonia
Ministry of Culture, Kosovo
Ministry of Culture, Serbia, Serbia & Montenegro
Ministry of Culture, Montenegro, Serbia & Montenegro

InfoBus is made possible by the in-kind contributions of national and municipal libraries, non-governmental organizations, associations of libraries and educational institutions, unpaid professional services, and volunteers and authors offering time and creative talent.

Next Page Foundation in Sofia, Bulgaria has donated books in Serbian, Roma, Macedonian and Albanian from translations projects covering southeastern Europe.

Tolmin Public Library, Tolmin, Slovenia has been a regular source of expertise and experience.

CONTACT

Information Program
Open Society Institute-Budapest
Oktober 6. u. 12; 1051 Budapest, Hungary
Tel: +36.1.327.3100
Fax: + 36.1.327.3042
Email: infobus@osi.hu

Ms. Mercedes Sprouse, Project Manager
Tel: +370.61743028;  Email: msprouse@osieurope.org

Last update: October 2005