ICT Network Management Training Programme: Techio Comunitario

Techio Comunitario is a training programme for the management of ICT networks, aimed at people from indigenous and rural communities in Latin America. In addition to providing technical knowledge for the installation, operation and maintenance of communication projects, it seeks to generate a network of people who accompany each other to strengthen the path towards technological autonomy in their territories.

This programme is the result of a collective effort by organisations linked to community and indigenous communication and the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), and is based on an active process of reflection on the technologies, training and lifestyles of the communities it is aimed at.

So far, it has two face-to-face editions in Mexico (held between 2016 and 2019) and four Latin American editions, held in hybrid format between 2020 and 2023, in which more than 200 people from 14 countries in the region have participated.

The topics included in the programme have a technical dimension, such as basic electricity and electronics, the use of free software or the functioning of Internet networks, but also include social, economic and political elements, such as the critical analysis of technologies and their selection, the legal framework of telecommunications or the sustainability of community communication projects.

Below you can consult the contents of the course.

More information about the program and upcoming calls: techiocomunitario.org

Course 1: ICT Project Development in Community Contexts

The overall objective of the course is to understand the important elements in the design and implementation of community communication strategies, through the critical analysis of ICTs and the selection of technologies relevant to the development objectives, dreams, desires and needs of the communities where they are developed.

Course 2: Basic Electricity and Electronics for Telecommunications

The objective is to reflect on the evolution of the concept of energy, especially in relation to its commodification and privatisation. We invite you to watch the documentary “La energía de los pueblos” to get a clearer perspective and, if you have more time, to go deeper with additional materials to enrich your reflection.

Reflexionar sobre la matriz energética actual y las perspectivas sobre una transición hacia un modelo energético alternativo.

Material Básico

Identificar las condiciones de la red eléctrica externa e interna de un inmueble y cómo por medio de un censo la energía consumida durante un día en el inmueble.

Material de apoyo

El objetivo es entender el concepto de potencia, reflexionar sobre las nociones de corriente y voltaje, y adquirir una clara comprensión del consumo eléctrico.

Material de apoyo

Introducir el tema de la energía solar fotovoltaica con una perspectiva comunitaria.

Material Básico

Como personas encargadas de los asuntos técnicos de las TIC en nuestra comunidad, es importante tener las bases lógico-matemáticas para poder resolver de la mejor manera los problemas relacionados a las condiciones de la red eléctrica y de esa manera poder operar de forma óptima.

Material Básico

Course 3: Telecommunications and Community Networks

The objective is to understand how the internet and telecommunications networks work, through the three layers that compose them: physical, logical, and economic and social; in order to know the necessary elements for the design of a model of connectivity that responds to community life within the territory of the participants of the course. 

Las telecomunicaciones son parte de nuestra vida diaria. Desde conectarnos a Internet, ver la televisión, escuchar la radio, mandar SMS o hacer llamadas. Durante esta primera tarea, el objetivo es encontrar cómo las telecomunicaciones se relacionan o se entienden en nuestra cotidianidad y cómo podríamos entenderlas colectivamente desde analogías que resuenen en nuestros territorios. La idea de esta tarea es que las y los participantes puedan compartirnos de qué manera utilizan las telecomunicaciones con su día a día. 

 

Material Básico

 

Ejemplo red comunitaria fase inicial: Rede Comunitária – QUILOMBO RIBEIRÃO GRANDE TERRA SECA

El objetivo es adquirir un entendimiento claro de la capa física de las telecomunicaciones, comprendiendo el espectro radioeléctrico, las técnicas de modulación de ondas y el uso y función de equipos esenciales como radios, antenas y diversos tipos de cables.

 

Material Básico

 

Conocer cómo se organizan las redes de telecomunicaciones a través de las distintas topologías de red, protocolos, cómo se comunican los dispositivos, software libres o propietarios y servidores locales.

 

Material Básico

Conocer y dialogar con algunas experiencias de modelos alternativos de conectividad desplegados desde procesos comunitarios en distintos territorios de la región. Consideraremos cuestiones relacionadas a género, raza/etnicidad y territorios para el diseño de una red comunitaria desde lo local.

Material Básico

 

Course 4: Regulatory Environment of Telecommunications and Broadcasting

The objective is to learn the basic elements of telecommunications regulation and related aspects, as well as the fundamental rights of Indigenous Peoples in this area, in order to understand the logic followed in the provision of telecommunications services and the administration of the spectrum.

Course 5: Economic Sustainability and Community Project Management Models

The objective is to generate skills and provide methodological tools to understand the management of a community communication project, focusing on capacity building for the creation of sustainability strategies for the initiatives developed by the participants.