How did Lincos start?

Initial Requirements

Proyectos Lincos Costa Rica Lincos Costa Rica Projects It sought that communities will enhance special efforts and efforts to make the project a success. They must be organized under some legal figure (Board, Association, etc.). in case the community did not have a physical space to house the project (school, school, community hall, or other existing building) if the option was to place a traditional LINCOS unit then it was required to manage a land where it was possible to locate the same, in a nearby area of about 50 x 50 meters, that area would also accommodate additional services such as bathrooms, warehouses, and the external source of electricity (power plant, cells, mill, etc.), or, which provided a building space for the installation of the project (classroom, lounge, office, etc.)

The community also provided different members of the local work team. But the most important thing was the enthusiasm, the capacity for organization, and the desire to work for their community.

Additionally, other requirements:

An entity that will finance the cost of the project, training, and installation, be it a company, a foundation, a private organization.
A university academic institution related to the technological issue, which serves as a counterpart. Which helped provide the required technical and community support.
A government group where all sectors represented (education, health, agriculture, environment, transport, telecommunications)
A group of "friends" sponsors or partners (entrepreneurs, organizations, or local companies) of the project who could somehow help their sustainability for at least the first year.
A local community group organized and interested about improving their living conditions and willing to work hard to achieve it.
All this group of organizations divides into a Technical Advisory Group at the National level.

Besides, a series of steps that are attached below should follow. Click on each of them to get to know them better.

Step 01. Selecting The Community

The selection of a LINCOS community is a crucial process to achieve an adequate insertion of the project. The process begins with a National Analysis that allows the identification of the areas in which the LINCOS Unit would have a more significant impact.

Subsequently, it is necessary to carry out an Ethnographic Diagnosis. This preliminary evaluation qualitatively seeks to highlight the potential of the inhabitants, as well as their ability to absorb and appropriate technologies. This analysis also aims to collaborate in the selection of the most appropriate technologies within a "menu" of more than 60 alternatives.

Among other objectives, it is also possible with this work to characterize the population, identify the different organizations and forces that manage the relationships between individuals and families. Also, the analysis provides useful information about the person or persons who would be responsible for the operation and management of the project. It will identify the probable site (s) for its installation and finally define a base situation that allows us to continually monitor and evaluate the impact obtained with each of the technologies.

In summary, with this step, you will have achieved then:

Identify a community group responsible for the project.
Identify a suitable physical site for the installation of the project.
Identify the human resources that can receive training to start operations.
Identify the technical and feasibility conditions, as well as the local conditions for the supply of energy and the local telecommunications network.

Step 02. Technology Platform Design

The design assumed as an element that must be present in any project. The project should ensure the well-being of the communities tangibly, through an adequate distribution of the space with a coherent design of the areas, thus achieving more meaningful use of the elements available in the project.

The design must be adjusted to the needs of the community, to guarantee the success of the project in matters of applied development and environmental protection, by using environmentally friendly materials. If it is required to use transport containers, special care should take place that they are consistent with what's desire in each community. Once decided to use containers, the objective was to minimize the environmental impact and benefit the communities that use them. The design of the awning and the unit is the result of a joint effort that involved architecture, design, and engineering.

Step 03. Human Equipment Required for Commissioning

That group of characters responsible for the conduct and operation of the project must be part of a collaborative social network, highly linked within the community.

These characters must have excellent skills for teamwork, a unique ability to reconcile and resolve conflicts, knowledge, and innovation to provide compelling ideas and also can bring more LINCOS users closer to services.

Step 04. Start-up of LINCOS

Once the LINCOS Project installed, the different participants are trained in the use, maintenance, and philosophy of LINCOS. It is done strategically so that individuals creatively appropriate information and communication technologies and use it to solve their everyday situations.

A particularity of LINCOS is the experience that we hold in processes related to family learning and the community, contrary to traditional educational approaches.

This process of induction and training had a short duration, and what we're looking for is that the characters of the network get instructed in the handling of technologies. Then, through a virtual and classroom process, the knowledge acquired will be strengthened and expanded.

Step 05. Project Sustainability

One of the objectives of the project is to make it a self-sustainable initiative. Whether through cross-subsidies and other strategies, pursued that members of each community have managed to appropriate the technologies and are using them to produce personal and communal resources.

In our experience, the result is produced approximately one year after starting the project. After this time, the unit through different means can generate the financial resources necessary for the process to continue independently. The services offer such as telephone calls, emails, Internet usage, training courses, graphic designs, FAX, and specialized searches, photography, video, radio advertising, and others are just some of the services that The project has been going on all this time.

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