Ani Duzdabanyan

Part 1

How Internet centers are used

In IREX Internet centers, users visit various web-sites to get information, use e-mail, establish contacts with various institutions abroad, search for jobs, look for grants, and participate in various virtual forums. Every week, center employees send "progress reports" to the central office evaluating users' achievements. Some of these have come to our attention: "G. M. has improved his knowledge of English using on-line resources and was invited to the United Kingdom for language courses; L. S. was invited to Germany to conduct research; E.G. found her future husband and now lives with him in France ."

IREX's Internet Access and Training Program (IATP) centers have provided Internet access free of charge to more than 15,700 people (0.4 % of the population of Armenia) - students, journalists, lawyers, teachers, librarians, etc. The center at the Writers' Union (previously at American University of Armenia ) specializes in web-design. According to an IATP employee, this is the only web-workshop in the South Caucasus where NGOs, scientists, students and others can learn how to design their own websites, and place them on the IATP server. About 1,000 websites have been created with the organization's financial and technical assistance since 1998. The IATP classify these sites in accordance with their field - science, culture, religion, education, media, economy, human rights, etc.

For example, the site http://www.iatp.irex.am/sites/yeghegnadzor/carpets/ falls under culture, presenting the history of ancient Armenian carpets. One of the legal sites, ( http://www.concourt.am/wwconst/ ), features constitutions from a number of countries. Organizations also place their websites on the IATP server, grouped under the heading Independent Organizations . The site http://www.iatp.irex.am/sites/maneh/ , for example, offers sightseeing tours in Armenia .

Internet centers and children

Children, too, are welcome guests in the centers. It is they who, as they grow up, will be the most closely associated with computers and information technology. But it is also they who are the most vulnerable now, because of the content and connections they have access to on the Internet.

According to the staff of the IREX centers, children come to them with little knowledge of computers. They take courses, eventually becoming full-fledged users. Since Armenia has no Internet access centers for children, IREX provides this service. The conditions are the same for minors as for adults. Though a document entitled "Freedom of Speech in the Information Network: Guidelines for European Cultural Policy" outlines specific requirements for Internet centers for children and limitations for minors, such as blocked access to pornographic or other harmful sites.

The document also outlines the role of parents. Since the Net offers on-line communication as well as information, parents must explain to their children the dangers associated with communication with strangers. These cautions must also become a part of training and education. Centers providing Internet access to children must provide users with high-quality guidelines and assistance in obtaining information.

Training programs at the centers

According to M. Tonoyan, the IATP coordinator in Armenia , the IREX Internet centers were first created for students who studied in the US on IREX programs, and the project was aimed at their professional development. Later, it expanded to include other users, providing them with the basics of using the Internet, and then more complex training as necessary. Users are pleased with the training, though they complain about the quality of the Internet connection and the scarcity of computers.

According to IREX data, 10 % of those trained have found jobs, including in the field of information technology. Would-be trainees come to the centers on their own-IREX never advertises its programs. Since the services it provides are free of charge, it is assumed that most users are financially needy, though IREX has never set that as a goal, and finds it difficult to distinguish among users.

Here are some numbers that may shed light on the results IREX has achieved-the percentage of the population who have been trained through the IATP programs, and those who have used the Internet services, by Marz:

Yerevan 0.33% and 0.60%
Shirak 0.42% and 0.43%
Lori 0.32% and 0.63%
Syunik 1.1% and 1.64
Kotayk 0.07% and 0.21
Vayots Dzor 0.99% and 1.13%

This is just a first look. It will take serious, comprehensive research to fully evaluate IREX's IATP program, to determine the social impact and prospects of the Internet centers. But in summarizing our small-scale study, we must register the tangible and useful work that has been done within the IREX program in Armenia . On the other hand, we must note that the organization's activity directly or indirectly contributes to emigration from Armenia . It is also evident that Armenian organizations and individuals working in the fields of education and science could become more effectively involved in this project, better targeting it to local needs.