4.8 Community Development and Social Services The Programmes outlined within the Community Development and Social Services focus area are designed to build on the sense of community and togetherness that is still alive and vibrant within the St. Lucian culture. Through close integration with ICT infrastructure programmes, communities can use technology to share information, share resources, and collaborate more efficiently to promote improved social and economic conditions for the residents and business in their communities. Community Access Programme This Programme will investigate a range of mechanisms to ensure wide‐scale community access, including the use of schools after‐hours, Internet access centres, kiosks in community centres and post offices, and other innovative means of providing access. It will address the specific needs of the elderly, the disadvantaged, and the differently‐abled members of communities. This initiative assesses the particular needs of each community and develops opportunities for the productive use and sharing of technologies. It will include projects that provide access to the latest ICT technologies, and training to address the capacity of rural communities to utilise the technologies introduced for community and individual development. All too often, access centres are viewed only as locations where young people can go to use the Internet or obtain computer training. However these centres, if used productively can be a significant resource to promote social and economic development in the community. Many similar jurisdictions have successfully implemented Community Access Centres that provide not only Internet access for the community but are also used as business centres for local entrepreneurs and study centres for local students who need access to computer technologies and a quiet place to do project work. A best practice study can be conducted to establish opportunities for using Community Access Centres to service the needs of community members. The way in which the centres will be used, will also inform the design and layout of the Community Access Centres. These Centres will need to contain the appropriate facilities (such as meeting rooms, study cubicles) to service the requirements of the individual community. Ongoing maintenance, staffing and training of resources are essential for the sustainability of the access centres. As such, partnerships with services providers will also need to be incorporated to make these initiatives a success. A few key communities can be selected to pilot this initiative as the design, layout, and services that will be offered are refined before roll out to the wider communities. Existing facilities such as the Community Resource Internet Centres (CORIC), Community Based IT Centres and the Human Resource Development Centres (HRD) can be integrated with this initiative to improve access and enhance facilities that may already exist. The experience gained [33]