CECI — Costa Rica's Community Smart Centres: A National Telecentre Network and Its Sustainability Lessons

Costa Rica's Centros Comunitarios Inteligentes (CECI) were created by Executive Decree No. 33629 of 20 February 2007 and are run by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Telecommunications (MICITT) with municipalities, libraries and community groups as co-managers. Each centre offers free internet access and basic ICT training.
Published figures vary by date and source: about 271 centres were installed by 2010 and 262 were active in February 2014, reported as covering 80% of the territory; a later study counts 157 operating establishments in 2016, and by 2020 27 public libraries of the national library system (SINABI) were co-managers.
The programme is included as a cautionary case. A university sustainability study of five centres in Puntarenas found limited equipment budgets, outdated CRT monitors and non-working computers, one centre without internet, no dedicated coordinators, weak community ownership and insufficient central supervision. Its recommendations: community-led administration with paid managers, coordination through municipal councils, FONATEL funding, and a blended in-person-then-virtual training model. Most users attended basic computer, internet and office-software courses.

Read the full analysis: https://alfabetizaciondigital.redem.org/los-ceci-en-costa-rica/