With a room equipped with 25 computer stations, connected and the possibility of organizing videoconferences, the purpose of this unit is the organization, programming and implementation of courses and other capacity building training for all CSRS researchers as well as external applicants. This space will also be used for data entry and access to all online information (bibliography, database).

1- Presentation

1-1- Creation

Inaugurated in July 2003, the Willy Müller Telecenter is a gift from the Honorary Consulate of Côte d'Ivoire in Switzerland, Mr. Willy Müller. This room, with a surface area of 70m2, includes 24 computers for training courses requiring a computer infrastructure. The Internet connection as well as the CSRS network allow to follow courses at a distance or to consult documentations accessible from the Internet.

Inauguration of the Tele Centre Willy Müller by the Swiss Ambassador in CI and the Minister of Scientific Research.

1-2- Purpose 

The Willy Müller Tele Training Center aims to serve as a regional communication, research and resource platform, using the principles of partnership and new technologies to strengthen the scientific capacity of the CSRS and its partners in Côte d'Ivoire and elsewhere.

1-3- Strategies

To achieve this goal, strategies are implemented:

1. To achieve this goal, the following strategies are implemented
2. Establishment of an internal network connection to high-speed Internet.
3. Proposal of a modular program of continuous training in new information technologies
4. Establishment of a platform of human and technical resources for the valorization of new information technologies in the fields of basic and applied research.

1-4- Organisation

At the level of the Centre Suisse de Recherches Scientifiques (CSRS), the following persons are or have been involved in the overall animation and management of the Tele Centre:

1. The Director of the CSRS: Prof. Guéladio Cissé ;
2. The Deputy Director: Dr. Andres Tschannen;
3. The computer scientists: Mr. Roger Kpon, and Mr. Tall Abdoulaye
4. The communication officer: Dr Nicolas Betsi

2- Activities

The activities that took place in the Tele Center can be grouped under the following headings: training, other uses, technical capacity building, access to resources.

2-1 Training courses

Many courses have been given in the Telecentre since its creation

2-1-1- E-course in TeleMedicine (RAFT NETWORK)

Côte d'Ivoire is a member of the RAFT network (Réseau d'Afrique Francophone pour la télémédecine). Since January 2005, Professor Francis EHUA of the University Hospital Center (CHU) of Yopougon and several other doctors and students of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Abidjan have been taking distance learning courses through this network at the CSRS.

Founded in 2000, RAFT currently links Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Tunisia, Burkina Faso, Senegal, Cameroon and Côte d'Ivoire. It aims to create a South-South network between university hospitals, regional hospitals, and rural health centers, as well as to create quality medical content, adapted to the needs of the field, and integrating local knowledge.

Figure 2 : Left: Example of a RAFT course on the web as seen by the student: top left, the teacher, the course document itself, in the middle, and the chat console and other controls, on the left. Right: Map of the scope of the RAFT project

The RAFT E-courses are followed at the Télé Centre Willy Müller by doctors and students of the Faculty of Medicine of Abidjan. Below is a table of the different courses and the number of participants. Table II RAFT E-courses followed at the CSRS by more than 10 persons per session (complete program in annex, see p23ff)

Date	Theme	Presentateur	Studio	Number of participants
Jeudi 6 janvier 2005	Pediatric surgery: intraosseous infusions	Dr Jacques Birraux (HUG, Genève)	Genève		Environ 10 personnes
Jeudi 10 février 2005	Proctology: abscesses and anal fistulas	Dr Bruno Roche (HUG, Genève)	Genève
Jeudi 19 mai 2005	Obstetrical fistulas	Les fistules obstétricales	Genève

2-1-2- English courses

At the beginning of 2005, the first wave of English training was completed. The infrastructure allowed us to organize an English course for one group using the new multimedia formulas of language teaching. This course is based on linguistic software and audiovisual capabilities of computers. The costs of the course are covered by the CSRS, as an incentive to access scientific information in English.

2-1-3- Course on access to scientific literature

Modules on the use of the library reference management program, Reference Manager, and scientific literature resources are provided. The minimum functionality for managing and using a literature database is demonstrated. These standard courses help new researchers to become familiar with the tools necessary for scientific research. For old-timers, a refresher course is often welcome.

2-1-4- Training in statistics

A course in statistics was given in 2003 and will be continued.

2-2- Other uses of the Tele Centre

2-2-1- Data entry

The number of computers and their location make it ideal for mass data entry. This option has been used by most CSRS projects. Data entry by several people in parallel makes this operation very efficient and fast. The CSRS will thus have the technical capacity to run relatively heavy data collection systems such as a DSS (Demographic Surveillance System).

2-3- Opening of the Willy Müller Tele Center to the public

The opening of the Tele Center at a rate of one day per week was recommended. The reflections on the procedure to be followed have been pursued, and a brochure, summary of these reflections, has been finalized in its conceptual phase (see next page). But the problem of bandwidth and throughput still remains to be solved.

2-4- Available literary resources

Access to scientific literature remains very good for CSRS researchers and the number of journals listed in the global initiatives has increased significantly. Oxfordjournals provides statistics on the use of access by CSRS researchers. According to their statistics, CSRS researchers downloaded 236 full-text articles in 2005. This translates to about 4 articles per researcher. Given that these articles were downloaded from about 20 journals, this number is substantial, and it is possible that the total number per researcher would be considerably higher if HINARI and AGORA were included. In 2004, a survey was conducted that showed that each researcher downloaded between 20 and 50 articles per year, and that the internet was the most important medium.

Table 3 Summary of journals available to researchers in Côte d'Ivoire. Some journals are found in multiple sources.

Access name	URL	Nbre newspapers 2004	Nbre newspapers 2005
HINARI - Health InterNetwork Access to Research Initiative	www.healthinternetwork.net	2502	3280 (+30%)
AGORA – Access to global online research in agriculture	www.aginternetwork.net	502	849 (+70%)
OUP – Oxford University Press	www.oup.co.uk/jnls/list	150	160 (+7%)
Open Source Journals	www.doaj.org/home	1528	2275 (+50%)
GoogleScholar	www.scholar.google.com	?	?