NICE centers sell products and mainly services by making use of the energy system, ICT infrastructure and cinema facilities. All services are sold on a pay-per-use basis at market-level prices, and are organized into four categories with an increasing value to the customers.
Energy services
NICE Centers sell energy in the form of charging batteries or mobile phones. These services are especially relevant in areas where there is no grid.
Infrastructure services
Infrastructure services consist of using the equipment in the NICE center, for instance using the computers, browsing the Internet, making a VOIP-call, printing, scanning, watching a movie or football match on TV, and playing a computer game. For all these services NICE uses content that is publically available like the Internet or satellite TV channels.
Value added services
The value added services go beyond using the equipment in the NICE centers. Currently, education is the most important service in this category. In the past two years over 1,200 people have been educated in the NICE centers. The education courses start with basic computer courses and for more experienced customers there are job-related ICT-courses, such as ICT for secretaries, tourism and teachers. In 2010 a business ICT course will be introduced to teach small entrepreneurs how the use of a computer can add value to their business. In the future, NICE plans to offer value added services in other areas such as banking (online banking services, training in banking skills, peer-to-peer microfinance), healthcare (eHealth), business (services for small businesses, like online bookkeeping) and government (online government services). All these value added services will be developed by partners. The role of NICE will be to contribute local market knowledge and to be the distribution channel for these services.
Income generating services
Income generating services enable customers to use the NICE-center for generating an income for themselves. In 2010 NICE will start a first pilot with this type of service in The Gambia. People in The Gambia will be trained in building websites. A Canadian organization will look for customers (e.g. small NGOs or churches) who want their websites to be developed in The Gambia. This way, we provide people with skills and give them the opportunity to use these skills for generating an income. Other potential income generating services are online trading (e.g. for farmers) and incubator services for small entrepreneurs who cannot afford their own office and ICT equipment.