Programme Information:

The project it@coops - Information Technology for South East Asian cooperatives- provides poverty-oriented cooperatives in Southeast Asia with basic IT skills and stimulates virtual cooperation. The project thus strengthens very small economic entities and boosts synergy effects.

With its strong orientation toward the poorest segments of the population, the project contrib-utes directly to the attainment of the “Millennium Development Goals”. This project was pro-posed based upon the results of a test conducted by the Federal Ministry for Economic Coop-eration and Development. The three-year project has been in progress since early 2004 and is conducted in close cooperation with the regional umbrella association AWCF (Asian Women in Cooperative Development Forum). The project is being conducted in Southeast Asia with the target countries of Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines.

Programme Goals and Content:

Cooperatives in the region of Southeast Asia have proved over the years to be true motors for business startups and thus for the creation of new employment opportunities. Women from poorer segments of the population are especially engaged in cooperatives in order to gain participation in market processes. The project “Information Technology for Asian Cooperatives” supports cooperatives and their umbrella associations in the establishment of IT expertise in various fields.

The project consists of three components. The first component aims at qualifying members of cooperatives in the field of information technology. The intention is to train a number of instructors from selected cooperatives, who will in turn train further cooperative members. In order to make sustainable achievements with this “Train the Trainer” concept, those cooperatives whose trainers are financed by InWEnt must make a number of commitments. InWEnt chooses with cooperatives it will finance with the help of AWCF based upon a list of criteria and the “commitment” demonstrated by the cooperative in question.

In addition to teaching basics, instructors will receive a solid foundation on the teaching of IT skills and will specialize in a particular area in information technology (e.g. Web design, e-security, e-technology).

An additional project component aims at promoting the construction of local IT centers. This will enable cooperative members and many small and very small businesses to gain access to important IT services and the Internet.

An important component of the programme is the national and regional networking of all participating actors. The goal is to create networks that will systematize operational procedures, facilitate the exchange of information and knowledge and act together on the market, thus improving competitiveness.

Duration and Funding:

The three-year project includes 24 tasks in Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia. The national umbrella associations CULT (Thailand), FORMASI (Indonesia) and NATCCO (Philippines), as well as the regional umbrella association AWCF are significantly involved in producing benefits in partnership for the funding and implementation of the project. On the German side, the funding and contracting body is the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. The project is executed through a cooperation between InWEnt Department 4.04 (Economic Development and Infrastructure) and InWEnt's regional office in Manila. The extension of this project to Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos is planned if this pilot project is successful.