Policy
· There is inadequate commitment to IT in support of ACED. Cooperative legislation should be progressive. Positive example: India has a concrete set of policies and programmes in place.
Resources
· A lot of IT resources are available, but are mainly used for accounting. There is no applicable software to assist cooperatives on business development planning, improved market information, quality control and related enterprise development activities.
· The cooperative movement is supported by governments, but governments can use the movement as a tool. Governments should only provide assistance and not become involved in cooperative operations.
· Some members requested multilateral institutions to assist in modernization and implementation of IT for ACED, for example in the area of software development.
Human resource development (HRD)
· Cooperatives must play a role in strengthening HRD.
· All support should be extended for capacity building including modernization, infrastructure development and IT applications.
· Database on agricultural cooperative development is incomplete making it difficult to identify and tailor training needs as well as software development to specific types of cooperative enterprises.
Resource infrastructure development
· A fund is needed to support modernization of agricultural cooperatives. Many countries have noted a lack of resources for modernization and introduction of IT for ACED. An internal mechanism such as a National Resource Fund is needed to cover these costs.
· There is a possibility of multilateral donor funding for the introduction of IT for ACED through rural SME funding opportunities. The Asia Pacific Economic Forum (APEC) Secretariat developed a project proposal for e-commerce through rural SMEs.
Infrastructure issues
· Many rural areas in Asia do not have access to electricity, telephone connections and computer hardware/software.
· There is a need to design solutions that match local infrastructure, such as mobile IT teams.
· There is a need to design agreements on a multi-sectoral approach for infrastructure development in partnership with private enterprise.
Lack of uniformity in IT application
· There is inadequate cooperation, networking and standardization of formats. Computer usage is mainly confined to word processing and financial management; computers are rarely used for business planning and development.
