Peter Lutes
| Organization type | University |
|---|---|
| Country | Japan |
This member participated in the following Forums
Forum Forum: "ICT and producer organizations" November, 2012
Question 2 (opens 14 Nov.)
What are the priority areas that producer organizations should invest in with regard to ICT?
I think that there is no one answer for this question because the conditions vary greatly for each producer organization, region, country, etc., but in a general, I think that producer organizations need to focus on investment that allows them to function relatively independantly given that reliable communcation technolgies may be an issue. I think the focus should be on developing their own databse of information and making it available to their members in a comfortable user friendly environment. What specifically do I mean by this?
• I mean they need to buy a computer(s) and stock it(them) with as much relevant information as possible (for example this could mean multimedia materials on CD or DVD, or accessed by internet if that is possible). These materials could even be transfered to other media depending on what technolgy is appropriate. This could function as the basis of learning center for the organization. Therefore it must be a user friendly location where the members could feel comfortable in learning and using this technolgy.
I think that this is the most important factor is not buying technolgy but helping to create socially constructed knowledge about the computer as a useful tool to improve the farmers lives. That is to say that it is necessary for the members of the producer organizations to accept and believe that they can improve their lives by embracing the use of technolgy. This means education about the benefits of adopting techolgy and then farmers msut see measureable impacts on their lives.
So in short, the first priority should be education, then creation of a knowledge base on a computer, and then encouraging access of the average farmer, so they are not reliant on "the computer person" of the cooperative. ICT should be about empowerment of the members.
Peter
Question 1 (opens 12 Nov.)
Dr Flor, thank you for adding that perspective. I think that if we look at ICT in terms of the high risk, venerable communities, I think one wy may be to look to:
1) preparation
ICT can play a role as a warning system (but as I mentioned before, I think it must be used first as an eductaion tool to increase understanding of the immense danger that could exist so when it is used a s warning more people will heed the warnings)
2) short term relief
ICT, assuming that is exists after the disaster, would be an effective way of helping people get information about relief efforts and ways to access this relief if necessary
3) long term recovery
ICT can also be used to inform people of immdiate health risks (e.g. water comtamination) and of longer term issues such as risks due to molds, storage methods, etc.
Unfortuneately, ICT cannot actually help unless there is real relief (i.e. financial and food aid) for the people suffering for a major disaster.
Peter
Thank you for your comments.
You are very right that ICT can be an important tool for producer organizations dealing with food safety. The question to you is do you know andy producer organization engaged in food safety ?
Not directly. I am a few steps removed from this, so I am more familiar with some of the food saftey issues than the producer organizations.
Specifically, I am involved in a food saftey program in Japan for students from Asian countries.
Are these organization using ICT ? In other word are you working with cooperative engaged in storing rice ?
No, but our some of our graduate students (and profs) are involved in investigating food safety issues and looking for practical solutions that may be useful for producer organizatons, such as inexpensive and relatively simple analyais methods of testing for food contamination. However, this is still ongoing.
If yes how can you work with these cooperatives and help/engage them to use ICT to disseminate information you want their member to know?
I would not be involved in this kind of dissemination.
Thank you for your questions.
peter
Hello Riikka
Thank you for your comments. I am not familair with the situation in Vietnam other than that after the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and subsequent tsunami some countries affected by the tsunami had begun plans to improve their warning systems.
I think that ICT can play a greater role in disaster warning. You mentioned that state of the art technolgy is a new approach that may be useful. I fully agree that it has great potential to fill gaps particularly where governent resources are somewhat limited to provide. However, I think this would have to be combined with local systems that exist on the ground so that information can be relayed to those that do not have access to the techonly. I think that in areas of lower penetration of smart phone technolgy (due to lack of tech infrastructure, or high cost of phones/services) a lower tech network is also needed.
IN the event of a major distaster the overlaoding of private phone networks is something that needs to considered which if memory serves correctly occurred after the Hanshin earthquake.
However, I think that many people (regardless of location, education, etc) underestimate the danger of natural disasters and are slow in responding to warnings, so I think that the first step in creating an ICT must be eductaion as to the potential risks of disaster. We have seen time and time again how people have ignored warnings to "watch", to try and protect their homes, or remove their possesions.
Peter
Question 1: What roles does ICT play in producer organizations? Support examples with specific reference to an organization, the technology tool(s), and content delivered.
Thank you for your provocative question. I think a good place to start is recognizing that ICT is very dependent on the situation on the ground. That is to say that there are many factors that actually define what ICT is in that particular context, and perhaps more importantly what content can be delivered. Rather than focus first on the suggested items, I would like to explore the idea of food safety which is a growing global concern. I am involved in food safety education in Japan and I think that "content" and context first needs be addressed before looking at the delivery system, which I would define as the role of ICT. SO when we look at comtent in any area (I will use food safety as an example) I think we first need to look to education of the baisc issues. regardless of how effective ICT if there is not value placed on the goal of ICT by the communities that are being targeted for ICT, then ICT will not make any impact.
One example is toxin risks posed by poor storage risk (eg OTA & OTB in rice) . How effective will any ICT approach be without an understand and agreement with the objetive of the disemination of this information. So back to one of the "subtopics"
How can ICT facilitate climate change adaptation among members of an organization and the rural communities where the organization is active?
Well this question is context oriented because the situation will be different for each organization based upon the situation that they are involved in. While this seem self evident, I believe that the question suggests that there may be one solution utilizing ICT to address the impact on rural communities. I do not believe that this is the best approach becuase even in communities with fairly developed information systems, there may not be universal agreement on what should be done. That being said, in my opinion ICT probaby need to play an initial role as tool for eductaion. But before I go further into it, I have to ask how the "rural" areas are defined because certainly rural areas of Japan are impacted by climate chages, as they are in Thailand, and so on.
So "what is a rural area"?
best regards,
Peter