AWCF, with funding support from InWEnt-Capacity Building International, Germany, successfully held the “Alumni Workshop for Partners and Participants of the Joint Training Programme it@coops” last October 19-24, 2009 in Bangkok, Thailand.
With the reunion theme “Renew, Update, Stay Connected”, 30 (17 female and 13 male) selected Information Technology (IT) Specialists shared their experiences as IT staff in their respective organizations, the trainings they had conducted and attended, and the new skills they have gained since the end of the “Information Technology for Southeast Asian Co-operatives (it@coops) Project 2004-2007”.

The IT Specialists also learned about new developments and innovations in IT from officers of the three it@coops Project partners, specifically: “Contributions of IT in Rural and Enterprise Development” from the Forum for Indonesian Co-operatives Movement (FORMASI), Indonesia; “Operations, E-Commerce , and IT-supported Business Development Centers (BDCs)” from the Credit Union League of Thailand, Ltd. (CULT), Thailand; and “Improving Co-op Services through IT Innovations” from the National Confederation of Cooperatives (NATCCO), Philippines.

In addition, the IT Specialists visited the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology (MICT) and were briefed on the “ICT Development and Policy in Thailand”. Ms Songporn Komolsuradej, Executive Director of the ICT Usage Promotion and Development Bureau, led the discussions on the E-Government Development Project and the ICT Community Telecentre Project of the MICT.

The workshop likewise included introductory sessions by Ms Evangeline Lopez, IT Group Head of NATCCO, on “Toolkit on Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)”, and by Ms. Ursula Van Look, InWent Project Manager, on “www.alumniportal-deutschland.org” for alumni participants of programs funded by various German development agencies and institutions.

As an output of the reunion, the participants and partners prepared a 3-Year (2010-2013) Sustainability Plan to be presented to the Board of Directors (BOD) of the it@coops Project partners and their horganizations. The workshop culminated with sightseeing activities in the Ayutthaya Historical City and a boat cruise along the Chao Phraya River vicinity of Bangkok.