COPAC OPEN FORUM COOPERATIVES AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY 2 December 1998

Mark Levin, Programme Coordinator, CoopNet Programme, Coop Branch, International Labour Office ILO

Roberto Rodrigues, President, International Co-operative Alliance ICA Roberto Rodrigues, a Brazilian national, became Director of a sugar cane planters co-operative in 1971. In 1985 he was elected President of the Organization of the Brazilian Cooperatives (OCB) for two consecutive mandates (1985 to 1991). He founded and presided over the EXIMCOOP (1990-1993), a co-operative trading company. Elected Vice-President for the Americas in 1992, he was also Chair of the ICA's Agriculture Committee from 1992 to 1995.

MaríaElena Chávez, COPAC Coordinator MaríaElena Chávez, a Chilean and Canadian national, was appointed as COPAC Coordinator in 1996 when COPAC was transferred from Rome (Italy) to Geneva (Switzerland). She also holds the position of Director, UN/NGO Relations at the International Co-operative Alliance where she has worked since 1987. Since 1997, Ms. Chavez is also Secretary of the ICA Global Women's Committee.

Rosa Delgado, Chair, Internet Society Developing Countries Special Interest Group ISOC DevSIG / Business Planning Manager, SITA Ms. Delgado is a Peruvian national who is Chair of the Internet Society's Special Interest Group on Developing Countries in Geneva. She is works as Business Planning Manager with Air Transport Systems (Société Internationale de Télécommunications Aéronotique) SITA where she is responsible for setting up new Internet Protocols for the air transport industry. Her experience with the Internet is vast having worked with a number of United Nations agencies including the International Telecommunications Union ITU as an Internet expert working with African governments and industry in promoting Internet development, the UN Department for Humanitarian Affairs (using the Internet for coordinating humanitarian relief), and CERN. She has also participated in numerous conferences presenting papers on both legal, technical and development issues regarding the Internet.

Mary Treacy, Director of Communications, International Co-operative Alliance ICA Mary Treacy, a Swiss and English national, has been with the ICA since 1983 and is presently Director of Communications with the International Co-operative Alliance in Geneva. She has been pivotal to ensuring that ICA use the latest communications technology and in particular the Internet to disseminate information on cooperatives and promote the Co-operative Identity. As webmaster of the ICA sites (ICA, Cooperative Databank, Research, Virtual Community of Co-operators, Coop 4-Kids) she continues to provide excellent information resources on Co-operatives to ICA members as well as to the general public.

Atsuko Okuda, Programme Associate, IT for Development Programme, Bureau for Development Policy, United Nations Development Programme UNDP Atsuko Okuda is responsible for research on e-commerce, human rights issues, and Y2K problems in developing countries as well as creation and maintenance of INFO21 web site.

Comercio Electrónico, peligros y oportunidades - Electronic Commerce, Dangers and Opportunities Esteban Valenti, Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean, TIPS, UNDP Esteban Valenti is a national of Uruguay and Italy who has been UNDP/TIPS as its Regional Director since 1993. TIPS specializes on information systems and electronic commerce for small and medium sized firms. He is President of DevNet and is a member of the Committee on Institutional Development of the Society for International Development. Mr. Valenti has worked with the InterPress Service and PRESSUR, an Uruguayan press agency.

Roberto DiMeglio, CoopNet al Día Coordinator, International Labour Office ILO Roberto DiMeglio is an Italian national who is presently working with the ILO as the Coordinator of CoopNet al al Día, an interactive multimedia information service for cooperatives and is based in Costa Rica.

Zahid Qureshi, Senior Vice President, Development and Communications, International Co-operative and Mutual Insurance Federation ICMIF Zahid Quereshi has been with the ICMIF since its new secretariat was set up in Altrincham, Cheshire, UK nearly six years ago. He was seconded to ICMIF from The Cooperators Group Limited of Canada where he worked for 23 years in various capacities before moving to the UK.

Neticoop Neticoop is a Internet service provider for the Uruguayan cooperative movement. Created by CUDECOOP, the national apex cooperative organization in Uruguay, Neticoop offers Internet connectivity, training and advisory services, and maintains a database on cooperatives in Uruguay.

Ildefonso Pinto Bezerra, International Affairs, Confederaçao Nacional de Agricultura CNA Ildefonso Pinto Bezerra is a Brazilian national, presently in charge of international Affairs at the National Confederation of Agriculture as well as webmaster for the National Service for Rural Vocational Training (SENAR). He has had experience in agricultural trade issues working with the Brazilian Embassy in Germany and with the technical team of the National Agricultural Confederation monitoring the MERCOSUR Agreement. Mr. Pinto Bezerra has taught courses on Micro, Macro and International Economics at the Pontifícia Universadade Católica (Porto Alegre).

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Updated: 24 November 1998