Crafts and New Technologies

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Crafts and New Technologies A vision for the
future - Moving ahead
Mrs. Elena Averoff Board Member, EGNATIA EPIRUS
Foundation Board Member, WCC Hellenic Section
Crafts and Information Technologies July 4,
2006 Kandy, Sri Lanka
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Why Crafts?

• Cultural Impact
• Reflects artistic skills of one or group of
  people in a certain -place at a certain time.
• Expression of a cultural heritage
• Unique and beautiful
• Social Impact
• Does not disturb the life of a community
• Passes on the wisdom acquired through observation
  for many centuries

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Why Crafts? Con/ued

• Ecological and environmental impact
• Teaches respect and knowledge of the environment
  as a source of raw materials
• Economic and financial impact (UNESCO data,
  2002)
• Contributes for US 4,5 billion and US 500
  million to the Thai and Malaysien economies
• UNESCO Index on Crafts and Tourism Crafts
  consumption per tourist and per day 20 US in
  Thailand, 23 US in Singapore, 95 US in Malaysia

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Why New Technologies"

• The New World-We are all connected
• Transformation from the "industrial age" to the
  "information society" age creating a new economic
  model internationally
• Rapid increase in the use of ICT-new methods of
  communication, extensive use of the Internet,
  emergence of e-commerce, e-working
• This transformation concerns all sectors of the
  economy, including crafts sector

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"Challenges for the Crafts Sector ""We must keep
up with the world"

• Crafts Intermediate Organizations must be able to
  respond-quickly, flexibly and efficiently to new
  developments
• Create the necessary infrastructure to meet the
  challenges, learn and disseminate information
• Crafts Intermediate Organizations must help in
  creating an "image" for crafts which stands for
  quality, uniqueness and authenticity

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"Some of the Problems in the Crafts Sector "

• Limited access to non-local (foreign) markets
• Complicated procedures for international trade
• Difficulty in locating suppliers of raw materials
• Difficulty in acquiring know-how and material
  related to packaging
• Limited access to information about
  marketing/promotion techniques
• Difficulties in locating partners for production
  of innovative design
• Problems in establishing lasting international
  collaborations
• Difficulties in locating sources of funding
• Lack of readiness and knowledge to participate in
  projects

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"What ICT offers the Crafts Sector""Use ICT to
make a difference "

• Creation of a "Virtual Environment" ICT tools
  and Internet connections can help us all deal
  with the problems outlined above more effectively
  and efficiently at a much lower cost.
• Administrative improvements increased, improved
  and cheaper working methods and communication
  with corresponding efficiencies in administration
  and management.
• Networking effective and cheaper collaborations
  between craft companies, creation of
  supply-chain, minimize costs (overheads and
  transactions) of co-operation

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"What ICT offers the Crafts Sector""Use ICT to
make a difference "Con/ued

• Conquers time and space
• Better working practices new company structures,
  team-work, more information available, increased
  learning and training opportunities
• Production innovation new methods of designing
  and creating products, ability to meet customer
  requirements, shorter production cycles. Better
  communication will improve collaboration amongst
  craftspersons and bring together different crafts
  leading to new-combined craft creations.
• Increase market access to international market,
  advanced marketing techniques at decreased cost.

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"Main Problems related to use of ICT in Crafts
Sector""What do we need?"

• Infrastructure work towards developing the
  necessary technical infrastructure so that we are
  able to participate in projects and the
  information society
• Education and Training need to find ways to
  continually improve ICT-related skills of
  craftspersons and ensure that they are able to
  participate in various initiatives
• Increased Awareness Level need to be aware of
  current international developments regarding use
  of ICT in the crafts sector, initiatives and
  projects

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Some interesting statistics

• Internet and e-commerce in the world (source
  UNCTAD 2005)
• 875,631,972 Internet users in 2004 (37,5 in
  Asian region)
• continuous and important growth in the number of
  Internet users in Asia (196 from 2000 to 2004)
• Still overall low personal computer penetration
  (12) with important differences between the
  regions (North America 74, Europe 30, Asia
  6)
• e-commerce growth in all regions
• European Crafts Sector
• 67 of the EU crafts enterprises had Internet in
  2003
• Main use of computers for e-mail, Internet
  access and administration
• Main use of Internet communication,
  promotion/advertising, information searches,
  collaborative places, sales
• Very similar to the Asian crafts profile

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"Moving Ahead "" What should we do?

• Focus on finding concrete and practical methods
  to help crafts actors deal with the challenges
  and take advantage of the opportunities discussed
  above
• Locate possible sources of funding for pilot
  projects
• Prepare our networks to be able to participate in
  these projects
• Promote international cooperation

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Crafts and New TechnologiesAlong the way

• A number of initiatives have been undertaken in
  the last 10 years to support and finance the
  uptake of new technologies by the crafts sector
  supported by various actors
• They have been addressing diverse but
  complementary aspects related to ICT, such as
• support of networking
• organization of targeted seminars
• organization of targeted workshops (basic
  computer skills, use of Internet, etc)
• creation of specific platforms available through
  the Internet offering targeted tools and services
• Some examples of projects initiated and
  coordinated by the EGNATIA EPIRUS Foundation and
  WCC presented hereafter

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WCC International
www.wccwis.gr

• In order to facilitate the communication and
  cooperation amongst WCC International members and
  to promote WCC network worldwide, a modern,
  functional easy to use website was operated in
  a friendly IT environment by the EGNATIA EPIRUS
  Foundation as host of the International
  Secretariat under Presidency of Mrs. Averoff
• This website offered
• general information about WCC International and
  links to WCC Regions
• directory of crafts related international,
  national and regional organizations, NGOs,
  foundations, and governmental organizations
• list of relevant events around the world
• links to publications (studies, books, online
  articles, etc)
• crafts gallery
• billboard with news and announcements

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The EASYCRAFT SystemAn innovative e-Commerce and
information platform for the Crafts Sector
www.easycraft.org

• EU-funded Project (2001-2003) implemented by EEF
  in collaboration with WCC Europe, WCC national
  entities, universities and IT companies
• Overall objective assist the European (and
  international) crafts sector in taking advantage
  of the opportunities offered by advanced ICT
• Achievements
• A wide range of services and tools for the
  crafts sector (directories, publications,
  communication tools, on-line exhibitions, sale of
  crafts products, etc)
• Creation of a series of Training modules
  tailored to the needs of the crafts actors
• More than 150 craftspersons trained to basic IT
  computer skills and use of the Easycraft Platform
  Delivery of Easycraft Certificates
• New avenues open for marketing and selling
  crafts products

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The Link-all Project An e-Inclusion Project
between Europe and Latin America for Crafts,
Culture and Eco-tourism
www.link-all.org

• EU-funded Project implemented by EEF in
  collaboration with 17 European and Latin American
  Partners involved in local development crafts
  (affiliated to WCC), culture, eco-tourism sectors
  
• Main objective implement an Internet-based B2B
  platform capable of bringing together business
  actors, catalytic actors and local actors in
  remote Latin American communities from the
  crafts, eco-rural tourism and cultural heritage
  sector
• Achievements to date
• 10 remove local rural communities equipped and
  connected to Internet
• Number of integrated tourist-oriented offers
  identified
• Working prototype of the Link-all platform
  available
• Number of Training sessions on IT computer
  basic skills organized
• On-going talks with potential business Partners
  for sustainability of the Link-all products

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The CraftsNet Project
Networking Asian and European
Crafts intermediate organizations

www.craftsnet.org

• EU-funded Project implemented by EEF in
  collaboration with 4 Partners from Bangladesh,
  Sri Lanka, Thailand and Germany (some affiliated
  to WCC)
• Overall objective support institutional
  capacity building and reinforce networking of
  Asian intermediary organizations with European
  counterparts in the crafts sector
• Main activities
• 4 thematic workshops (IT Crafts, Marketing
  Crafts, etc)
• exchange of craftspeople
• tailored IT platform supporting the network
• Action Plan for Euro-Asia Trade Facilitation in
  the Crafts sector

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Crafts and New TechnologiesLessons learned

• Still a lot of work to be done!!!
• Very diverse levels of ICT sophistication in
  the crafts sector
• Need continuous funding
• ICT has a lot to offer in spite of difficulties
• Training is one of the key issues
• Networking is one of the most successful
  marketing strategy
• Awareness-raising needs to be based on realistic
  targets and expectations
• Concrete projects even on a small scale can lead
  to much greater results

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Conclusions
ICT is both an opportunity and a challenge for
craftspeople and related intermediate
organizations. The opportunity is to reach our
goals in the most efficient, effective and
inexpensive manner. The challenge is to embrace
this opportunity and to help the international
crafts sector to do the same. Collaboration and
Partnership is an integral part of our efforts to
achieve our ambitious goals.