opinion
If they are to thrive in the 21st century, co-operatives and credit unions will have to get moving as fast as anyone else on the “Information Highway.”
The world of “cyberspace,” the Internet and other computer communications services, will increasingly become an electronic meeting place for consumers of all types.
Not only that, but there will be an increasing amount of business conducted this way as consumers search the Internet for everything from mortgages to music.
The U.S. co-operative movement is already gearing up to take advantage of this communications revolution.
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A recent issue of the Cooperative Business Journal, published by the National Cooperative Business Association, describes how U.S. co-ops are starting to work together to create an electronic mall, “featuring one-stop access by consumers to healthcare, insurance, food, banking and other essential products and services – all offered exclusively by cooperative businesses.”
The Journal also notes that many U.S. co-ops have set up “home pages” on the Internet as part of their traditional mission to provide public education about co-operative principles.
Creating a national (possibly continental?) co-op “shopping centre” is a logical next step – so logical, in fact that co-ops will have to move very rapidly to stay ahead of their competitors. Some California consumers can already order pizzas via Internet – will “Wal-Mart Online” be next?
While most of the action to date has been in the U.S., Canadian co-ops cannot afford to be complacent. The time it takes for new technology to spread across the border is getting shorter.
Some co-op and credit union leaders may well be apprehensive about moving into this new type of communications, with its fast-changing technology and vague potential benefits. But sooner or later such a move will be essential, and it will be much more difficult if a start is delayed.
Moreover, in the brave new cyberspace world, the co-op movement will have some major advantages.
Co-ops’ strengths in member service, member ownership and democratic control are naturally suited to the interactive world of the Internet. Members of co-ops who use the Internet should have a natural predisposition to linking to their organization.
In a glitzy electronic world where so many organizations are trying to sell something, co-ops can have a unique identity and credibility as they offer membership control and education in co-operative principles.
First, however, a lot more co-ops are going to have to turn on a lot more computer modems.
