AUGUST 2018
The August edition of Co-op News looks at how the co-operative movement can grow - but also thrive. Plus case studies from the US worker co-op movement, and how co-ops are embracing spoken word to tell the co-op story.
The August edition of Co-op News looks at how the co-operative movement can grow - but also thrive. Plus case studies from the US worker co-op movement, and how co-ops are embracing spoken word to tell the co-op story.
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SINGAPORE<br />
Singapore welcomes <strong>2018</strong> World Credit Union Conference<br />
p WOCCU chair, Brian McCrory addressing delegates (Photos: WOCCU)<br />
The World Credit Union Conference<br />
brought 1,400 delegates from 58 countries<br />
to Singapore from 15-18 July.<br />
Hosted by the World Council of Credit<br />
Unions (WOCCU) in collaboration with<br />
the Singapore National Co-operative<br />
Federation (SNCF), the event saw 50<br />
industry experts discuss advocacy,<br />
blockchain technology, cybersecurity,<br />
diversity and inclusion, fintech,<br />
leadership and emerging trends.<br />
Following a long-standing tradition,<br />
delegates took part in the international<br />
flag parade, which was followed by a<br />
performance from dancers in costumes<br />
p A dancer performs at the opening ceremony<br />
featuring Singapore’s ethnic groups –<br />
Chinese, Malay, Indian and Eurasian – in<br />
traditional and modern dance.<br />
WOCCU chair Brian McCrory told<br />
the opening ceremony: “We must<br />
be innovators, social entrepreneurs,<br />
and skilled business leaders with the<br />
ability to run efficient businesses while<br />
deeply rooted in the philosophy of the<br />
co-operative spirit. We exist to provide our<br />
members with a not-for-profit service that<br />
empowers and enables them and through<br />
this, we generate sufficient surplus to<br />
reward our members, fund our operations<br />
and create additional social dividends.”<br />
Brian Branch, WOCCU president<br />
and chief executive, talked about food<br />
security, employment, climate change,<br />
the future of the internet and financial<br />
inclusion. He said these global challenges<br />
were becoming community challenges<br />
and, as community-based institutions,<br />
credit unions had to respond.<br />
“Today’s challenge is about<br />
interconnectivity and linkage and<br />
responding to these global challenges,” he<br />
said. “We were the disruptors more than<br />
100 years ago. Now we have to learn from<br />
today’s disruptors to be able to respond to<br />
today’s challenges.”<br />
The guest of honour at the opening<br />
ceremony, Singapore’s senior minister of<br />
state for defence, Heng Chee How, told<br />
credit unions to embrace technological<br />
innovation and digital transformation to<br />
“effectively compete with other financial<br />
institutions and fintech firms to meet the<br />
demands of a new generation”.<br />
The importance of new technology was<br />
also stressed by fintech expert and writer<br />
Chris Skinner in his keynote speech.<br />
“For credit unions, helping people<br />
with technology equates to building the<br />
business around customer engagement,<br />
but digitally delivered,” he said. “Today,<br />
we are about product, platform and<br />
experience and we have to build digital<br />
20 | <strong>AUGUST</strong> <strong>2018</strong>
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