Situation: The opportunity exists to help small, agricultural businesses in the U.S. dramatically increase their exports. This opportunity can be realized through the design, development and operation of an Agricultural Trade Network (ATN) that coordinates the activities and communication between all domestic and overseas stakeholders involved in the export/import process. Project Purpose: Design an automated agricultural trade network to support all stakeholders in the export/import process and increase small business exports. OBJECTIVES: The opportunity exists to help small, agricultural businesses in the U.S. dramatically increase their exports. This opportunity can be realized through the design, development and operation of an Agricultural Trade Network (ATN) that coordinates the activities and communication between all domestic and overseas stakeholders involved in the export/import process. FSC, Inc. has already conducted research to define the functions/features that should be contained in the ATN. Based upon this research we expect the ATN will succeed if: (1) it supports the introduction of buyer and seller; (2) it avoids the sales process once buyer and seller have met and begun the marketing/sales process; (3) it leverages the on the ground expertise of USDA personnel located at ATOs overseas; (4) it is supported with a Google-like search capability to help buyers find sellers; (5) it provides buyer and trade alerts; and (6) it supports users with low-speed or non-existent internet connections.The objective of this project is to: (1) confirm, refine and expand ATN functions/features; (2) complete the design of the ATN; and (3) prepare a build sequence for the ATN. Research activities will be conducted following IBMs Joint Application Design (JAD) methodology for the design of complex information systems. APPROACH: The Joint Application Design (JAD) methodology will be used to plan, conduct and document the stakeholder focus group meetings conducted in tasks 3 through 6. JAD is a methodology that accelerates the design of computer applications. JAD was developed by IBM in 1977 and has been proven successful on hundreds of software projects. The technical approach for this effort consists of the following tasks: Task 1 - Document system design constraints. Task 2 - Schedule Joint Application Design sessions with each stakeholder group. Task 3 - Conduct Joint Application Design session with the Importer stakeholder group. Task 4 - Conduct Joint Application Design session with the Exporter stakeholder group. Task 5 - Conduct Joint Application Design session with the USDA stakeholder group. Task 6 - Conduct Joint Application Design session with the NASDA and States Department of Agriculture stakeholder group. Task 7 - Confirm technical platform for the Agricultural Trade Network (ATN). Task 8 - Determine preferred build sequence for the ATN
