AQIC and ProgExpert: an app that brings the member network to life

Illustration published by AQIC with its September 2023 announcement. It does not show the application interface.

An association draws its strength from what its members can accomplish together. But for a network to exist day to day, it also needs meeting places, accessible information and tools to maintain exchanges. In this context, AQIC announced a mobile application developed with ProgExpert on September 13, 2023.

The project is part of a member services initiative. It gives digital form to very concrete needs: keeping up with industry news, finding a resource, connecting with other businesses or discovering a professional opportunity.

A network founded on a collective ambition

Founded in 2019, the Association québécoise de l’industrie du chanvre et du cannabis states its aim to represent its sector and contribute responsibly to its development. Its presentation emphasizes dialogue, information sharing and innovation, with values of integrity, synergy and commitment.

This mission places the association at the intersection of several groups: businesses, public bodies and other stakeholders. It also provides a framework for the digital project. A tool intended for members must support the life of the network beyond distributing a simple news feed.

The need: bring useful resources closer

The member services page presents professional exchange, training, career opportunities and access to industry information, among other things. These uses are not all alike: consulting a document requires clear organization, while reaching someone depends on finding the right contact.

To understand the application, we can therefore start with its users’ intentions. One person seeks a resource useful to their team; another follows industry news; another wants to share an opportunity to collaborate. The tool must make these paths identifiable and give them a place within the same whole.

A collaboration confirmed at the 2023 launch

The September 13, 2023 announcement explicitly confirms the application’s development with ProgExpert and availability on iOS and Android. It cites several features: chat described as secure, business-to-business sharing, a careers area, documentation and a press review.

This documented scope makes it possible to tell the project’s story accurately. Information, resources and exchanges form the three main uses highlighted in the announcement. They reflect the association’s desire to enrich its members’ experience through a mobile access point.

From information to connections between people

A press review and document area make content easier to discover. A careers area introduces another dimension: people and skills. Chat and business-to-business sharing add the ability to interact with the network.

These features need more than availability: they must be understandable in context. The interface’s role is to help people recognize what they can do and find the relevant starting point. This clarity challenge appears in many association projects.

A project that supports its client’s mission

The 2023 launch is good news because it brings a collective intention to life. AQIC wants to provide services to its members; the application offers an additional way to reach them. Technology finds its place here within a project involving organization, representation and information flow.

For ProgExpert, this collaboration illustrates the work of giving usable form to a set of needs. A project of this type requires understanding the client as well as the different contexts in which its members will consult resources. This understanding gives direction to features and their presentation.

By revisiting this milestone, we want to highlight the association’s role and the importance of tools suited to the community it brings together. The mobile launch thus becomes a chapter in the network’s life, with a clear mission behind the screen.