Report on ebsn results and the way forward

Transcription

1 EUROPEAN E-B USINESS SUPPORT NETWORK Report on ebsn results and the way forward European Commission

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3 Report on ebsn results and the way forward European Commission Enterprise & Industry Directorate General

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5 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION MAIN ACHIEVEMENTS OF EBSN Sharing information and best practices on e-business policies in Europe Validating existing e-business policies and agreeing on targets for future e-business policies A "one-stop-shop" for information about regional, national and European initiatives and funding possibilities for SMEs Organisation of thematic workshops to share practical experience and to identify future challenges GOOD EXAMPLES OF NATIONAL/REGIONAL POLICY INITIATIVES Austria Belgium Cyprus Denmark Finland France Germany Greece Hungary Ireland Italy Lithuania Poland Portugal Slovakia Spain Sweden United Kingdom EBSN WORKSHOPS AND THEIR MAIN RESULTS EBSN PORTAL STATISTICS General Statistics Visitors by Number of Visits Top Geographic Regions Most Active Countries Summary of Activity for Report Period WHAT FUTURE FOR EBSN? New thematic areas to be explored by ebsn Improving the operation of ebsn Improving the current operations of ebsn Extending ebsn outreach:...70 ANNEX 1: QUESTIONNAIRE ON THE MAIN ACHIEVEMENTS AND THE FUTURE OF EBSN...72

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7 Introduction The European e-business Support Network for SMEs (ebsn) was established in 2003 by the European Commission, in response to high-level political focus on the important role of ICTs in boosting the competitiveness of the overall EU economy. Particular attention has been paid to the role of SMEs, as well as to how to improve the effectiveness of public SME policies to foster their competitiveness by promoting the productive use of ICTs. The Go Digital initiative 1 had clearly demonstrated the increased interest of SMEs in the opportunities offered by e-business but also highlighted the existing barriers in the uptake of e-business by SMEs. With the objective of better assisting SMEs in increasing their involvement in e-business, many efficient policies have been developed at national, regional or local level. Several of these e-business policies have been effectively implemented with concrete results, notably for SMEs. 2 However, their efficiency could be further enhanced by learning from each other and sharing best practices and information. On 6 June 2002, the Industry Council 3 notably invited the Member States and the Commission to intensify dialogue, exchange experience regularly, identify specific goals for e-business policies and share best practices, as well as to foster measures to encourage the use of ICT especially by SMEs in all business processes and in those sectors which currently do not make full use of them, including traditional sectors; In response, the eeurope 2005 Action Plan, as adopted by the Commission on 28 May 2002 and endorsed by the European Summit in Seville on 21 June 2002, foresaw the establishment of "a European e-business support network (ebsn), federating existing European, national and regional players in this field with a view to strengthening and co-ordinating actions in support of SMEs in the field of e-business." On this basis the European Commission established ebsn and invited e-business experts representing various ebusiness policy initiatives in Europe to join the network and to share experience and good practice in support of e-business for SMEs. As part of enterprise policy, ebsn is meant to be a tool to improve co-operation among existing e-business policy initiatives in Europe and to better use synergies between them. The objectives of ebsn are: To bring together decision-makers in the field of e-business, to share information, to discuss strategic policy orientation; To validate existing e-business policies and to agree on targets for future e-business policies; To provide a "one-stop-shop" for information about regional, national and European e-business initiatives and funding possibilities for SMEs; To organise special meetings of governmental e-business experts to share practical experience and to identify future challenges. EBSN is open to voluntary participation by all policy-related initiatives in support of e-business for SMEs in the Member States, the Acceding and Candidate Countries and the EEA States, which are willing to share experience and information. Members of this network are: 1 Commission Communication, Helping SMEs Go Digital, COM(2001)136, 13 March Benchmarking study on national and regional policies in support of e-business for SMEs, Final Report of the E-business Policy Group, 28 June Conclusions of the Industry Council 9938/02, of 6 June pdf 6/72

8 E-business experts from public administrations in EU Member States, the EU acceding and candidate countries, the EEA countries and the European Commission; Representatives of European, national and regional initiatives, which provide support to SMEs with regard to the take-up of ICT and e-business (i.e. SMEs support networks, EICs, public-private partnerships, etc.). Only initiatives stemming from public policies, i.e. supported by public authorities, either directly or indirectly through public-private partnerships, are eligible to participate in the European e-business support network. This is motivated by the consideration that this network is primarily meant to inform policy-makers about other successful initiatives in the area of ICT and e- Business promotion and eventually to influence policy making in this field. Academics, representatives of the business community and International organisations with special interest on policies in support of e-business for SMEs. A standing invitation for expression of interest to join ebsn is available on the ebsn portal ( ebsn is structured as follows: A Steering Group, consisting of representatives of the Commission, the participating countries, academics and the business community. The role of the Steering Group is to take strategic decisions on the objectives and modus operandi of the network, the practical arrangements to foster cooperation and to set the policy directions and priorities for action. The virtual network, namely the ebsn Portal ( linking all identified stakeholders and initiatives, and providing information, statistical data, best business practice, etc. This virtual network has been established and managed by the Commission services (DG Enterprise), with the technical assistance of a contractor. 2-3 thematic workshops per year, aiming at bringing together interested stakeholders to deepen the dialogue on specific issues of common interest. The workshops provide the opportunity for in-depth analysis of good policy practices, with a view to learning lessons from successful initiatives and to setting realistic targets for future policies in this area. The workshops are hosted and organised by ebsn members. On 27 March 2003, the Commission adopted a Communication on Adapting e-business policies in a changing environment, emphasising the shift in the main policy challenge from getting SMEs connected to the Internet to the effective and productive integration of ICTs into business processes (e-business). Furthermore, this Communication described priorities and identified nine areas for future actions in order to further stimulate the transition towards the digital economy (see chart below). 7/72

9 Framework for SME specific e-business policies Challenges and objectives Overall challenge To stimulate and supportsmes in the adoption of e-business Challenge 1 To improve managerial understanding and skills for e-business Challenge 2 To improve the availability of e-business solutions for SMEs Challenge 3 To promote effective participation of SMEs in business networks and electronic marketplaces T o Objective 1.1. improve knowledge transfer to SMEs Objective 2.1. To leverage the results of research one-business technologies Objective 3.1. To promote participation of SMEs in B2B e-marketplaces Objective 1.2. To promote and disseminate good e- business practice Objective 2.2. To promote regional clusters between ICT service providers and SMEs Objective 3.2. To promote participation of SMEs in electronic public procurement Objective 1.3. To enhance e-business skills for SMEs Objective 2.3. To promote e-business interoperability through national testbeds Objective 3.3. To promote virtual cooperative SME networks In the Council Conclusions of 13 May 2003, the Competitiveness Council welcoming this Communication, underlined, the need to assist SMEs, in particular, to identify e-business opportunities and to implement successfully their transformation towards e-business, and invited Member States and Acceding Countries, "to actively engage in the European e-business Support Network for SMEs (ebsn)". The ebsn represents policies from the entire spectrum of this framework. Apparently, not all Member States, candidate countries or EEA States may face all of these policy challenges at the same time or in the same manner. This policy framework, however, is facilitating the re-orientation of e-business policies, thus better responding to the changing needs of enterprises. The political context of ebsn remains valid nowadays more so than ever: the Communication on fostering structural change in an enlarged Europe 4 stresses that the successful integration of ICT in all aspects of production and business processes is a key factor to productivity growth which, in turn, determines economic development. This validates the need for co-ordinated policies and actions in support of the productive use of ICTs by European enterprises, in particular SMEs. This report is meant to take stock of the progress made so far with regards to the operations and achievements of ebsn. It is drafted on the basis of ebsn activities over the past two and a half years and is supported by the results of an on-line questionnaire addressed to ebsn members, as well as by the stimulating discussions in the ebsn session Networking ebusiness Policy-makers in Europe: achievements and future challenges in the context of the conference ebusiness: The Way Forward, organised by the European Commission in Cambridge, 5-6 December The on-line questionnaire was addressed to ebsn members and aimed at collecting detailed information on the concrete benefits ebsn members experienced through their participation in the network, at learning more about the synergies and cross-fertilisation among policy initiatives, as well as at assessing the functionality of ebsn and the main expectations for future improvements (Annex 1). 4 Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament on Fostering Structural Change: an Industrial Policy for an enlarged Europe, COM(2004) 274 final, 20 April /72

10 Main Achievements of ebsn Sharing information and best practices on e-business policies in Europe The main objective of ebsn is to bring together decision-makers in the field of e-business, to share information and to discuss strategic policy orientation. Since its establishment by the European Commission, in 2003, the ebusiness Support Network for SMEs (ebsn) has grown into a sound policy network, bringing together 175 representatives of public policies or privatepublic partnerships in support of the promotion of e-business practices to SMEs, from 29 countries in Europe. The balance between national initiatives (representing 55% of the members) and regional (representing 45% of the members) initiatives is satisfactory, but some further efforts need to be made in order to improve the participation of the new Member States and Candidate Countries (only 10% of the current ebsn members). The ebsn has now reached a level of maturity which allows its members to further deepen their information exchanges into concrete policy exchanges and joint policy initiatives. The ebsn members declare themselves very satisfied with networking and gathering valuable information on policy developments in Europe in the area of e-business through their participation in ebsn and unanimously call for the continuation and further strengthening of the Network. Firstly and most importantly, the key political messages provided by ebsn have contributed to the emergence of innovative cooperation between government, the business community and academia. The ebsn may be viewed as the direction generator, motivator and action stimulator, both at European, national and regional/local level. It has contributed to a shift in the focus of public policies from more generic actions such as promoting Internet access and acquisition of technical infrastructure by SMEs, to specific actions aimed at helping business to successfully re-design their business processes with a view to integrating ICTs as part of their overall business strategy. The ebsn has also helped to draw the attention of the ICT suppliers and software development community on the needs of SMEs and to engage them in more collaborative e-business solutions development schemes. Many policy initiatives, European or national, have become widely known through the ebsn initiative and have inspired others, for example: The recent French TIC-PME2010 initiative launched by the French Ministry of Economy, whose purpose was to boost the investment of SMEs in enhanced ICTs and to harmonise the internal processes in specific sectors of the economy (i.e. aeronautics, transport, tourism, agriculture, etc.), was inspired by the main political messages disseminated through ebsn: the underperformance of the EU economy s competitiveness is linked to its underinvestment in ICTs, and, therefore, policy measures should further support targeted, strategic investments in the promotion of sectoral e-initiatives that would facilitate the integration of ICTs into industrial and service processes. In preparation of the "etic" Label, a Belgian initiative launched last year, policy experts had in-depth discussions about how to set-up and manage an accreditation scheme for e-business advisors under the ebsn umbrella. As a result, the etic Label is a professional code of ethics and practice supported by local and national professional federations and associations, which has now been signed by more than 150 Belgian specialist undertakings. ebsn involvement helped the National Business-to-Business Centre, a West Midlands Region SME e-adoption Programme, to shape its current activities as well as its next phase of development from April 06-March 08. For example, learning exchanges have been initiated with the team of the MFG Baden- Wurttemberg ebigo.de initiative, on identification of SME Best Practice and e-business Portal, exchanges that are expected to be mutually beneficial in helping both parties to further develop their current projects. 9/72

11 The Portuguese e-business Observatory initiative, ordered by the national telecommunication body regulator ANACOM, which is also in charge of e-business framework, analysed the difficulties and benefits faced by Portuguese SMEs in adopting e-business practices. This Observatory involved nearly SMEs and includes recommendations based on examples of policy initiatives that have been submitted to a benchmarking analysis through ebsn and presented at different ebsn workshops. Similarly, another Portuguese initiative, the Internationalisation of SMEs in the External Electronic Markets, to be launched by the Ministry of Economy, is a training and support campaign for SMEs on the e-methods to be used in international markets, the techniques to reach foreign markets and the appropriated marketplaces to do e-business. This initiative, which represents a fundamental tool to leverage the participation of SME in the international markets, adopted many recommendations and techniques from the case-studies of good e-business policies as analysed by the ebsn benchmarking study of national and regional e-business policies. The Future of e-business Trends, Driving Forces and Impacts in Portugal, is a worldwide unique training course for enterprise managers, with the objective of helping them analyse the impact of ICTs on the development of their business, as well as to inform them about consumer and market organisation trends in the e-business area. The training material is based on case studies and best practices from the ebsn network, as well as other complementary EU projects, namely the ELEAS project on legal issues in e-business. This initiative was implemented with great success in Germany, Hungary, Denmark and Portugal and ebsn can further promote the replication of this innovative action in other European regions. The ebusiness in the Region of Santarem initiative, in Portugal, was modelled along the design and specifications of the Digital Regions project of which it formed part. However, the information available about other experiences gained from ebsn helped to validate the technological choices as well as to devise follow-up projects. Numerous ideas for initiatives and events are reported to be generated as by-products of the ebsn workshops. For example in Slovenia, the Bled econference panels in 2004 and 2005, and the Business & Government Executives meetings in , were influenced by the activities and main thematic priorities of ebsn. Although these are only intangible benefits through ebsn, they undoubtedly share an important part of ebsn merits. Moreover, ebsn is a dynamic synergies generator, so needed in the ebusiness environment, where the borders of branches (industries, sectors) have to be removed. It offers the opportunity for bilateral or multilateral synergies supported or established by ebsn: The AchatVille initiative in France was started in Grenoble in Its goal is to raise the awareness of SMEs (local retailers) about the benefits in using ebusiness tools. Following its labelling by the European Commission as a European good practice in 2002, the French Ministry of Economy, Finances and Industry (MINEFI) granted further financial support to the Assembly of the French Chambers of Commerce and Industry to facilitate synergies between the Chamber of Commerce in Grenoble and other CCI in France, with a view to spreading this successful policy and to further developing the Achatville model. As a result, 20 towns are in the network now and others have expressed their intention to join in the near future. All partners and final clients are impressed to know that the European Commission has recognised this initiative, a fact that created a virtuous circle attracting more stakeholders into the programme. The Finland & Slovenia "einvoicing LivingLab initiative, is a successful bilateral partnership, under the ebsn umbrella, in the field of e-business. Promoting einvoicing by SMEs, a very practical and interesting e- Business initiative of a Finnish regional policy in South Karelia was successfully transferred to Slovenia proving that transferability of best practices in e-business is feasible. This resulted in a Slovenian e-invoicing national initiative, which very quickly triggered a new series of cross-border joint policy initiatives, between Slovenia, Italy, Croatia, Hungary and Austria. In parallel, the Finnish regional einvoicing initiative expanded into cross-border exchanges with Sweden and Denmark. 10/72

12 During 2005 ebsn decided to focus policy exchanges and actions on the following four e-business-related policy priorities: e-invoicing/e-procurement: starting from a regional policy initiative in South Karelia, in Finland aiming to promote the use of einvoices among the SMEs of the region, with concrete targets and expected administrative cost savings, einvoicing became a key policy issue and inspired the generation of relevant pilot initiatives in Slovenia, Italy, Croatia, Hungary, Austria, Sweden and Denmark. There are numerous ongoing activities and interesting perspectives for the future, while work needs to be continued in relation to standardisation and piloting cross-border transactions within the Single market in particular. Sector-specific policy approaches: sectoral initiatives can potentially be more efficient than broader generic strategies to promote SME uptake of e-business. On-going national and regional sectoral e-business policy initiatives promote business opportunities and the creation of partnership networks within individual sectors at regional level. They produce more sector-specific solutions, training and instructions to increase skills within individual sectors. They usually support sectors that are lagging behind in terms of e-business readiness, or that national governments recognise as having potential to add value to the economies of their countries. They allow sharing of experiences and information at sectoral and cross-sectoral level. Although some Member States have realised the importance of sectoral policy approaches in promoting e-business for SMEs, it seems that there is not sufficient knowledge and assessment of those policies and other privatepublic partnerships that may exist in this field. Therefore, it seems appropriate to launch a benchmarking study to analyse and assess existing sectoral e-business policy initiatives. Improving e-business solutions availability for SMEs and e-business for micro-enterprises: SMEs have different needs with respect to ICT and e-business applications compared to large companies. The difficulty that they may have in recruiting ICT professionals, as suggested by the e-business w@tch results, as well as the sometimes limited budget they can dedicate to ICT-related purchases, reinforce the importance of finding integrated and interoperable e-business applications. In the first phase of ebsn ( ), a lack of affordable ICT solutions adapted to the needs of micro, small and medium sized enterprises was observed. Therefore, Member States and the Commission alike took actions to enhance collaboration between ICT suppliers and SMEs. However, the ICT market has evolved and ICT suppliers increasingly focus their attention on SMEs, by offering adapted solutions and services. As a result, at the latest ebsn workshop in Cambridge, in December 2005, the need for improving the availability of e-business solutions for SMEs, through relevant policy actions at EU level, seemed no more valid. What is still missing, though, is better marketing and commercialisation of the available solutions, as well as awareness about their characteristics and mapping them to specific SME business processes and needs. In addition, in 2005 the Enterprise and Industry Directorate General launched a number of specific actions in order to further support the work of ebsn, through the following calls for grants and studies: A study to assess the impact of ten (10) national or regional e-business policies, members of ebsn, to the beneficiaries SMEs, as well as to the overall economy. The policy initiatives that were assessed have been selected by the ebsn Steering Group, mostly among the 19 examples of good e-business policy practices, identified by the benchmarking study of national and regional policies in support of e-business for SMEs. The study is to be completed in January 2006 and the impact assessment of these policies, namely the easkel (FN), Opportunity Wales (UK), AchatVille (FR), Go on-line (GR), SVEA (SW), e-commerce Leveraging Centre Galicia (SP), PRISM II (IR), Shortcut to e-business (DN), South Karelia einvoicing initiative (FN), VerDI (NO) will be available on the ebsn portal. a call for grants in order to Support best practice exchange of e-business policies for SMEs, whose objective is to support the exchange of e-business policies and improve synergies between e-business policy stakeholders in the EU. a call for grants on Dissemination of good e-business practices with the objective of identifying and promoting selected good e-business case studies among European enterprises, in particular SMEs. 11/72

13 a call for grants on Enhancing cooperation between SMEs and ICT suppliers, aiming at promoting closer collaboration and mutual understanding between ICT suppliers and SMEs with a view to improving the availability of e-business solutions adapted to the needs of SMEs. a call for grants on Train the trainer: educating independent business advisors, whose objective is to promote world-class training for independent e-business advisors through SME support networks. A number of projects will be supported through the aforementioned calls and are expected to deliver results in the second half of Validating existing e-business policies and agreeing on targets for future e-business policies The second ebsn objective is to validate current e-business policies, as well as to lead the process of having the EU Member States setting SMART targets for their e-business policies for SMEs. By offering EU-wide visibility at expert-level to its members, be it public policy initiatives or private-public partnerships, and encouraging open dialogue and the exchange of views and perceptions on policy efficiency, mostly through its virtual network, publications and focused workshops, ebsn provides a sound platform for presentation and validation of relevant e-business policies and assessment of their results. The debate on setting targets for e-business Policies was launched with the first ebsn workshop in Athens, in January A broad consensus has been achieved among all Member State representative on the need to set concrete, measurable, quantitative targets for e-business policies, provided that Member States can select those targets that comply with their own policy priorities. Only by setting SMART targets at national level, would monitoring and assessment of the e-business activities, their output and impact be feasible in the near future. In the context of the Lisbon Strategy, an open process of voluntary policy co-ordination among the Member States has been established with the view to setting quantitative targets at national level and monitoring achievements. As part of this process, a proposal for a policy framework and potential quantitative targets for e-business policies for SMEs has been discussed. Representatives from the business community welcomed this prospect and stressed the importance of the participation of all Member States in this process. It was made clear that the success of this initiative will depend on the willingness and strong commitment of the Member States to setting their own targets in the context of the suggested policy framework and to closely monitoring achievements. The target-setting process proceeded with the second ebsn workshop on Good targets for ebusiness policies in Brussels, May 2003, where certain Member States and acceding country representatives presented their own programmes, priorities and examples of SMART targets for specific e-business policies for SMEs. The analysis of a Finnish regional policy in South Karelia attracted great interest by spotting e-invoicing as the emerging major e-business application in the future, expected to save administrative costs of 2 billion Euro in this region only, and setting very concrete and realistic targets for its promotion among SMEs. In this context, it was suggested that public authorities should set quantitative targets regarding the use of e-invoices by SMEs and should analyse the cost of non-implementation for SMEs, as well as the social side-effects. However, besides the great consensus on the need to improve the efficiency of e-business policies by setting SMART targets and measuring achievements, most Member States did not feel ready to make commitments in this direction, at that moment, and preferred to use ebsn as a platform for knowledge exchange and validation of their e-business policies. The necessity and value of setting clear, realistic and measurable targets for e-business policies for SMEs at national level, was reiterated at the latest ebsn workshop in Cambridge, December 2005, as an important step towards concrete achievements: There is no better way of achieving things than having them measured. Therefore, a huge potential in e-business policy improvement, through national target-setting and open policy co-ordination, still remains to be exploited. 12/72

14 A "one-stop-shop" for information about regional, national and European initiatives and funding possibilities for SMEs With regards to the third ebsn objective, namely to provide a "one-stop-shop" for information about regional, national and European initiatives and funding possibilities for SMEs, the ebsn portal is fully operational in terms of content and functionality. The key objective of the portal is to act as the backbone of ebsn, an electronic communication platform for sharing information and enabling dialogue between ebsn members. The portal includes a section open to the general public, including SMEs, together with an area with restricted access for ebsn members. The portal provides information for the following themes: ebsn aims and structure; Presentation of and links to regional, national and European ebsn members; E-business policy initiatives at European and national/regional level; Workshop results and presentations; Articles and background documents; Statistical data and surveys in relation to the adoption of e-business among European SMEs. It includes statistics at European level from Eurostat and also statistics at national and regional level; Examples of best practices; News / Announcements; Quarterly BSN newsletters Moreover, the ebsn portal provides useful links to relevant European information platforms such as e-business Watch, e-business Legal Portal (ELEAS) or the B2B marketplaces portal. In addition, the ebsn portal contains a forums section, where each ebsn member can share views and information with other members. Four active forums, reflecting the four thematic priorities of ebsn for 2005, are currently active at the ebsn portal: Sector-specific approaches: its objective is to identify which sectors are most promising, whether sectoral policy initiatives are more efficient than others, with a view to making recommendations on potential crosssectoral initiatives. E-business for micro-enterprises: its objective is to discuss which issues are at stake when talking about e-business for micro-enterprises, what policies have already been devised in this field and what should be the way forward. Improving e-business solution availability for SMEs: its objective is to discuss/review the needs of SMEs, to identify good policy practices in helping SMEs finding appropriate solutions and to recommend new policy actions at European, national and/or regional level. e-invoicing/e-procurement: its objective is to identify public policies and public-private partnerships that aim at further promoting the efficient usage of e-procurement and e-invoicing in SMEs. Moreover, there is another active forum on: e-business self-assessment tools and training toolkits: this forum aims at collecting links and descriptions to available material and tools like e-maturity self-assessment tools. Finally, the ebsn portal has a chat-room area where ebsn members can organise on-line discussions on various issues. 13/72

15 Organisation of thematic workshops to share practical experience and to identify future challenges With a view to facilitating the diffusion and validation of good examples of e-business policies and to encourage cross-border co-operation among ebsn members, eight ebsn thematic workshops were organised in the period A broad range of topics were discussed, including, inter alia, quantitative targets for e- Business policies, articulation between national, regional and sectoral e-business policies, the extension of ebsn to new Member States, strategies for efficiently training SMEs in the field of e-business and how to improve the availability of e-business solutions for SMEs. The latest ebsn workshop in Cambridge, in December 2005, aimed at taking stock of the main policy developments and achievements of ebsn so far, as well as validating the options on future policy priorities. A full list of ebsn workshops with links to their results is annexed to this report (Annex 2). These workshops notably demonstrated that new policy priorities set by many Member States, regions, business associations or business support organisations reflect the shift of attention from general promotion of the use of e-business tools to facilitating business re-engineering by the efficient use of ICT. Moreover, the need for continuously overhauling on-going policies and initiatives and re-focusing objectives in a fast changing e-business environment has been underlined by many ebsn members. Special attention to startup SMEs has been identified as an important potential priority. Beyond the consensus on the catalytic role for competitiveness of the efficient use of e-business, it has also been largely recognised that managerial innovation and entrepreneurial spirit are as important as technological breakthroughs. More and more, the concept of business process innovation is becoming an intrinsic part of e-business; in fact business process innovation is the keyword for the development of new e-business strategies and models. Therefore, coordination between the relevant policy instruments, for instance through integrated support programmes has clearly emerged as necessary during the ebsn workshops. The importance of the sectoral approach to e-business promotion has also been largely confirmed. In particular, several e-business sector-specific initiatives have been presented and discussed in sectors as diverse as wine, aerospace and defence, or textiles. A categorisation of sectors regarding their e- Business usage has even been devised: e-champions (like the ICT sector), e-intensive sectors (like banking / leasing or the media & printing sectors), e-specific sectors (like tourism or chemical industries) and late e- adopters (like metal products industries or health and social services). Implementing an e-business solution in a company typically requires the selection and set-up of the appropriate ICT infrastructure (network, hardware, software) as well as getting the right advice to align the technical solution with the business objectives pursued. SMEs usually need guidance and business consultancy services in order to properly transform their business processes and to efficiently integrate ICTs. This is a domain where local SME support organisations can bring value, as independent advisors, trusted by the local SMEs. Interesting practices have been discussed under the ebsn umbrella, for instance, how to promote world-class training for independent e-business advisors through SME support networks and business support organisations, how to set-up and manage an accreditation scheme for e-business advisors in order to increase SMEs trust and confidence in their ICT partner and, also, how to bring together SMEs and local ICT suppliers in order to improve mutual understanding and eventually more adapted e-business solutions for SMEs. All these seem to be domains where independent and trusted SME support organisations have a crucial role to play. The Commission services have followed-up these concepts by launching specific support actions, as described in section 2.1 above. 14/72

16 Good examples of national/regional policy initiatives Austria Title Responsible organisation Contact details Description Objectives Austrian e-commerce trust mark Austrian Economic Chamber Name Address Website Dr. Gerhard Laga Wiedner Hauptstraße 63,1045 Vienna The Austrian e-commerce trust mark was developed in the context of the Internet Ombudsman project, another best practice model, by experts from the public sector, the social partners, organisations for consumer protection and the chamber of commerce. The Austrian e-commerce trust mark was the first label of this kind within the whole European Union. It is granted after strict examination and only to those companies that show customer friendliness above the legal minimum standard and a serious way of carrying out orders. The trust mark, as part of the EU-wide EURO-LABEL System for safe online shopping, is officially recognised by organisations for consumer protection, the public sector and the economic sector. The Austrian e-commerce trust mark has initiated Euro-Label and was a founding member of the Euro-Label trust mark system ( After strict inspection, the trust mark is awarded to enterprises which distinguish themselves by customer-friendliness beyond the minimum standard and sound conduct of business. The Austrian trust mark organisation performs the initial examination. At least once a year it checks those websites which have already been accredited with the trust mark, to ensure continuous examination. Where a consumer complains about a violation of the European Code of Conduct, an additional examination may take place. Thereafter problems will be directed to a national Alternative Dispute Resolution system or to an international Alternative Dispute Resolution mechanism in the case of a cross-border transaction. The Austrian trust mark provides the owner of Online-Shops with information and advice on how to efficiently build a legally unobjectionable website. Up-to-date news from the field of e-commerce and general information regarding security on the Internet can be obtained from the website of the Euro-Label organisation. As an additional service the owners of certified websites will immediately be informed about relevant changes in the law. On-line shop owners receive professional assistance in designing their websites. This is to encourage a larger number of enterprises to sell their products via the Internet. Furthermore, the Austrian e-commerce trust mark aims to give on-line customers the (legal) certainty that they are dealing with a fair on-line product supplier, which will also boost e- Commerce in terms of quality and trustworthiness. The objectives of the Austrian e- Commerce trust mark (Euro-Label Austria) are: - to immediately indicate the seriousness of a website at first sight - to increase consumer trust, increase turnover for certified shops and thereby safeguard jobs, ensure legal certainty for shop-owners by intensive information in the certification process - to increase marketing for the certified companies by press articles, TV spots, speeches and more. - to promote certified companies at national fairs ( and support them via annual reviews, information on new or changed e-commerce laws. 15/72

17 Title Responsible organisation Contact details Description Objectives EC Austria EC Austria Name Address Website Christian Czaak Gonzagagasse 12/12, Vienna ECAustria an interactive information service & organisational platform for the purpose of improving the flow of information between SMEs by setting up a network of existing initiatives and with direct access to advice and support. The potential for e-business is still enormous, both in co-ordinating business processes with customers and suppliers and in connection with Internet marketplaces. Large companies increasingly do business over the Internet and small and medium-sized enterprises often act as suppliers. Thus, entering e- Business becomes a key factor for their success in the market. To further increase e-business awareness in Austria the ECAustria Commerce initiative is intended to enhance the Austrian economy's general knowledge and to offer direct support and solutions for specific concerns of the individual industries. The main focus as regards content is to provide industry-specific case studies of e-business projects that have already been implemented, to offer a direct inter-active possibility to contact the persons who implemented the projects, both on the part of companies and providers To create a platform where newcomers, advanced users and experts will find all relevant information and services regarding e-business in a clear and easily comprehensible form. Title Responsible organisation Contact details Description e-business Service-package for SMEs Euro Info Centre Vienna Name Address Dagmar Tomschitz Rathausplatz 2, Vienna tomschitz@wwff.gv.at Website Together with Vienna Communications, the Vienna Business Agency has conducted an analysis to find out about the current situation and the need for e-business applications among SMEs in the Vienna area. On the basis of this analysis a customised service package has been designed and offered to SMEs. Information on this topic is provided via mailings, a hotline or during events and there is also the possibility for face-to-face meetings with experts in the field of e-business. In order to ensure the transfer of knowhow in the field of e-business, consulting services to SMEs are provided for free. SMEs learn which strategies to pursue in e-commerce, but also the basics of Internet-usage, like which hardware and software to buy, how to get connected to the Internet and which aspects to observe, for example web design, marketing, security, payment and logistics, to name but a few. All this information can also be found on an online-platform called "e-business- InfoCenter" ( which was established by the Vienna Business Agency and Vienna Communications. Furthermore, the Vienna Business Agency has set up a programme for the financial support of local SMEs, which is cofunded by financing from the European Structural Funds. This programme, called "ZAK 2/20" (ZuschussAktion 2/20) should enable SMEs to gain access to new media and technology. In the context of this "e-business Service Package", the "ZAK 2/20" action will support investments in hardware and software and training activities in the field of e-business with a non-repayable subsidy of up to 20% of the total cost. 16/72

18 Objectives SMEs are confronted with many questions concerning the Internet and e-commerce. Therefore competent help is needed to provide customised advice and information and to create an environment of trust. The overall objective of this project is to create awareness among SMEs on how to make efficient use of new technologies in terms of marketing, communication with customers and suppliers, etc. and on the importance of these new media for the enterprises' economic development. In addition, the project promotes business location and improves the situation in the job market in the target area. 17/72

19 Belgium Title Responsible organisation Contact details Description Objectives e-business Policy for Textile and Clothing SMEs EURATEX European Apparel and Textile Organisation Name Deborah Santus Roosen Address 24, Rue Montoyer, Bruxelles Website EURATEX, the European Textile and Clothing Organisation ( strongly supports the adoption of e-business by European SMEs in its industry and therefore in the past it has led important projects such as e-tailor, e- TCluster, Fashion-On-Line, Tex-Spin, Tex-Weave and Tex-Map which all represent important stepping stones towards a well-defined T/C e-business policy. Although e-business would be essential to speed up information flows along the Textile/Clothing value chain, the industry is still lagging behind full adoption of these technologies when compared to other manufacturing sectors in Europe. The cause of such delay in the adoption of homogeneous e-solutions is due to the polymorphic structure of the industry which translates into the existence of regional clusters which use traditional means of communications such as fax, telephone and ordinary mail rather than internal business processes automation, procurement and supply chain integration, connectivity of enterprise and electronic means of conducting marketing campaigns and sales. The purpose of the e-business Policy for Textile and Clothing SMEs is to share experience and information material on current e-business initiatives and policy impacts at local, European, sectoral and cross-sectoral level in order to identify gaps and strengths in the field of e-business which might help both industry stakeholders and policy-makers in defining their future strategies. The objectives of the e-business policy initiative for Textile/Clothing SMEs are: - To strengthen T/C SME awareness on the potential of e-business in the EU25 and acceding countries - To promote best practices and the results of e-business projects undertaken by the T/C Industry at local, regional and national level while reinforcing their links - To monitor developments, inform members and support e-business policies that might help T/C SMEs develop in the SEEM - To foster the creation of cross-sectoral synergies in e-business in order to make T/C SMEs more competitive in the global environment 18/72

20 Cyprus Title Responsible organisation Contact details Description Objectives E-learning management system Cyprus Productivity Centre (CPC) Name Nikos Philippou Address Cyprus Productivity Centre P.O. Box Nicosia Website The system is expected to provide additional support to traditional training programmes and to enable the CPC to design and operate e-learning training programmes which will be tailored in order to meet the specific needs of the- Business community in Cyprus. At the initial stage of its operation, the system will provide the opportunity to all interested employees from SMEs to participate, free of charge, in an e-learning course. This specific course will provide training support to SMEs in order to encourage e-business initiatives. Some of the topics to be offered by this specific course will be: - Internet awareness - Internet Applications and Technologies - E-Commerce Applications - Web site Design and Development - Customer-Related Business Processes - Intranet Design. The aim of the programme is to support Cypriot SMEs through the concept of life-long learning. 19/72