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Atelier : Atelier 4: "The Observatory, or the tools necessary to monitor development of Internet at SME's
INTERVENANT : Richard Sitruk
Practical example
of project to increase awareness on e-commerce/internet and its use by
SME's through case studies
The present presentation will highlight the recent achievement of a Phase 1 project of the three phases of the Electronic Commerce Awareness activity, sponsored by the European Commission DG III/B under the ECOM initiatives.
The objective of the present project is to provide an inventory of best practices in electronic commerce, with particular attention to the needs of SMEs. The inventory will cover the state of the art, available market solutions, successful implementations of standards and specifications, and will provide a step-by-step practical guidance in the field of electronic commerce. While there is an enormous amount of existing information on electronic commerce, it is recognised that there is a real gap to be filled in giving simplified awareness information on how to proceed to implementation without becoming encumbered with large quantities of complex detail and technology.
The major deliverable is a WEB site which is now open to SME's and the industry at large. I will give the appropriate information during my presentation.
The inventory is intended to encourage the wider uptake of electronic commerce. It is envisaged to be of practical relevance and use to the target users. It is not meant to be a theoretical exercise. It will also help identifying get feedback from SME's on that matter and hence understand better how to monitor development of Internet and e-commerce by SME's
The project is on its phase 1 will be ended by March. The project will welcome input from SME's or organisations who could input into the project to improve the quality and the relevance of the deliverables. A proposal for next phase is being worked out by ISSS .
The first public meeting took place in January 13, and the feeback received was very positive, and already a number of European SME's have decided to input formally into the project. The meeting was generally considered to be successful. There were about 90 participants, many of whom made an active contribution to the discussions.
A leaflet concerning the project will be distributed and a short presentation will be made during the meeting.
It is too early to draw conclusions
on the impact of such a project, but the feedback received showed that
this is the right approach to follow to ensure good understanding and use
of best practices by SME's in the field of e-commerce and Internet.