SMEs

1
SMEs Access To The Digital Economy - UK
Challenges Priorities

• Taslim Dharssi
• Bill Murray
• 4th December 2001

2
UK Government Strategy

• To ensure that the UK is a world leader in the
  new knowledge economy
• To make the UK the best environment in the world
  for e-commerce by 2002
• To ensure that everyone who wants it has access
  to the Internet by 2005
• To make all government services available on line
  by 2005

3
UK Online Strategy
4
UK Online Strategy

• Modern markets
• Confident people
• Successful businesses
• Government on-line
• World class supply sectors

5
Strategy Responsibilities

• Strategy published as part of the e-Minister and
  e-Envoys Annual Report
• Overseen by the e-Minister the e-Envoy, who
  report to the Prime Minister
• E-Minister supported by ministerial colleagues
  Devolved Administrations in the Information Age
  Ministerial Network (IAMN)
• E-Minister and e-Envoy supported by a group of
  e-Champions

6
Modern Markets

• Goal
• To develop the UK as the worlds best environment
  for electronic trading by 2002

7
Modern Markets

• Commitments
• Drive forward competition in Internet access
  markets.
• Establish a new framework for regulation of
  telecommunications and broadcasting.
• Identify and remove all regulatory and legal
  barriers to electronic ways of working in UK
• Take action with international partners to
  develop an effective, light-touch global
  framework for e-commerce

8
Confident People

• Goal
• To ensure that everyone in the UK who wants it
  will have access to the Internet by 2005

9
Confident People

• Commitments
• Implement measures to improve access to Internet
  at home, work in the community
• Embed ICT skills in education lifelong learning
• Work with industry to ensure a safe and secure
  environment for e-commerce
• Increase motivation to access the Internet by
  driving up amount quality of social content

10
Successful Businesses

• Goals
• 1 million SMEs actually trading online
• The UKs smaller businesses (lt 100) to become
  international best in e-business
• A higher proportion of B2B and B2C transactions
  taking place electronically in the UK than in any
  other G7 country

11
Successful Businesses

• Commitments
• Invest an additional 25m over three years to
  help small businesses exploit the potential of
  ICT
• Support industry in improving competitiveness
  through e-business technologies and processes

12
Government Online

• Goals
• 100 of government services available online by
  2005
• 90 of low value goods services (by volume)
  purchased electronically by March 2001
• 100 of procurement by civil central government
  tendered electronically by 2002

13
Government Online

• Commitments
• Get all government services online
• Achieve e-procurement e-tendering targets
• Implement a cross-government knowledge management
  system
• Drive forward participation in democracy as part
  of the UK online citizen portal
• Drive forward authentication services for
  e-government services within government

14
World Class Supply

• Goal
• To help UK-based IT, electronics, communications
  and content (ITEC) sectors contribute to
  improving the UKs competitiveness by narrowing
  the productivity gap with the USA, France,
  Germany and Japan over the economic cycle

15
World Class Supply

• Implement a strategy to make UK number 1 country
  for supply of high-level ITEC skills,
• Invest in leading-edge e-science
• Facilitate ITEC knowledge transfer
• Implement action plan for growth for digital
  content sector through liberalised access to
  government information
• Work with industry to develop a UK strategy for
  m-commerce

16
E-leadership

• Goal
• To provide the leadership and coordination in
  government needed to make the UK a leading
  Internet-enabled knowledge economy

17
E-leadership

• Commitments
• Establish mechanisms to coordinate access and
  skills initiatives at national, regional and
  local level
• Further develop and implement the UK online
  campaign

18
Measuring Success

• Goal
• To ensure government has the information to
  develop its policies on making the UK best place
  in the world for e-commerce to monitor progress
  towards that objective

19
Measuring Success

• Commitments
• Secure international agreement to common
  framework for measuring e-commerce
• Complete agreement on common definition
• Agree core set of common questions
• Improve e-commerce measurement
• Identify global benchmarks
• Evaluate economic impact of e-commerce

20
Devolved Administrations Strategy

• Wales
• Scotland
• Northern Ireland

21
UK Online Centres

• Will help give everyone in the UK who wants it
  access to the internet and e-mail near where they
  live
• Centres may be in local library, Internet Café,
  community centre, village hall
• Aiming for over 6,000 UK online centres across
  England
• By the end of 2002, all 4,300 of the UKs public
  libraries will be online

22
UK Online For Business

• Major component of UK Online programme
• Partnership between industry Government to help
  British business, particularly SMEs exploit
  benefits of ICT
• Aims to provide impartial, independent advice and
  help to SMEs on how to succeed in online business

23
UK Online For Business

• Programmes
• Partnership Programme
• E-Commerce Awards E-Business Start-Up Award
• Supply Chain
• Be Online For Business
• Technology Means Business
• E-business Showcase Events

24
Business Partnership Programme

• Aims to increase SMEs awareness of products
  services to help them become e-businesses
• Partners include ICT organisations, banks,
  business clubs, training providers, trade
  associations and public sector organisations
• Partners need to be committed to helping SMEs use
  new technology and will help the UK Government
  raise awareness of e-commerce

25
The E-Commerce Awards

• Recognise SMEs who demonstrate e-commerce
  excellence
• Open to companies with lt 250 staff
• National prize of 30,000 and regional prizes of
  5,000
• Winners are assessed the quantifiable business
  benefits achieved through the application of ICT
• E-Business Start-Up awards

26
Business Supply Chain Programme

• Provides information for SMEs on using ICT in
  integrated supply chains
• Free CD-ROM Supplying Electronically
• Impartial advice for SMEs in improving their
  trading relationships using ICT is available
  through UK Online for Business Advisers

27
Be Online For Business

• Provides practical advice on creating
  implementing an e-business strategy
• Developing the e-business plan is a 7 stage
  process which can be completed online or
  worksheets can be printed
• Enables SME owners / managers to think about the
  necessary issues

28
Technology Means Business

• Industry standard accreditation for those giving
  business ICT advice to SMEs
• Aims to encourage greater uptake and usage of ICT
  among SMEs
• Recognises that SMEs use a variety of advice
  sources
• Nation-wide network of accredited advisers who
  can be searched on the TMB website

29
E-business Showcase Events

• To inform SMEs with lt 50 employees about the
  benefits of e-commerce
• Working Electronically,
• Supplying Electronically
• Sales and Marketing over the Web
• Include live demonstration, presentation, video
  case studies and audience interaction

30
Business Link

• Provided by the Small Business Service
• Supplies information about e-commerce and IT for
  SMEs
• Practical benefits
• Technical issues
• Case Studies of successful e-commerce award
  winners

31
SMART Award (Similar to CRAFT)

• Provides grants to help individuals and SMEs make
  better use of technology and develop
  technologically innovative products processes
• Technology Reviews Studies
• Micro Projects
• Feasibility Studies
• Development Projects Exceptional Development
  Projects

32
Trade Partners UK

• Unites Government sponsored support for British
  exporters and investors
• Database of over 2000 websites for exporters
• Each site has been evaluated
• E-business developments opportunities -
  database of sales leads

33
National Organisations Who Support SME E-Commerce
Initiatives

• InterForum
• CBI E-Business Group
• The E-Centre
• The Information Age Partnership

34
The Information Age Partnership

• Adopts maintains global benchmarks
• Objective - UK driving future waves of global
  information age developments
• Chaired by DTI Secretary of State
• Discusses information age technical, economic and
  political developments
• Focused, time-limited task groups

35
Organisations That Promote E-commerce Security

• Trust UK
• Which? Web Trader Scheme
• tScheme
• BS7799

36
E-Government

• Recent Spending Review earmarking 1 billion for
  investment in electronic service delivery
• The web site www.ukonline.gov.uk acts as a
  single online point of entry to Government
  information and services
• July 2000 -33 of Government services available
  on-line, with plans projected to get 71 on-line
  by 2002

37
E-government Progress

• NHS Direct
• NHS Direct information points
• Pharmacy in the Future
• Inland Revenues online self-assessment.
• Employers send PAYE returns over Internet.
• The DSSs online application service for a
  retirement pension forecast.
• Worktrain.gov online access to 800,000 job
  training opportunities across Britain

38
E-government Progress

• Business.gov aims to simplify business
  interactions with Government by providing user
  friendly online services
• 25 pathfinder projects to develop a range of
  generic e-models which can be replicated across
  local government
• Over 99 of local authorities have submitted an
  Implementing Electronic Government statement

39
E-Procurement

• Development of strategy to ensure coherence
  standardisation of e-procurement across
  government (by end 2001)
• Provision of advice on development of
  e-procurement systems tools techniques
• Support for pilot projects to explore innovative
  e-procurement solutions

40
E-Procurement

• Target of 100 electronic tendering by Dec. 2002
  in central civil government
• Piloting a Government Supplier Information
  Database
• Introduction of a new web-based pilot Electronic
  Tendering System

41
Improvement in ITEC Skills

• Government will invest 8 million over next 3
  years to improve ITEC skills
• Campaign to improve IT careers image
• Work placement for electronics undergraduates
• Develop childrens interest in electronics
• Rationalising IT awards around a coherent set of
  IT qualifications

42
Related Activities

• Govt has a variety of fiscal incentives in
  relation to promoting the use of ICT
• DTI Engineering Industry ICT Carrier Programme
• ITEC Knowledge Transfer
• Profusion of ICT training and capacity building
  initiatives

43
ICT Training Capacity Building

• National Grid For Learning
• UfI / Learndirect
• ICT Learning Centres / UK Online
• Lifelong Learning Partnerships
• Community Access To Lifelong Learning
• Centres Of Excellence Skills Challenge

• Skills Framework For The Information Age
• IT For All
• ICT In Further Education
• Excellence In Cities (EIC) Initiative
• Loans For Teachers ICT
• ICT Teacher Training

44
Recent Initiatives

• 3es initiative e-business, euro, exports
• Digital divide
• Policy makers' guide to e-commerce legislation
  
• Sets out principles to ensure new and amended
  legislation/regulations do not damage or burden
  e-commerce industry

45
Importance of Measurement

• International Benchmarking electronic Government
  Service Delivery (OeE)
• Office for National Statistics developed
  strategy for gathering information about Internet
  use for business activity
• Survey of business use of the Internet for
  conducting transactions
• Use of data from ISPs

46
Sectoral Studies

• Examine impact of e-commerce on different sectors
• Will enable Government to provide the right help
  for business
• DTI plans to do 60 studies over next three years
• Analysis of areas of common opportunity or
  concern across sectors

47
Other Government Department Studies

• Department for Media, Culture Sport
• Department of Transport, Local Government and the
  Regions
• Department of Environment, Food Rural Affairs
• Lord Chancellors Department
• Department for Education Skills
• Treasury

48
E-Envoys Mapping of E-Commerce
49
Readiness
50
Use of Internet / Impact
51
Business Trading Online
52
SMEs With Internet Access
53
International Benchmarking Study 2001

• Now in 5th year
• Business internet access nearing saturation point
• UK Connectivity up from 1.7m to 1.9m
• SMEs trading on-line up 90,000 to 540,000
• Evidence of more sophisticated use of ICTs
• UK among leaders for most indicators

54
Implications for UK Targets
55
Implications for UK Targets
56
Conclusions

• 2001 IBS shows positive UK picture
• Slower than expected growth in trading on line is
  a surprise - but not yet a major issue.
• Targets not ends in themselves provide goals
  aspirations
• More complex pattern of ICT use
• Need more complex activities for UK online for
  business