This document discusses the inconsistent levels of IT application among small and medium enterprises (SMEs) across European Union member states and regions. Experts note various historical, political, and cultural reasons for these differences. They stress the importance of raising awareness among SME owners about the benefits of IT for business success. Specifically, they recommend sharing real-world examples of successful IT implementations in SMEs. Both public and private sector organizations must work together to provide resources, training, and advice to SMEs on consistently applying IT. The goal is a common standard and understanding of IT that can stabilize and increase competitiveness for SMEs across Europe.
The Financial Times, in partnership with HP, recently held an event in Milan to discuss new CIO strategies for the digital age. Topics discussed included customer engagement, consistent delivery of service across all channels, strategies for driving innovation and supporting business growth, and security concerns in an era of BYOD and cloud services.
This white paper highlight key discussion points from the event.
The Financial Times, in partnership with HP, recently held an event in Milan to discuss new CIO strategies for the digital age. Topics discussed included customer engagement, consistent delivery of service across all channels, strategies for driving innovation and supporting business growth, and security concerns in an era of BYOD and cloud services.
This white paper highlight key discussion points from the event.
ICTs and Enterprises in Developing Countries: Hype or Opportunity?Alwyn Didar Singh
The role of ICTs in the development of small enterprises has been much discussed. This document brings together material from a wide variety of sources, including development agencies, governments and the private sector. In particular, it aims to present current realities, rather than to emphasize what might one day be possible. It is clear that ICTs are transforming many aspects of life for enterprises; many of the impacts will, however, take many years to fully materialize
Information and communication technologies and their effect on economic growt...Alex Thurman
A research paper written for ECON 322: Global Economy: Trade and Development. In this paper, I discuss the affects of Information and Communication Technologies on economic growth. Specifically, I look at how ICTs have been used in Africa and Singapore to develop and stabilize their economies.
Four technology super trends and their impact on banking: digital society, big data, everithing joins up, integrity and security.
Customer: convinience, safety, personalization
Impact of Cloud on IT Consumption ModelsHiten Sethi
Cisco, in partnership with Intel®, sought to pinpoint how cloud is impacting IT. 4,226 IT leaders in 18 industries across nine key economies, developed as well as emerging were surveyed. The study results highlighted some interesting findings on IT's view of cloud, LOBs' increasing influence on IT purchasing, and what the future holds.
This point of view builds on prior global dialogue on the social value of the organisation, the future of the company and work plus recent debate on the value of data and British Academy research on the future of the corporation.
It looks at the future of the company through three lenses:
Corporate Purpose
The Digital Company
Organisation 3.0
This is being shared in a speech / workshop in Kuala Lumpur and used to kick off further discussions that will take place during 2019 on the future of work, the future of the organisation and the future of the company.
For more information:
Future Agenda
www.futureagenda.org
Future of the Company (2015)
https://www.futureagenda.org/view/initial_perspective/the-future-of-company
Future of Work (2018)
https://www.futureagenda.org/news/future-of-work
Integrated Reporting
http://integratedreporting.org
Future of the Corporation (British Academy)
https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/future-corporation
Purpose of the Corporation (Frank Bold) http://en.frankbold.org/our-work/campaign/purpose-corporation
Chief Information Officers (CIOs) will face dramatic changes in the next five to seven years, as architecture, engineering, and construction and owner-operated (AEC/O) firms come to grip with the massive amounts of information being generated by all things digital. They will face new technology, redefined business processes, and shifting customer demands, both internally and externally. Leading this evolution will be critical, as CIOs are the key company decision makers and leaders within AEC/O firms, determining the success of a firm’s growth and business strategies by understanding the intersection of information and business value.
Spring IO 2016 - Spring Cloud Microservices, a journey inside a financial entityToni Jara
The presentation explains the journey from a monolithic architecture to Spring Cloud Microservices for application development inside a financial entity, along with the transition to DevOps strategies… a journey that has just begun…
An information technology professional, Duane Wardell most recently served as a consultant database programmer and analyst for Memorial Hermann Healthcare System in Texas. In this capacity, he led and supported major DBA activities and worked with such software products as Oracle and INGRES. Outside of work, Duane Wardell is an avid basketball fan, and his favorite athlete is Magic Johnson.
The document covers the role of SMEs in Europe, and assesses the current digitalization level in this region. We researched on the benefits for the enterprises if these turn to the digital completely.
Source: https://www.elinext.com/researches/
ICTs and Enterprises in Developing Countries: Hype or Opportunity?Alwyn Didar Singh
The role of ICTs in the development of small enterprises has been much discussed. This document brings together material from a wide variety of sources, including development agencies, governments and the private sector. In particular, it aims to present current realities, rather than to emphasize what might one day be possible. It is clear that ICTs are transforming many aspects of life for enterprises; many of the impacts will, however, take many years to fully materialize
Information and communication technologies and their effect on economic growt...Alex Thurman
A research paper written for ECON 322: Global Economy: Trade and Development. In this paper, I discuss the affects of Information and Communication Technologies on economic growth. Specifically, I look at how ICTs have been used in Africa and Singapore to develop and stabilize their economies.
Four technology super trends and their impact on banking: digital society, big data, everithing joins up, integrity and security.
Customer: convinience, safety, personalization
Impact of Cloud on IT Consumption ModelsHiten Sethi
Cisco, in partnership with Intel®, sought to pinpoint how cloud is impacting IT. 4,226 IT leaders in 18 industries across nine key economies, developed as well as emerging were surveyed. The study results highlighted some interesting findings on IT's view of cloud, LOBs' increasing influence on IT purchasing, and what the future holds.
This point of view builds on prior global dialogue on the social value of the organisation, the future of the company and work plus recent debate on the value of data and British Academy research on the future of the corporation.
It looks at the future of the company through three lenses:
Corporate Purpose
The Digital Company
Organisation 3.0
This is being shared in a speech / workshop in Kuala Lumpur and used to kick off further discussions that will take place during 2019 on the future of work, the future of the organisation and the future of the company.
For more information:
Future Agenda
www.futureagenda.org
Future of the Company (2015)
https://www.futureagenda.org/view/initial_perspective/the-future-of-company
Future of Work (2018)
https://www.futureagenda.org/news/future-of-work
Integrated Reporting
http://integratedreporting.org
Future of the Corporation (British Academy)
https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/future-corporation
Purpose of the Corporation (Frank Bold) http://en.frankbold.org/our-work/campaign/purpose-corporation
Chief Information Officers (CIOs) will face dramatic changes in the next five to seven years, as architecture, engineering, and construction and owner-operated (AEC/O) firms come to grip with the massive amounts of information being generated by all things digital. They will face new technology, redefined business processes, and shifting customer demands, both internally and externally. Leading this evolution will be critical, as CIOs are the key company decision makers and leaders within AEC/O firms, determining the success of a firm’s growth and business strategies by understanding the intersection of information and business value.
Spring IO 2016 - Spring Cloud Microservices, a journey inside a financial entityToni Jara
The presentation explains the journey from a monolithic architecture to Spring Cloud Microservices for application development inside a financial entity, along with the transition to DevOps strategies… a journey that has just begun…
An information technology professional, Duane Wardell most recently served as a consultant database programmer and analyst for Memorial Hermann Healthcare System in Texas. In this capacity, he led and supported major DBA activities and worked with such software products as Oracle and INGRES. Outside of work, Duane Wardell is an avid basketball fan, and his favorite athlete is Magic Johnson.
The document covers the role of SMEs in Europe, and assesses the current digitalization level in this region. We researched on the benefits for the enterprises if these turn to the digital completely.
Source: https://www.elinext.com/researches/
The Financial Times, in partnership with HP, recently held an event in Helsinki to discuss new CIO strategies for the digital age. Topics discussed included customer engagement, consistent delivery of service across all channels, how to deal with unstructured data, and security concerns in an era of BYOD and cloud services. This white paper highlights key discussion points from the event.
Introducing iTTi, Innovation & Technology Trends Institute, the independent Spanish think tank interested in researching how "digital" decisions are made at the demand side of corporations.
The potential of e-Commerce and e-Trade is no longer a matter of debate. Despite the initial hype and subsequent dot-com crash, it has moved into the realm of a noteworthy reality. Since e-Commerce already affects the economic relations between and within countries and since it will continue to do so more and more, e-Commerce has to be considered as a matter of key policy consideration. As such, developing countries must not only appreciate and address its potential for industrial and trade growth, but also consider it as a means of survival in this new world of Internet-based business and trade.
Potentials of artificial intelligence in digital marketing and financial tech...IAESIJAI
Small and medium enterprises small and medium enterprises (SMEs) play a crucial role in nations’ economy, through job creations, reducing unemployment rate as well as increase the overall productivity and gross domestic product (GDP) of a country. However, most SMEs are often lagging in technology adoption which could be a game changer for their success. SMEs could adopt new technologies to improve their business operations and profitability. They are also useful in supporting SMEs to penetrate international market. This research suggests that implementation of the artificial intelligence (AI) through digital marketing (DM) and financial technology (Fintech) would assist SMEs to be competitive, current in leveraging on technology and increase their overall profitability. Based on secondary data analysis, this paper presents a conceptual framework of determining factors in adoption of AI through digital marketing and Fintech. It contributes to the academic knowledge of AI, DM and Fintech for small businesses, and presents a testable framework that can be replicated and adapted for future empirical study.
Introducing and implementing the EUCIP Core training programme can only be efficient and successful if young professionals completing the training have a chance to be employed not only in Europe but also in Hungary. In the framework of the I-TShape project, the Pest County Foundation for Enterprise Promotion (PFEP) undertook to survey Hungarian stakeholders of the economy to assess the infrastructural background of various businesses, the status of this infrastructure, the conditions of its operation and the expectations towards professionals who operate and develop it. The results and conclusions of the survey are important for us, as we can use them in designing a training programme tailored to the needs of the Hungarian market demands that and then integrating it into the vocational training system in Hungary.
Can ICT Reduce Poverty and Unemployment and Elevate Development Integrating M...Dr. Amarjeet Singh
Information and Communication Technology
(ICT) can boost the performance of people and improve
overall human capital for the alleviation of poverty in a
society. Today, ICT is considered as one of the major
sources of driving force for the overall economic
development integrating with Micro, Small and Medium
Enterprises (MSMEs). The e-Commerce has a great role in
achieving business performance in the emerging Asian
countries. However, MSMEs are experiencing more
challenges that prevent them from further increasing their
business. The earlier studies question to which extent
MSMEs have benefited from these businesses. Therefore,
the main purpose of this study is to demonstrate the
importance of ICT in developing MSMEs based on the
success stories of emerging Asian countries. This study
based on subjective/argumentative i.e., idea generation in
Information Systems (IS). The findings of the study reveal
that the MSMEs utilizing ICT can alleviate poverty and
unemployment. It also reveals that MSMEs with ICT and
e-Commerce can enhance employment and new job
creation that can contribute to the overall economic
development. This study is expected to extend for further
an empirical investigation broadly on the same issue to
validate the research results.
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is an integral part of business management now-a-day. It is inevitable for the smooth running of business irrespective of size and complexity. Due to the rapid development of ICT and its huge use in all spheres of our lives, businesses are also substantially influenced by it. Now, the resources of the businesses are primarily managed by using ICT supports that helps perform tasks faster and more accurate than before. But the developing countries are still struggling to introduce ICT supports in all areas of business management processes as the effort is substantially hindered by a strong but ineffective work culture. Therefore, to use ICT in business management we need to know the issues and challenges of it.
In October, CIOs from large Spanish companies joined the Financial Times and HP for a roundtable event in Madrid to discuss various challenges related to the convergence of digital and the customer experience. Key themes debated during the session included delivery of consistent services across all channels, dealing with unstructured data, and driving innovation, among others.
1. 6. Jahrgang Spezial Ausgabe II/2009
w w w . b e s t p r a c t i c e - i t . d e
Aus dem Inhalt:
Erste Unternehmensporträts
für 2010 liegen bereits vor:
Jetzt BestPractice-IT
Unternehmen werden!
Seite 13
Die Zukunft gehört den Besten:
CeBIT Studio Mittelstand ist
Deutschlands erstes Online- und
Präsenz-Event für Innovation
und Wachstum im Mittelstand
Seite 17
Interview:
Wie der VDMA
seine Mitglieder
in Sachen IT
unterstützt
Seite 33
Im Gespräch:
Der Mittelstand
braucht
einheitliches
Verständnis
und Niveau beim
konsequenten IT-Einsatz
Seite 34
IDEEN UND LÖSUNGSVORSCHLÄGE VON UNTERNEHMEN FÜR UNTERNEHMEN
IT-gestützte Zusammenarbeit
und elektronisches Kundenbeziehungsmanagement:
Was haben Collaboration und
CRM mit der Geschwindigkeit
im Business zu tun?
Seite 4
Stability and performance of the European economy
SMEs need a unitary understanding and standard for the consistent application of IT
BestPractice-IT Special 2/2009. Supplement in the SME Magazin “Impulse” 12/2009, 100.000 Copies
2. www.bestpractice-it.deSpecial II/2009
34
The significance of small and medi-
um-sized enterprises (SME) for the
economy of the European Union (EU)
is undisputed: With over 23 million
enterprises, this sector provides more
than 75 million jobs. The stabilisation
of these enterprises by emphasizing
the significance and concrete promo-
tion of a consistent application of IT
to optimise their business processes
should have top priority for the eco-
nomic stability and competitiveness of
the EU on all levels and in all member
states.
BestPractice-IT chief editor Jürgen Bürkel
spoke with Rüdiger Gunther, director of
Azlan Midrange Division Europe at Azian
Tech Data Europe GmbH, Munich and An-
dreas R. Fischer , Vice President in Germany
of PIN-SME* , Brussels on this topic.
Rüdiger Gunther: There are many reasons
for this. It has partly to do with a younger
history, partly with politics, partly with
the mentality and mood of the people
and partly with the level of international
involvement of the respective economies.
All these factors, which have an effect on
the individual as well as on politicians and
entrepreneurs, also have effects on the
general view and overall development.
In many East European countries, the econ-
omy was still centrally regulated 20 years
ago and free entrepreneurship was not
really feasible as we know it. Through this
closed economic situation, the exchange of
knowledge and experiences could only take
place with great difficulty.
Twenty years sounds like a long time to
us. But for a political economy that had
to begin anew, it is a short time. And if
one views for example, the People’s Re-
public of China, which is still considered
an emerging nation but which has strong
international involvement, then one also
observes a steady increase in the IT support
of enterprises despite tentative liberaliza-
tion policies.
Andreas R. Fischer: But even within West-
ern Europe, there was and are vast differ-
ences, which however are gradually level-
ling out. Ireland for example has developed
out of necessity into a very IT-affine EU
member state, a development which was
also observed in Finland and still is, after its
“own” economic crisis was triggered by the
collapse of the USSR.
Estonia has also intensely followed suit
from the beginning. Even the elections
there are successfully held digitally and the
electronic tax return is a matter of course.
Policy-makers were crucial in sharing the
success with positive decision-making,
long-range information and promotional
measures as well as international integra-
tion. This obvious move in the right direc-
tion should be followed everywhere, in the
member states as well as throughout the
EU and it is a position that PIN-SME has
represented in Brussels for years now. In
particular, the extremely inconsistent level
of information available for the concrete
benefit of IT application in comparison to
the investment necessary presents a serious
problem that needs to be solved.
Do you have a specific idea on how
these problems can be solved?
Rüdiger Gunther: Essentially, the object
is to raise the awareness of entrepreneurs
to the central role, concrete benefit and
the enormous chance that the effective
Stability and performance of the European economy:
SMEs need a unitary
understanding and standard for
the consistent application of IT
Rüdiger Gunther (right), Director of Azlan Midrange Division Europe at Azlan
Tech Data Europe GmbH, at the 3rd European Expert Forum for Innovation and
Internationalisation in ICT-SME in Dialogue, with Sebastiano Toffaletti (left), General
Secretary for PIN-SME, Dieter-Michael Grohmann (2nd from left), Communication
Director Special Tasks UEAPME/Academy Avignon and Frank Früh (2nd from right),
project leader of the European Information Technology Observatory (EITO)
IN DIALOGUE
Jürgen Bürkel: Mr. Gunther, Mr.
Fischer, obviously – and we can
say this about BestPractice-IT out
of personal experience relating to
our activities – there are distinct
differences between the regions
and member states of the EU with
regard to the quality and quantity
of IT applications in SMEs. In your
opinion, what are the main reasons
for this?
3. www.bestpractice-it.deSpecial II/2009
35
implementation of information and com-
munication technology has to offer. This
ranges from IT-based quality management
and resource planning to eBusiness activi-
ties in procurement and marketing. And it
doesn’t really matter in which branch an
enterprise is active. Technology accelerates
business and the intelligent implementation
solidifies sales over time, which can make
the difference between healthy growth and
stability or stagnation and collapse. And we
are talking about middle to long-term, not
“only” for enterprises, but rather also for
economies.
How can this consciousness be
conveyed to enterprises without
remaining abstract?
Rüdiger Gunther: Indeed I believe this is a
significant aspect! It is precisely SMEs who
are especially interested in the practical ex-
perience, the feasibility of implementation
and concrete solutions. There are initia-
tives and networks in progress, which have
made the effort to document real practical
examples of the intelligent and consequent
application of IT in SMEs.
Since 2003, you yourself at BestPractice-
IT** have already identified and described
in detail several hundred such examples
from Germany and Europe. In the area of
eBusiness, the hot new project “Learning
from Peers”*** should also be mentioned
here. It originated from the European Com-
mission and the eBusiness Support Network
(eBSN) and also provides specific examples
of applications from all across Europe that
were put into practice.
So there is definitely no shortage of ex-
amples, which once again confirms the
success of IT-application and proves that it
makes sense to follow the same approach
as the forerunners. These examples, the
knowledge contained herein and above all
the attitude of the protagonists in small
and medium-sized enterprises must now be
transferred specifically to those countries
and SMEs in which there are areas in need
of information or action in terms of IT. But
this must also come from the policy-makers
and advocacy groups of SMEs.
But there is not often much interest
for a discussion on the topic of IT in
enterprises. What can and must be
done here?
Andreas R. Fischer: The key words here
are Business Skills. Here I am specifically
aiming at the promotion of the consistent
use of information and communication
technologies in all SMEs. Next we have to
reach SME entrepreneurs and later also
their employees, to show them what it’s all
about and to set an example. To do this,
we have to use channels of communica-
tion such as the media and organisations
through which we can get the message
and images of success across. Of course a
supplemental individual and professional
consultation for the enterprises will also
play a significant role.
Incidentally it is also the responsibility of
IT enterprises all across Europe to make a
contribution, from corporations right down
to IT-SMEs represented by PIN-SME. This
is another area in which we believe that
policy-makers must take supportive action.
Here I feel that it makes sense for govern-
ments and the commission to take the
decision regarding concrete measures into
their own hands.
Rüdiger Gunther: I agree. In many SMEs,
IT applications are still not thought of first
when discussing a solution for tasks and
challenges. Everyone knows that IT-based
solutions are available but often do not
believe that they are economically worth-
while in their own case. However, the
synergetic effects and future prospects are
often neglected and they are not thinking
outside of the box. But the manufacturer
and providers, in particular the IT SMEs also
play a role here. They shouldn’t just sell the
enterprises products for specific individual
problems, but rather should offer compre-
hensive consulting and expandable system
solutions, which facilitate development and
protect investments.
What concretely must be done to
be able to achieve these objectives?
Andreas R. Fischer: A much-needed
unitary base in SMEs must be provided. To
accomplish this, we need a comprehensive
exchange of Best-Practice examples, an un-
impeded exchange of knowledge and com-
pletely unrestricted access to information.
On top of this is of course the fact that in
order to guarantee the continuity of a com-
prehensive development, the level of this
development must constantly be reviewed.
Rüdiger Gunther: I fully agree. And in
order to achieve this, all SMEs must have
the possibility of affordable access to
broadband Internet connections regardless
of their location. This is also a task for na-
tional and European policy-makers.
Gentlemen, thank you for
your statements! n
* PIN-SME is the Brussels-based Pan European
ICT eBusiness Network for SME.
Internet: www.pin-sme.eu
Contact – Germany
a.fischer@pin-sme.eu
** The BestPractice-IT network supports SMEs
with ideas and approaches from entrepre-
neurs for entrepreneurs. Further information
and all practical examples are available on-
line:
www.bestpractice-it.de
*** You can request the flyer “Learning
from Peers - BestPractices among Euro-
pean SMEs”, with real eBusiness practical
examples from Adetef Paris. In the Internet
at www.epme.eu or by email to
book@epme.eu
Andreas R. Fischer (2nd from right),
PIN-SME Vice President Germany at the
nextbusiness-IT Live-Webcast in expert
dialogue on the topic of “Mobility in
SMEs” with Martin Breul (left), divisional
director of telecommunications for
BITKOM e. V., Dirk Backofen (2nd from
left), Marketing Director for business
clients of Telekom AG, moderated by
Martin Puscher (right), managing director
of pfg GmbH in Hamburg.