Session 3: Raising productivity and competitiveness of SMEs through use of ICTs WSIS Thematic meetin

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Session 3 Raising productivity and
competitiveness of SMEs through use of ICTs
WSIS Thematic meetingEconomic and Social
Implications of ICTAntigua, Guatemala17-19
January 2005

• Desirée van Welsum
• OECD DSTI-ICCP

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Important to focus on SMEs

• Importance of SMEs as a source of employment
• Links between ICTs and growth (Sessions 1 and 2)
• SMEs have potential for relatively large
  productivity gains
• Smaller firms are usually slower in adopting new
  technologies than larger firms
• ICTs increasingly allow a breaking up of the
  value/supply chain ? larger firms adopting new
  ICTs will force their suppliers to do likewise
• ? need to put in place the framework conditions
  that will promote the diffusion of ICTs to SMEs

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Some recent OECD work in this area

• ICT, e-business and SMEs Report prepared by the
  Working Party on the Information Economy in
  co-operation with the Working Party on SMEs and
  Entrepreneurship (for the SME Ministerial held in
  Istanbul in June 2004)
• Peer reviews of policies for the diffusion of ICT
  to business (completed Finland, Italy, Korea,
  Norway, Switzerland forthcoming Denmark,
  Netherlands)
• Chapters in the 2004 OECD Information Technology
  Outlook on e-business, digital delivery and ICT
  skills

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Main policy recommendations (1)

• Move from policies for basic ICT connectivity to
  policies promoting the adoption and integration
  of more advanced ICTs into business processes
• Encourage competitive and innovative network
  infrastructures as well as affordable quality
  broadband networks
• Support business RD (development of ICT
  infrastructure) and improve link with ICT
  diffusion policies
• Strengthen the framework conditions (enablers)
  such as trust, security, privacy, consumer
  protection
• Ensure a proper ICT skills base is in place (ICT
  specialist skills, basic and advanced ICT user
  skills, and e-business skills which include, for
  example, management, marketing, organisational,
  trust and security skills as well as ICT skills)

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Main policy recommendations (2)

• Improve policy co-ordination and raise profile of
  ICT diffusion policies
• Improve policy evaluation processes which are
  complicated by measurement problems (how to
  measure the integration of ICTs into business
  processes?)
• Develop and distribute digital content (e.g.
  e-government services can act as an example for
  firms and at the same time improve the efficiency
  of public-private sector interaction and reduce
  the administrative burden on firms significantly)
• Promote the use by SMEs of online dispute
  resolution mechanisms

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3 distinguished speakers

• Michael Leibrandt Federal Ministry of Economics
  and Labour, Germany
• Estelle Akofio-Sowah BusyInternet, Ghana
• Antti Eskola Ministry of Trade and Industry,
  Finland