The EVITA International Cooperation Program on e-Business Promotion for SMEs

Stanislav Sraka, Development agency SinergijaHatzakis Ilias. Project Manager, GRNET

EVITA, Bled Policy Makers Workshop 13/06/2011

The EVITA Project – INTERREG IVC Exchange, Valorisation and Transfer of regional best practice policy

measures for SME support on IT and e-business Adoption

Description

Since the Lisbon Strategy Report of the European Commission in 2001, there is an intense effort combined with series of targeted policies all over Europe for the stimulation of SMEs for IT and e-business. A lot of initiatives have been implemented in all European countries with various levels of success. In some countries, successful regional policy measures in the field have contributed to the faster improvement of SMEs’ access to the Information Society, …

whereas …

in other regions, especially from the  “new” European countries, the IT and e-business penetration seems to find obstacles in its growth.

EVITA, Bled Policy Makers Workshop 13/06/2011

EVITA Project In this framework EVITA builds on various good practices developed

under different regional or interregional development programs, (namely, the “2Bdigital” program in Catalunya, the GOONLINE initiative and the “e-business forum” mechanism in Greece, the ELISA project in the Balkan area, the “telecenters” in Bulgaria, the “Echangeurs” program in France, the “From insight to action” program in Sweden)

in order to improve  the effectiveness of regional development policies in the area of the access of SMEs, to knowledge, information, e-business practices and the globalized digital economy in regions with low IT penetration (Southern Aegean-Greece, Yogazapaden-Bulgaria, Pomurska-Slovenia, Latvia, Galicia-Spain). 

EVITA, Bled Policy Makers Workshop 13/06/2011

EVITA Project Consequentlly, the idea of the project lies in the field of sharing, exchange,

valorization, transfer and dissemination of good policy practices on:

-> SME support for IT adoption,

-> improvement of e-skills of SME professionals

-> training on e-business

-> e-business practices promotion 

In this context, the EVITA consortium includes 3 types of partners:    

a) partners who have implemented “best-practice” policy initiatives for the adoption of IT and e-business practices 

b) partners representing “Objective 1” regions who are lagging behind in terms of IT and e-business penetration and who are about to design relevant regional policies in the framework of the 2007-2013 Structural Funds funding period

c) partners with expertise in e-learning, IT training, SME competitiveness and regional development plans and who can act as catalysts for the successful transfer of the good practices.

EVITA, Bled Policy Makers Workshop 13/06/2011

EVITA - Project Partners LP: GRNET, Greek Research & Technology Network Athens, Greece http://www.grnet.gr

P2: COPCA, Barcelona, Spain www.acc10.cat

P3: TILLVÄXT VERKET Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth, Stockholm,

Sweden www.nutek.se/sb/d/113 

P4: CCIMP Chambre de Commerce et Industrie de Marseilles, Marseilles, France

www.ccimp.com

P5: Fondazzjoni Temi Zammit, Msida, Malta http://www.ftz.org.mt

P6: CESGA Galicia Supercomputing Centre / Galician e-Commerce Leveraging Centre,

Galicia, Spain http://www.cesga.es

P8: SAR Southern Aegean Region, Greece www.notioaigaio.gov.gr

P9: RAS Sinergija Development Agency, Moravske Toplice, Slovenia www.ra-sinergija.si

P10: LTC Latvian Technological Center, Riga, Latvia http://www.innovation.lv/ltc

P13: University of Kaunas, Kaunas, Lithuania http://www.ktu.lt

EVITA, Bled Policy Makers Workshop 13/06/2011

EVITA main rationale

LISBON STRATEGY/ Europe 2020-digital agenda: stimulation of SMEs for IT and e-business

/ Europe 2020 Digital Agenda

Necessity of exchange between countries/ stakeholders

Necessity for the right learning tools for SMEs

EVITA, Bled Policy Makers Workshop 13/06/2011

a world in transmission: The financial crisis/ especially affects new EU members Revolutionary technology trends both in infrastructure and

services terms (cloud computing, grid technology, terra bps networks, smart mobile devices, media convergence and growing multiple accessibility networks)

Opening of PSI and the e-participation Web 2.0/ user generated content/ Social media revolution New business models/ globalization Complex digital landscape

…But then also …

EVITA, Bled Policy Makers Workshop 13/06/2011

we already live IN the cloud…

(the social cloud)

Athens, 8 December 2008 8

building social media campaigns for companies

measures and ranks your social influence online

Main activities of the EVITA Project 6 Study Visits for the presentation of the “best policy initiatives” to all partners, 

5 Policy Maker Workshops for the transfer of “best policy initiatives” to local Policy Makers in Latvia, Southern Aeagean, Yugozapaden, Pomurska, Galicia,  

Creation of a multilingual e-learning platform enriched with multimedia “e-business training content” (Latvian, Greek, Spanish, Maltese, Bulgarian, Slovenian),  

A seminar for the creation of “e-tutors” task forces, with the certification of 24 e-trainers from Latvia, Bulgaria, Malta, Southern Aegean, Galicia, Slovenia, 

Identification and benchmarking of the 25 best-fitting policy measures from all over Europe and creation of a best practice guide,

Development of 5 regional “IT training strategy reports”,

A study on the impact of e-learning on the local SMEs competitiveness,

7 local and 3 external dissemination events to promote the project’s results.

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C1

C2

6 Study visits

C3

5 Policy Maker

Workshops

C4

1 e-

tuto

r se

min

ar

5 SME seminars

10 Dissemination events

6 Consortium meetings

Mar

09

Apr 10

Dec 10

Dec 10

Oct 09

May 11

Mar 10

Oct 09 Jan 10

Nov

10

Jul 1

1

6 Project Reports & Payment Claims

EVITA, Bled Policy Makers Workshop 13/06/2011

Evita Project – Expected results The expected results of the project in the targeted

areas are

- the improvement of relevant regional policies,

- the improvement of e-skills and

- the increase in IT use and e-business practices adoption by SMEs. 

In the long term, EVITA aims at sustained impacts on innovation, competitiveness and economic growth in the targeted areas.

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Major tangible outcomes: For Policy Makers:

– Study Visits– Corpus report on IT SME training Regional IT strategies for

SME IT training– Guides and Studies– Policy Maker Workshops

For SMEs: – Multilingual training content on e-business– e-learning platform (moodle)/ multimedia/ online courses– SME seminars

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Analysis of “IT training strategies” in selected countries

1. Identification of countries where the penetration rate of ICT in SMEs is the most important

We have crossed four international indicators :

Global Information Technology Report (2008-2009) – Key indicator1 : “the use of Internet in the commercial relations”

i2010 classification of the European Union – Key indicator2 : “Integration of the ICT in business relation of SMEs with suppliers and/or customers”

OECD ICT database and Eurostat, Community Survey on ICT use in enterprises (May 2009)

– Key indicator3 : “Internet penetration by size class”

– Key indicator4 : “Internet selling and purchasing by industry”

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Identification, census and analysis of “IT training strategies” used in selected countries

These strategies have as objective to develop the use of ICT by SMEs on the given territory.

These strategies– Are specific “SME IT training” in order to help SMEs on IT – Focus on the use of e-learning by regions or governments– Can be: instruments / tools / techniques / methodologies– Have been evaluated as “best applied”– Fits to the profile to our beneficiary regions

EVITA, Bled Policy Makers Workshop 13/06/2011

14 initiatives selected in 7 countriesUnited States - Switzerland - Denmark

Netherlands - Canada - Australia -Ireland

2 main axes to analyse 6 main IT Training Strategies

1- The IT relevance for the user (SME) 2- The public support

EVITA, Bled Policy Makers Workshop 13/06/2011

To combine 6 kind of actions :

- to accompany SMEs at the different level of IT-maturity

From awareness to optimization of the IT implementation

- to obtain a synergy of training resources and competencies

- to spread and amortize investments on long period

- to fit market needs with more flexible training plans

Recommendations for an e-Learning region strategy

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“Best European e-business Policy Measures” Guide 1. scout a number of EU “standard and accredited” databases in order to identify the most

favorable and successfully policy initiatives (national or regional) related to the promotion of IT (mainly e-Business) to SMEs.

DG Enterprise & Industry European e-Business Support Network for SMEs (eBSN) e-Business W@tch Observatory Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) European Information Technology Observatory (EITO) EVITA “IT training Strategy Report” Transnational Cooperation Programmes Databases (ie Interreg, Programme MED etc).

2. Selection in order to meet certain criteria such as: Effectiveness New Media Trends (WEB 2.0 / SEO / SEM etc) Relevance with EVITA project EU recognition

EVITA, Bled Policy Makers Workshop 13/06/2011

“Best European e-business Policy Measures” Guide

3. DESCRIPTION

Background information.

Detailed information

Short description

Expected or/and Achieved Outcomes, Targets – Results

Delivery M

Key activities mechanism

Web 2.0 relevance

Financing Sources

Detected impact in region of origin

Main lessons learnt

Main Challenges

Critical Success Factors for the transferability of the practice

EVITA, Bled Policy Makers Workshop 13/06/2011

ConclusionsCommitment of the Public sector at top level is crucial for the success of any e-

Business initiative in order to gain critical mass adoption of new technologies. It enormously facilitates the work needed on awareness and stakeholders' effort ('top down' approach)

Private co-management and co-financement is preferable in order to ensure financial sustainability in the long term. The people in charge must have a "technology neutral" vision and be real business experts. Universities have a role to play but practical knowledge is of paramount importance to drive the right changes and transfer knowledge to users.

Involve local people in the community to ensure commitment of SMEs which typically cannot be reached with an institutional approach ('bottom up' approach).

Don’t waste time and resources obtaining news and website content that is freely available on other sites. Provide links to these communities and add your own value where it really matters.

EVITA, Bled Policy Makers Workshop 13/06/2011

Component 4: Tools and implementation

5 S

ME

sem

inar

s

Oct

09

Nov 10

Oct

09

EVITA, Bled Policy Makers Workshop 13/06/2011

The e-learning platform

A multilingual, interactive and user-friendly e-learning platform enriched with the training content. It is a strategic choice to focus on technology enhanced professional learning, having in mind that in the very close future, the technological possibilities, especially mobile and broadband solutions, will change today's learning scenarios and that the provision of e-learning services will grow substantially, to satisfy the growing demand of professionals in SMEs.

- videos/ ppts/ courses

EVITA, Bled Policy Makers Workshop 13/06/2011

Athens, 8 December 2008 26

SME pilot seminars

At least 30 SMEs Duration: case by case/ at least 10h SME selection procedure Implementation of an e-learning deployment

scenario Local language Multimedia classes/ personal computers

EVITA, Bled Policy Makers Workshop 13/06/2011

The training package for SMEs A training content on e-business and the benefits to SME

competitiveness. This content aims at improving managerial understanding and skills in e-business by entrepreneurs, based on best practices, local e-government services and is written in easy “business” language.

– Basic IT knowledge for SMEs, – Introduction to e-business models and practices– The digital marketing plan– Techniques for attracting visitors to a website– Techniques that convert visits into business contacts– Techniques that convert business contacts into customers– Techniques that create loyalty and develop customers

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VISITORS

LEADS

CLIENTS

LOYAL CUST.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Search Engine Marketing (SEM)

Ad Campaigns Marketplaces & Directories Email Marketing

Public Relations

Social Media (SMM)

Blogs Forums

Call-to-Action

Affiliate Programs

Usability

Persuation

Offline control

Web Analytics

Newsletter

Selling Persuation

Client Orientation

Web Analytics

Cross selling

Newsletter

Community Creation

Lock In’s

Local

SEO

SEM

Lead Partner: GRNET, Ilias Hatzakis, Project Manager,

Contacts: e-mail: hatzakis@admin.grnet.gr ; Tel: + 30 210 7474268,

Project partner: Development Agency Sinergija, Stanislav Sraka

Contact: e-mail: stanislav@ra-sinergija.si

Thank you!

http://www.evita-interreg4c.eu

EVITA, Bled Policy Makers Workshop 13/06/2011