Mairi Henderson, Project Manager, Scottish EnterpriseRegional Workshop: Inverurie, AberdeenshireDate: Monday 28th April 2014

Regional Seminar Agenda• Welcome• Superfast Broadband Rollout – Scottish Government• Business Gateway – What we do?• Introduction to CREATE – Scottish Enterprise• Networking Session

• Meet the CREATE Advisor• Mak-Lab

What is CREATE?• Developing approaches to encourage the take up

& optimal use of Broadband & ICT by SMEs in rural areas

• Working in partnership with organisations across different regions in North West Europe to share skills & ideas and to test approaches in different environments

• SMEs will benefit from intensive support and business advice on how to exploit ICT

• The funding will provide support for • SMEs to receive 1-1 advice• Materials to be developed that encourage ICT & broadband take-up • Help SMEs to collaborate with other small rural businesses from across

North West Europe.

• The project is funded from the INTERREG IVB Programme which targets EU funding to encourage regional collaboration to develop new approaches to common problems

€2.6m EU Funded project (€1.3m of which is ERDF)

Story so far ..• September 2013 - Launched project with Conference in

Hereford • December 2013 - Appointed Leadership Panel of industry

experts• January 2014 - Transnational Seminar in Dumfries,

Scotland• February 2014 - Recruitment process for CREATE

Advisors• March / April / May 2014 – Regional Workshops being

delivered across all Partner regions

Aims to overcome• Structural Deficits of the Rural Economy

– Isolation from markets & skills– Lack of infrastructure– Lack of scale– Poor clustering opportunities– Lack of ICT expertise– Reliance on traditional sectors

www.scottish-enterprise.comwww.scottish-enterprise.com

Collection exerciseHSB Rollout/Demand stimulation• Specific marketing campaigns

attached to a rollout in an area to get uptake from businesses

• Bespoke seminars presenting specific advantages to the different target groups

Role of NGA Broadband • Digitally Mature SMEs grow at least 2 times faster• At the height of the recession digitally mature SMEs were 29% more

likely to grow than those with only basic use of IT

• More sophisticated IT – improves labour productivity - 10% in services; 5% in manufacturing– drives 20% of all productivity growth across sectors

• The annual total turnover of U.K. SMEs could be boosted by £18.8bn if all of these firms sold and marketed online

Persisting Issues• High awareness of speed issue • Low awareness of potential • Poor exploitation will continue• Without action, economic effects will not be

realised • Latent economic potential must be unlocked

Snapshot of Pan Partner Survey

Don’t use any form of Social Media

Employees don’t have remote access to company email

Haven't received foreign orders for goods/services

Employees don't have business portable devices

Websites don’t host product catalogues or price lists

Haven't received orders for goods/services via a website

Don’t use video conferencing including Skype

Don’t access tender docs from eProcurement systems

Don’t use automated e-invoices

Don’t use an ERP package

Don’t offer order tracking on-line

Don’t allow online customers to customise products

0 20 40 60 80 100 120

Why do this transnationally?• Technical capacity & skills • Gain scale • Technical & economic specialisms • Test approaches • Demonstrate how rural SMEs can benefit from

the global economy

Leadership Panel• Recruit a Leadership Panel

comprised of business & ICT experts from each partner region to the transfer of knowledge & skills across the partner regions

www.scottish-enterprise.comwww.scottish-enterprise.com

Collection exercise

• 1:1 CREATE Advisor support (expert advice)

• Business Directory• Business Review, identifying Action Plan

specific to your SME• E-Guides – Best Practice guides• Digi-Labs - access to lab which

showcases new IT Technologies • Clusters - Access to online knowledge

platforms

What will CREATE offer SMEs?

Business Review Diagnostic• Develop dynamic & tailored tool for delivery to a range of

SMEs with different levels of digital maturity• The tool will focus on ways that new technologies can be

incorporated into the business processes of rural SMEs to – encourage resilience, – increase efficiency, & – boost competitiveness.

• Delivered on the ground by local advisors until June 2015

Develop physical & virtual Digi-Labs as demonstrators and to facilitate transnational communication & collaboration

Digi-Labs

E-GUIDES

Virtual ClustersVirtual clustering of rural SMEs across NWE

To overcome barriers to market caused by remoteness & the lack of critical mass

The Cloud Clusters will provide SMEs with

• Significant exposure to other regions and countries • Opportunity to gain scale • Friendly environment to foster open innovation• New suppliers• New partners • Transfer of new processes that can cut costs & increase sales

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Search LinkedIn for:CREATE – Connecting Rural Enterprise for a Transnational Economy

Keeping in Touch with #createNWE

Book Time with CREATE AdviserContact Dan Annison, Scottish Enterprisedan.annison@scotent.co.ukTel: 01387 245204

Mairi Henderson, Scottish Enterprisemairi.henderson@scotent.co.ukTel: 01387 245223