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

Hatzakis Ilias

Project Manager, GRNET

EVITA , Final Conference, Marseille, 11/10/2011

INTERREG IVC INTERREG IVC provides funding for interregional cooperation across

Europe. It is implemented under the European Community’s territorial co-operation objective and financed through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

The overall objective of the INTERREG IVC Programme is to improve the effectiveness of regional policies and instruments. A project builds on the exchange of experiences among partners who are ideally responsible for the development of their local and regional policies.

the programme aims to contribute to the economic modernisation and competitiveness of Europe.

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EVITA – INTERREG IVC Exchange, Valorisation and Transfer of regional best practice policy measures for SME support on IT and e-

business Adoption

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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

share

adaptimprove

combine

a world in transmission: The financial crisis/ especially affects new EU members SMEs = a key driver for recovery technology trends both in infrastructure terms (cloud computing, grid

technology, terra bps networks, smart mobile devices, media convergence and growing multiple accessibility networks)

Web 2.0/ user generated content/ Social media revolution shift from fixed web to mobile web access with the increasingly

penetration rate of smartphones development of location based services New business models/ globalization Open monement/ open educational resources

…But then also …

Marseille, October 11th, 2011

?

More and more enterprises try to comprehend and take advantage of social networking activities for their profit:

• Draw information and knowledge on the opinion of consumers for the sector and their products, for the way that

they think , they act, they engage and if these activities influence their objectives.

• To organize marketing activities within these networks taking into consideration the requirements and particularities of each network (technical, legal etc), and on the other hand

the organization objectives (sales, branding, reputation management, publicity etc.)

quickly

Cost effectively

securely

9

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

Major tangible outcomes:

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

For Policy Makers: – Study Visits/ Policy Maker Workshops– Corpus report on IT SME training – Regional IT strategies for SME IT training– Guides and Studies

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The training package for SMEs

A training content on e-business and the benefits to SME competitiveness. Aims at improving managerial understanding and skills in e-business by entrepreneurs:

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

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:

- the technological possibilities, especially mobile and broadband solutions,

- The “open” movement- the growing demand of professionals in

SMEs.

E-tutor seminar

15 SME pilot seminars

Analysis of “IT training strategies” in 10 selected countries

Identification of 10 countries with the highest ICT use by SMEs4 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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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

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“Best European e-business Policy Measures” Guide

DESCRIPTION

Background information.

Detailed information

Short description

Expected or/and Achieved Outcomes,

Targets – Results

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

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5 Policy Maker Workshops

Dissemination

Lead Partner: Hatzakis Ilias, Project Manager, GRNET

Contacts: + 30 210 7474268, e-mail: hatzakis@grnet.lv

Marseille, 11/10/2011

Thank you

http://www.evita-interreg4c.eu