| June 1, 2005 - Washington, DC. On June 6, the Knowledge Management Unit of the World Bank’s Latin America Region (LCRKM) and GDLN will organize a videoconference on “ Intermediary Organizations’ support for SME e-Business Adoption.”
Small and medium enterprises (SME) lag behind larger ones in the adoption of e-Business tools. The main reasons are a lack of: (1) knowledge about the advantages of e-Business adoption (costs savings, greater efficiency); (2) internal capability in ICT related issues; (3) software specifically designed for SME; (4) affordable and qualified consultants to support SME in this field; and (5) access to finance.
Intermediary organizations -Chambers of Commerce, Business Associations, and Governmental Agencies- are in the best position to fill this gap and support SME in the adoption of e-Business tools. These institutions have the mandate and often the leverage and necessary funds to assist SME increase their competitiveness through programs that address different challenges. E-Business should be no exception. In this field the organizations can raise awareness of the advantages of e-Business; assess the particular needs of the SME with the collaboration of consulting firms and solution providers; offer training and capacity building programs; and put forward financial schemes with the final goal to boost e-Business adoption and increase SME competitiveness.
The dialogue will be facilitated through the Global Development Learning Network (GDLN) and aims to provide a discussion forum for those in Latin America’s private and public sectors committed to e-Business development. It is LCRKM’s objective to identify ways to support and encourage intermediate organizations to provide programs that support SME e-Business adoption.
This discussion –offered via video conference- aims at discussing –by means of successful programs put in place by intermediate organizations- the following:
- What factors explain the privileged role that intermediate organizations can play in support of SME e-Business adoption?
- What makes a support program by intermediate organizations successful? Diagnostics, benchmarking, incentives (both for SME and solution providers), capacity building and training, financing, and institutional framework (decentralized intermediate agencies, ICT-based business centers, etc.)
- What partnerships have to be put in place? Private sector involvement, government support (alignment with country’s national competitiveness agenda)
- What initiatives of this kind exist in Latin America? What does it take to create one? What factors –intrinsic to the region- have to be considered?
The main speakers from the Madrid Chamber of Commerce (www.camaramadrid.es) and the Santiago de Chile Chamber of Commerce (www.ccs.cl) will discuss these questions and illustrate their approaches to SME support in the ICT and e-Business field.
Documentation:
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