19th Conference of the European e-Business Support Network for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises
Logo eBSN
© eBusiness
- On: 13.10.2008
- In: Paris
The conference will review the e-business support currently provided to European businesses and will facilitate discussion on which actions to implement to foster the exchange of best practices in this sector.
The European e-Business Support Network for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), known as e-Business (eBSN), brings together decision-makers and public policymakers and experts with a view to improving the competitiveness of SMEs, through more effective use of information and communication technologies (ICT). This conference will be an opportunity to:
- review the current situation regarding the use of ICT by PMEs and sectoral policies in the European Union;
- share experiences on cross-sectoral processes and relations;
- discuss the issues that ICT raises for SMEs and debate which policies to implement.
Several Member States have launched initiatives over recent years to facilitate business-to-business exchange in the supply chains of industrial sectors. These sectoral policies, which encourage economic stakeholders to speed up the changes generated by ICT, are particularly important, covering two noteworthy aspects:
- easier stakeholder involvement through the strong mobilisation of professional associations supporting such initiatives;
- the framework of this network is well-suited to tackling the most advanced e-Business challenges, such as the complete dematerialisation of information chains.
Nevertheless, the sectoral approach is not enough and must be completed with a cross-sectoral approach.
One of the challenges facing sectoral policies is the complexity of supply chains, particularly for businesses which interact with different industrial sectors. The most advanced initiatives have thus demonstrated that cross-sectoral relations are essential for subcontractors as these SMEs have customers in different sectors. These initiatives can involve processes such as transport, invoicing and payment and must be implemented in addition to the sectoral approach.
- Updated: 23.12.2008
