ITC at WSIS 2005: 
e@Work: Small Business, ICT and Export Growth
15th November 2005, 
Room Zaghouan, 15.00 - 18.30  

 

The prime objective of this joint ITC-CBI initiative was to promote e-trade and business dimensions of the Digital Economy and bring the voice of Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) of developing countries into the global ICT policymaking during the World Summit on Information Society. 

The interactive workshop on 15 November 2005 focussed on “e@Work: Small Business, ICT and Export Growth”. 

It addressed critical issues of online exports faced by business communities of developing and transition economies in their daily operations. Lessons learned and best practices on IT-enabled services, business process outsourcing (BPO) and e-marketplaces will serve as practical guides in the formulation of constructive responses to new global information technology and trade development challenges. The event will further promote multi-stakeholder public-private partnerships. 

Below is the Workshop Programme and presentations:

 

15:00	Opening of the Parallel Event R. Badrinath, Director, Division of Trade Support Services, ITC Introduction and setting the scene
15:10	E @ Work: Two Years After WSIS Geneva 2003 Nikolai Sémine, Chief, e-Trade Development Unit, ITC  E @ Work Overview, including global trade dynamics, impact of technology, poles of growth (ITES), and SME hopes and aspiration. Click here for the presentation (HTML Format)
15:20	Export of Online Services: A Key Driver or Market Hype El Haj Gley, President Director General, La Poste Tunisienne, Tunisia The role of ITES for developing countries and in Tunisian economy; e-Dinar – facilitating and expanding network of SME users; benefits for small business; ingredients of success; and the role of international donor community. Click here for the presentation (PDF Format, KB)
15:50	IT Services and Outsourcing: New Frontiers for Export Growth Martin Bitter, Director, Exportant, Marketing Consultants, The Netherlands CBI’s programme on ITO and BPO programmes, its experiences so far and its aims. EU market information: industrial demand and production, offshort outsourcing, offshore locations, trade structure EU market access requirements: non-tariff barriers, tariffs and quotas. Click here for the presentation (HTML Format, KB)
16:20	IT-Enabled Services: The Needs of SMEs in Developing Countries Matthew Wake, Consultant on e-Business Network Development, ITC, and  Hugo Gallagos, General Manager, E-Info Estratégica SAC, Peru and consultant on IT, e-commerce and e-government policies. The case for exporting services has been made. But how do you unlock the market potential and put into the hands of business managers in developing countres? This presentation will elaborate a four-step approach designed to assist strategy makers and SMEs to take advantage of the opportunities opened by the Internet. Click here for the presentation (PDF Format, 271 KB) Reality Check: Peru is ranked number 50 on the Economist’s Intelligence Unit’s e-Readiness Rankings.It has low levels of connectivitiy and business adoption of ICT. Can e-services really make a difference? This speaker will provide perspectives from the Peruvian public and private sector and comment on the e-services environment in Peru and the current export market, highight policy and business constraints, oultine existing or potential market opportunities and offer growth scenarios. Click here for the presentation (HTML Format)
16:40	Question and Answer Session
16:50	Hunt for New e-Business Opportunities: EU Requirements for Online Exporters Martin Bitter What SMEs in developing countries should know about e-business opportunities offered by the EU. CBI’s strategic E-Business workshops for SME and the way these will be developed and implemented with CBI’s partners, the national/regional BSO. Click here for the presentation (HTML Format)
17.00	Industrial Information Network Salman Khalid, Project Manager. Industrial Information Network, SME Development Authority, Pakistan Click here for the presentation (HTML Format)
17:10	The Shift to Services: Sri Lanka’s Offshore Potential Chitranganie Mubarak, Programme Manager, ICT Agency of Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, in partnership with the private sector, is actively developing the BPO service industry by shaping favourable government policies, increasing industry capacity and ensuring its international competitiveness. This speaker will articulate the needs and aspirations of Sri Lanka's BPO/ITES sector. She will explain what roles need to be played by the public and private sector, ICT associations and international organizations to develop this sector, create employment and boost economic development. Click here for the presentation (PDF Format, KB)
17:25	New Approaches to Create e-Markets That Work Walter Duss, Senior Business Consultant, Metaversum Ltd., Switzerland, and  Daniel Salcedo, CEO PeopLink, USA Three new developments funded by seco, TRADO, MiPyme and CatGen are each making a contribution to create markets that work in and form SMEs in developing countries. Each targeting a different market segment, they have the possibility to combine into a general market creation system that will benefit developing countries and increase international trade. Click here for the presentation of Walter Duss(PDF Format, KB) Click here for the presentation of Daniel Salcedo (HTML Format)
17:45	Trade at Hand: Harnessing the Potential of M-Business for International Trade Raphaël Dard, Associate Expert, E-Trade Development Unit, ITC and  Mr. Issaka Kargougou, Director, Maison de l’entreprise du Burkina Faso In an effort to strengthen African commodity exporters in their business negotiations, the ITC and the ITU have joined hands to study the feasibility of a business information distribution system based on mobile phones. This presentation will focus on preliminary findings of a potential assessment conducted in Burkina Faso and the main challenges that arise for the stakeholders. Click here for the presentation (HTML Format)
18:00	Question and Answer Session and Panel Discussion
18:30	Closing of the Parallel Event