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Focus Session Report
Promoting
e-competency
Assessing needs and building awareness
IS AWARENESS THE MAIN PROBLEM?
One of the issues debated in this session was
whether awareness
is in fact the key problem.
The information that has created the
awareness is sometimes
false and has led to the generation of myths.
A second problem is that this information has
sometimes raised
expectations of what
e-commerce can do to an unrealistic level.
This makes it important to encourage
enterprises to take in
information critically.
It is important to move from general
awareness-raising to allowing
enterprises to get a realistic
feeling for what they can do with
e-commerce. This
should be done with a two pronged approach - targeting
the general population and the information specialists
simultaneously (i.e. those who
can learn about the internet and
then impart their
knowledge to others such as librarians).
WHAT ARE THE NEEDS OF SMEs?
- Depends on the country; in some access is
still a problem, in others it is a
question of learning why and how to use the medium.
- Language may be a problem in many
countries.
- Focus on what the individual or company
needs to know and
what the firm can out-source
- this requirement will also help spawn
new businesses to
deal with the technical issues that firms do not
necessarily need to
have as a capability in house.
TO MAKE IT REAL FOR INDIVIDUALS AND
COMPANIES
- Provide success stories that they can
relate to.
- The help should come from people that are
like them.
- Create environment for experiential
learning: give them the tools to
explore learning by doing.
- Create environment for experience exchange
(community centres).
- Start at the grass roots level (the Peru
example).
- Train the right people in companies.
- Follow up companies to keep momentum going.
** Case studies: An important way to
capture and promote success
- Show companies examples that they can
relate to.
- Provide good and bad examples.
- Work with small number of companies to
create showcase examples, that way you
will know the whole story and be able to
pass on the experience
gained.
TO MAKE IT FIT THE COUNTRY SITUATION
- Remember there are no recipes.
- Reinvent the internet to suit your own
conditions.
- The internet is a tool not an end in
itself.
- Build on community to find ways of bringing
internet to people.
- Take small steps, don't try to do
everything at once.
- Achieve some quick wins to show impact and
create interest.
ARE INSTITUTIONS DOING A GOOD JOB?
Trade promotion organisations are not always
fully aware of the possibilities and need
to educate themselves and keep up
to date in order to be of real
help to companies.
(Reporting: Yolanda Gibb, ITC)
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