Lessons Learned from the APEC Informatization Project

at 2005 APEC Informatization Forum for Small and Medium Enterprises August 27, 2005

by Joo-Yong Kim, Ph.D. e-mail: [email protected]

KIMI Korea Information Management Institute for SMEs

SME 02/2004 (Mar 2003 – Oct 2004)

Enabling e-MES environment – through survey and e-community based capacity building

1 Informatization Survey (July 2003 – November 2003) 2 Informatization Policy Forum (July 15-16, 2004) 3 Training Workshop (October 11-21, 2004)

Aim and Objectives

• Aim – Provide SMEs with windows of opportunity for upgrading skills of ICT through the development of e-community models • Objectives – Share best policies and practices with policymakers and practitioners in APEC – Analyze influencing factors and impediments to informatization promotion – Enhance human capacity of designing, developing, implementing and evaluating SME informatization

Outcomes

• Comprehensive survey report on SME Informatization: – Details for 21 member economies in APEC

(1) Trends (2) Definition of SMEs (3) Strategy and progress (4) Government Organizations (5) Major policies and projects (6) Efforts from the private sector (7) Overall assessment

– Comparison and analysis • A proceeding book of a forum with 17 presentations – Diverse discussions with 24 speakers from 11 economies • A training manual with 11 different topics – Active 23 participants from 11 economies in 11 classes, 2 group discussions and 3 field trips for 11 days – 5 lecturers from APEC economies and 8 from Korea

For detailed information, visit

www.apec-esme.or.kr

Policy comparison

Support Policy

Infor mation

Spectrum of Programs

Infra structure Financing On site Consulting e-biz network SME focused (Group I)

High Tier

Generic ICT (Group II)

Low Tier

No Noticeable (Group III) Chinese Taipei, USA Japan, Korea Canada, New Zealand Hong Kong Australia Hong Kong Australia Singapore China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Chile, Mexico, Peru, Philippines, Russia, Vietnam, Papua New Guinea, Brunei

Intermediary

• Public intermediaries specializing in SME informatization – More productive in enforcement of informatization policies • Specialized intermediary has dedicated human skills and information • Government has administrative burden and a lack of expertise • Private intermediaries representing SMEs – Industry and/or trade associations •

e.g.

chamber of commerce and federation of small businesses •

e.g.

industrial complex for SMEs – More effective in

e-community approach

• •

e.g.

portal site for common purchase and sale

e.g.

infrastructure establishment for common use by SMEs

Influential Factors

• National ICT infrastructure – SMEs in high tier have access to broadband Internet • at reasonable Internet access cost • Business Environment – SMEs in high tier are under more pressure to install application systems from business partners in the value chain • Supporting organizations – Public intermediaries dedicated to execution of informatization policies •

e.g.

KIMI (Korea Information Management Institute for SMEs) – Private intermediaries such as business or industry associations •

e.g.

Franchise Promotion Association in Chinese Taipei; Tokyo Fasteners Cooperative Association in Japan

Findings(1)

• Digital divide exists in APEC – Huge gap in accessibility to telecommunication infrastructures • High Internet access fees and low Internet access speed • High prices of software and hardware – SMEs in advanced economies are more pressured to adopt informatization from business partners – Reduction of digital gap is indispensable for the Bogor Goal of “free and open trade and investment” by 2020 • Intermediary’s role gets bigger – Public intermediaries specializing in SME informatization are effective in promoting and disseminating ICT utilization

Findings(2)

• Sharing and reuse of project results in APEC – Measurable metrics to assess policies and practices as “Best” – Inventory management of informatization models •

Do not re-invent the wheel, but innovate the wheel

•

CoP (Community of Practices) as a benchmarking site

• Barriers in the sequence of financing, human resources and ICT capability – Low tier economies are encouraged to undertake government-led network building among stake holders – Well-programmed human capacity building leads to enhanced awareness

Lessons Learned(1)

• Successful survey in APEC – Sufficient time is essential to obtain cooperation from member economies • In particular, it must be sufficient enough for the member economy concerned to verify accuracy of its survey report – Surveys at the level of individual SMEs art not attempted unless the member economy has done it before • Open forum to invite demand side of SMEs as well as supply side of Government – More attention should be paid to private sector for their real voices about informatization – Programs of human capacity building should also address specific needs of SMEs

Lessons Learned(2)

• Improvement of training workshop – Participants prefer practical experiences of advanced economies rather than theories • At the same time, they expect to introduce their economy’s policies and status – More time should be allotted to group discussions with facilitators and participants – Participants desired workshop period to be 10 days

Suggestions

Suggestions

• A concrete cooperative mechanism to be established as a channel in APEC – According to “SME Coordination Framework” defined in 2004, more vivid activities are expected for better cooperation between APEC fora and SMEWG • For instance, there were talks between TELWG and SMEWG in April, 2005 • Remedy for issues on a voluntary basis – Korea proposed and established “APEC-IC: APEC innovation center for SMEs” in 2005 •

cf

ADOC (APEC Digital Opportunity Center) by Chinese Taipei – Korea also provides a website for APEC SMEWG in 2005 •

cf

www.apectelwg.org

is also administered by Korea

APEC-IC: Main Functions

1 st Stage (2006

∼

07) 2 nd Stage (2008

∼

09) Education & Training

Training workshop and experience sharing

Innovation Model Development

Policy studies and assessment model development

Network Building

APEC SME innovation conference APEC SME innovation leaders club Innovation management practices for SMEs Cluster visiting and experts dispatch

3 rd Stage (2010

∼

)

APEC innovation institute conferring diploma Award for innovation by APEC leader Joint conference with APEC fora  Web site and “APEC Innovation Brief for SMEs” during years