8/14/2019 Putting E to Work

1/2

From agriculture to industrial products,consumer goods and professional services,information and communications technologies(ICTs) matter. Firms can apply them to save costs

when they conduct market research, organize export

processes, and manage payments and customerrelations.

Recognizing the potential of ICTs is one thing;applying them to boost the bottom line is another.

Faced with a sometimes bewildering choice of e-

Putting E to work

A fundamental question for rms today is, How can ehelp me compete?

Challenges

12

8/14/2019 Putting E to Work

2/2

Solutions E-readiness. If a country is e-ready in terms

of its populations culture and skills, its more likelyto apply ICTs successfully to trade. Governmentsneed to invest in e-literacy drives, for example, byswitching to e-government services.

E-trade strategy. Governments shouldimplement a legal and regulatory framework thatpromotes, rather than blocks, e-trade. Export

strategy-makers need to adopt an e-businessvision and practical plans to help the businesscommunity take up e, starting with advocacy toraise awareness. To move from awareness to action,exporters need technology applications that workin their local environment and opportunities tolearn from others. When integrating e in business,they may not need the most expensive technology just the most appropriate.

To move to e-competence , exporters needtraining and information about e-business skills andissues such as trust and security.

How ITCCan Help ITC helps demystify the ways ICTs can be applied

to increase exports, working with exporters and those whosupport them. Through contributions to the World Summiton the Information Society (WSIS), ITC helps bring the voiceof exporters in developing countries into the informationsociety. ITC is using recommendations from the WSIS ActionPlan to redesign its e-related programmes.

E at ITC.Exporters can increase efciency andsales with tools such as Internet auctions for gourmetcoffee, online market analysis of winning export sectors,e-procurement training for suppliers of relief items, onlineexport readiness diagnostic tools and more.

ITC provides information on e-trade opportunities withprogrammes such as regional e-business forums and hasproduced over 70 articles on e in its magazine, International Trade Forum .

The E-trade Bridge Programme, currently in27 countries, integrates many of the tools above to helpcreate e-competitive rms and build capacities in theinstitutions that support them.

business solutions, small exporters need to know which applications will boost visibility, improveefficiency or enhance products. ey cover a widerange: developing a web site; using business-to-business e-marketplaces; using mobile phones tomanage supply and distribution chains; and more.

ICTs also open up new opportunities to exporte-related products and services, such as computercomponents, software programming and back-officeservices. But unless theyre informed and competentin using ICTs, rms cant take advantage of new opportunities.

In developing countries, where Internetconnections are often limited or expensive, it can be a

major challenge to develop an e-culture and apply ecreatively to trade.

Putting e to work for trade doesnt happenautomatically: countries need to manage the process.

ey need e-trade strategies that go beyond the issueof connectivity and address business realities liketrust, costs and industry structures. ey need theessentials such as access to nance, roads, transportand energy.

With those foundations in place, ICTs can helpdeveloping country rms bridge the digital divide andleapfrog growth.

13