The UK Government’s programme to ensure that the UK is a world leader in the new knowledge economy is the UK Online Strategy. The Strategy which was published as part of the e-Minister and e-Envoy’s first Annual Report, sets out a range of recommendations for action across the e-agenda.

There are three core objectives

· To make the UK the best environment in the world for e-commerce by 2002

· To ensure that everyone who wants it has access to the Internet by 2005

· To make all government services available on line by 2005.

As summarised above, the Government’s goal for UK Online strategy, as set out in the September 2000 UK Online Annual Report, cover the five areas in which the UK need to excel if it is to lead in the new knowledge driven economy.

· Modern markets: a market framework which both empowers consumers (individuals, in business and in government) and encourages competition and innovation from the industries which serve them

· Confident people: people who have the access they need to information and communication technologies, along with the trust, skills and motivation to use them

· Successful businesses: companies across the economy exploiting information and communication technologies to win business advantage

· Government on-line: leading-edge use of new technology in the public sector

· World class supply sectors: IT, electronics and communications supply sectors which are innovative, dynamic and growing.

The UK Online Strategy is overseen by the e-Minister and the e-Envoy, who report directly to the Prime Minister. At a political level, the e-Minister is supported by Ministerial colleagues across Whitehall and the Devolved Administrations in the Information Age Ministerial Network (IAMN). At an official level, the e-Minister and e-Envoy are supported by a group of ‘e-Champions’. The e-Champions are a group of senior officials from each Government Department (formerly Information Age Government Champions).

1.1 Modern Markets

1.1.1 Goal

· To develop the UK as the world’s best environment for electronic trading by 2002

1.1.2 Commitments

Under this strategy the UK Government has set out the following commitments

1. Drive forward competition in Internet access markets.

q Consult on competitiveness of dial-up access to the Internet

q Unbundle local loop

q Consult on competition for leased lines

q Promote rapid uptake of digital interactive TV

q Ensure competitive roll-out of 3G mobile telephones

2. Establish a new framework for regulation of the converging markets of telecommunications and broadcasting.

q Publish White Paper

3. Identify and remove all remaining regulatory and legal barriers to electronic ways of working in the UK

q Remove 70% of identified barriers by end 2001, and 100% by end 2002

4. Take action with international partners to develop an effective, light-touch global framework for e-commerce

q Work with the European Commission and other Member States to implement the e-Europe action plan. In particular the UK Government’s priorities are those aspects of the Action Plan dealing with completion of the legal and co-regulatory framework for e-commerce, increased competition in communications markets, and promotion of skills and education

q Work with EU and other international partners to drive these principles forward in the wider international arena

q Promote adoption internationally of: ‘country of origin’ principle;

q Promote internationally the UK’s co-regulatory approach to the Internet

q Encourage the development of Alternative Dispute Resolution mechanisms for e-commerce internationally

q Press for transparent and liberal e-commerce framework

q Take international lead in updating tax regime

q Promote information security internationally

q Work with international partners to address the international digital divide by publishing a Development White Paper

1.2 Confident People

1.2.1 Goal

· To ensure that everyone in the UK who wants it will have access to the Internet by 2005

1.2.2 Commitments

Under this strategy the UK Government has set out the following commitments

5. Implement a package of measures to improve access to the Internet at home, at work and in the community

At home:

q Encourage employers to provide PCs and Internet access for home use

q Encourage low-cost leasing schemes for public sector employees

q Low cost recycled PCs for 100,000 low-income families

At work:

q Promote benefits to employers of having all employees with Internet access

q Government departments to address benefits of access for all staff

In the community:

q Establish network of UK online centres

q All public libraries to offer Internet access with trained staff to offer support

q Pilot new initiatives in post offices to help people access and use the Internet

q Pilot access for disadvantaged communities

6. Embed information and communication technology (ICT) skills in the education system and throughout lifelong learning

q This will be achieved through a range of ICT related actions in the education system and in the lifelong learning environment.

7. Work with industry to ensure a safe and secure environment for e-commerce and to help people trust the Internet

q This will be achieved through a range of actions to protect children, reduce on-line fraud, combat on-line criminal activity and protect online security.

q In particular, on-line fraud will be reduced by encouraging the credit card industry to establish online address verification system and promoting the tScheme, a self-regulatory system of approved ‘trust service providers’ (organisations offering services which allow messages to be electronically signed, ensure they cannot be changed in transit and make sure they remain confidential)

q On-line security will be protected by expanding the DTI’s promotion to business of information security best practice (BS 7799); putting information security at the heart of e-government and ensuring protection against attacks on critical national information infrastructure.

8. Help increase people’s motivation to access the Internet by driving up the amount and quality of social content

1.3 Successful Businesses

1.3.1 Goals

· 1 million SMEs actually trading online

· The UK’s smaller businesses (under 100 employees) to have reached the level of the international best in use of e-business

· A higher proportion of business-to-business and business-to-consumer transactions taking place electronically in the UK than in any other G7 country

1.3.2 Commitments

Under this strategy the UK Government has set out the following commitments

9. Invest an additional £25m over three years to help small businesses exploit the potential of ICT

q Boost marketing of UK online for business

q Additional advisers for UK online for business front-line

q Web-enabled call centre with ‘virtual expert’ support system

q Raise awareness of fiscal incentives for small businesses.

10. Support industry in improving competitiveness through e-business technologies and processes

q Sponsor and disseminate e-business research and analysis:

q Publish overview of sectoral impact of e-commerce

q Facilitate rapid transfer of e-business expertise between businesses and between sectors

q Work with industry on activities designed to improve competitiveness through e-business

1.4 Government Online

1.4.1 Goals

· 100% of government services are available online by 2005

· 90% of low value goods and services (by volume) are purchased electronically by March 2001

· 100% of procurement by civil central government is tendered electronically by 2002

1.4.2 Commitments

Under this strategy the UK Government has set out the following commitments

11. Get all government services online

q Improve the customer front-end

q Join up the back-office systems

q Set standards

q Improve the organisational capacity of government to deliver electronic services

q Champion private and voluntary sector involvement in the delivery of electronic government services

12. Drive forward towards e-procurement and e-tendering targets

q Develop coherence and standardisation in e-procurement

q Provide advice and guidance on e-procurement systems, tools and techniques

q Innovative pilot e-procurement projects

q 50% e-tendering by 2001

q 100% e-tendering by 2002

13. Implement a cross-government knowledge management system

14. Drive forward citizen participation in democracy as part of the UK online citizen portal

15. Drive forward the use of authentication services both for e-government services and within government itself

q Work with Trusted Service Providers to ensure interoperability with government

q Identify suitable security and authentication technologies in the marketplace to support government Electronic Service Delivery targets

q Exploit and develop government use of Public Key Infrastructure (PKI)

q Define relationship between government PKI and the tScheme

1.5 World Class Supply

1.5.1 Goal

· To help the UK-based IT, electronics, communications and content sectors contribute to improving the UK’s competitiveness by narrowing the productivity gap with the USA, France, Germany and Japan over the economic cycle

1.5.2 Commitments

Under this strategy the UK Government has set out the following commitments

16. Implement a strategy to make the UK the number one country for the supply of high-level ITEC (the IT, electronics, communications and content) skills, taking account of the recommendations of ‘Skills for the Information Age’

q Invest at least £8m to drive forward the ITEC skills strategy

17. Invest in leading-edge e-science

q Ensure businesses maximise benefits from investments in science-based infrastructure

18. Facilitate ITEC knowledge transfer

q Incentive universities to commercialise ITEC research

q Facilitate links between the ITEC sector, universities and other sectors of the economy

q Review actions needed to facilitate cluster development in the ITEC sector

19. Implement an action plan for growth for the digital content sector, including through liberalised access to government information

20. Work with industry to develop a UK strategy for m-commerce

q Develop a strategy for secure, innovative introduction of m-commerce

q Host 3G mobile conference

1.6 E-leadership

1.6.1 Goal

· To provide the leadership and coordination in government needed to make the UK a leading Internet-enabled knowledge economy

1.6.2 Commitments

Under this strategy the UK Government has set out the following commitments

21. Establish new mechanisms to coordinate access and skills initiatives at national, regional and local level

q Michael Wills, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, DfEE, to take lead in coordinating community-based IT access and skills initiatives at national, regional and local level, working with e-Minister, e-Envoy and DCMS Ministers

q Government Offices in England and Wales to coordinate implementation of these initiatives at local and regional level, reporting on progress to the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State every six months

22. Further develop and implement the UK online campaign

1.7 Measuring Success

1.7.1 Goal

· To ensure that government has the information it needs to develop its policies on making the UK the best place in the world for e-commerce, and to monitor progress towards that objective

1.7.2 Commitments

Under this strategy the UK Government has set out the following commitments

23. Secure international agreement to a common framework for measuring e-commerce

q Complete agreement on a common definition

q Agree core set of common questions

24. Improve e-commerce measurement in the UK

q Work with Information Age Partnership to identify global benchmarks for measuring the UK’s success

25. Implement a programme to evaluate the net economic impact of e-commerce

q First economic impact study undertaken

2. Devolved Administrations Strategy

2.1 Wales

· The overall framework for creating the right climate and conditions in Wales for making progress is the National Assembly for Wales’ first strategic plan, BetterWales.com; published in May 2000

· Wales has participated in the European Commission’s Regional Information Society Initiative. This project, coordinated by the Welsh Development Agency (WDA), has initiated a number of large-scale programmes aimed at raising awareness of the benefits of ICT and in addition has developed a consensus-based Strategy and Action Plan for an all-Wales Information Society

· The National Assembly published for public consultation in October 2000 an ICT Strategy for Wales.

2.1.1 Modern Markets

· The Wales Information Society (WIS) has in its Strategy and Action plan set out how Welsh business can be transformed by the use of modern information and communications technologies

· The Welsh Development Agency (WDA) has been providing independent advice and guidance on ICT and on the opportunities offered by e-commerce to SMEs

· BetterWales.com sets a target of 50% of Welsh companies using e-commerce by 2003 and the creation by that date of 40,000 net additional jobs, largely by the exploitation of the opportunities offered by ICT

2.1.2 Confident People

· The Assembly’s £18 million Education ICT strategy will provide school and adult learners with access to ICT, actively promoting the National Grid for Learning, Lifelong Learning and social inclusion.

· A national framework of Individual Learning Accounts will be available to everyone over 18 to help them plan and pay for their learning. The initial Welsh scheme was introduced in 1999-2000.

· The University for Industry will open 50 ‘cyswllt dysgu learndirect’ learning centres in Wales by March 2001.

· £13 million from the New Opportunities Fund’s Community Access to Lifelong Learning (CALL) will support;

q the development of ICT learning for adults at learning centres;

q the development of Community Grids for Learning, which support the National Grid for Learning and provide community-based websites which are relevant and interesting; and

q through library authorities, the creation of a People’s Network of ICT learning centres in public libraries.

2.1.3 Successful Businesses

· Operating through a team of ICT Business Advisors, under the aegis of the existing network of IT Support Centres, the Welsh Development Agency’s Wales SE-Business programme is helping SMEs throughout Wales to exploit and maximise the benefits of ICT

· The programme aims to reach more than 10,000 businesses to help them to determine their specific business needs and to identify the relevant technology /application solutions. The project will cost £5 million and is supported by European funding.

· Know-How Wales - an initiative that provides teams of people dedicated to brokering additional and more effective commercial collaborations between academic institutions and businesses has been introduced. With the joint sponsorship of the WDA and the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales (HEFCW), creating seven Commercial Manager posts to help the host Centres of Expertise to commercialise more of their knowledge and expertise.

· A Knowledge Exploitation Fund of £4 million in 2000-01 and £10 million in 2001-02 to accelerate the exploitation of research and development and other knowledge and expertise, and to boost the wealth creating capabilities of further and higher education institutions in Wales has been established.

· Assembly funding of the Teaching Company scheme has been increased and the further education equivalent scheme - Colleges and Businesses in Partnership - has been introduced ahead of the rest of the UK

2.1.4 Getting Government Online

· The National Assembly has, since its inception in May 1999, made extensive use of IT to discharge its daily business. Extensive use is made of the Internet, including the point of first appearance for all Assembly papers and the Record of Proceedings.

· Public consultation is carried via the Internet.

· The WDA is leading a widely supported project to establish within the next 12 months a broadband, high-speed public service network in Wales

· To encourage efficient electronic working with its partners, the Assembly has installed a videoconferencing network, which connects eight Assembly sites with the Wales Office in London, the 22 Welsh unitary authorities and the headquarters of the Welsh Local Government Association

· Examples of innovative practice in local government in Wales include Powys County Council use of the Internet and other channels to network all council services and Gwynedd County Council’s use of live webcasting of council meetings.

· The NHS in Wales has been exploring the use of telemedicine and has an extensive telecommunications infrastructure in place. High level plans for the development of ICT in the NHS in Wales are set out in the Strategic Plan Better Information, Better Health

· The LlwybrwPathway Rural Information Society programme is an example of partnership, part funded by the EU, of over 150 organisations, providing a rural area network linking health authorities, schools, businesses, voluntary agencies and government offices across nine counties in rural Wales. It has increased opportunities for the public to access the Internet and ICT-based local services via 156 public access points. These include cooperation with the Employment Service to offer the extremely popular and well-used ‘Jobs on Line’ feature.

2.2 Scotland

2.2.1 Digital Scotland

· Digital Scotland is a Scottish Executive initiative which aims to ensure that Scotland obtains and retains maximum economic and social advantage from information and communication technologies. The Digital Scotland Taskforce’s report was published for consultation in May 2000. The report made over 60 recommendations which relate to e-business, e-education, e-public services, e-inclusion, telecommunications infrastructure and skills.

2.2.2 E-commerce

· As recommended in e-commerce@its.best.uk the Scottish Executive has been working with the enterprise network to address e-commerce as a priority in its economic development strategies. A first Priority Business Action Plan - Connecting Scotland, The First Wave - was published in February 2000 and this was followed by an overall strategy statement which sets out four key areas for action: accelerating business take-up, accelerating supply side development, creating the right environment for e-commerce and developing the right skills.

2.2.3 Helping Individuals To Get Online

· The Scottish Executive is committed to major improvements in the ICT infrastructure in schools. Over £80 million has been made available to Scottish local authorities to develop the National Grid for Learning in schools. By 2002 it is expected that the pupil:modern computer ratio in primary schools will be 7.5:1 and in secondary schools 5:1.

· The Scottish Executive is looking at how to provide broadband links to all Scottish schools, so that pupils and teachers everywhere in the country will be able to benefit from equal access to e-mail, videoconferencing, high-quality educational materials, and other resources and services.

· Nearly 4,800 (10%) of Scottish teachers have already been helped to buy their own computers with a £200 refund from the Scottish Executive. This scheme will play an important part in helping teachers to become confident in the use of ICT.

· Training in the classroom use of ICT is available to Scottish teachers and school librarians through the programme operated by the New Opportunities Fund.

· The cross-cutting review of the knowledge economy recommended that the skills requirement of the ICT industries based in Scotland needs to be addressed; and Scottish universities play a major role in the development of the e-sciences.

· Within Further Education £29m has been committed for the period 1999-2002 to build the Further Education element of the National Grid for Learning. Key strategic objectives of this ICT strategy are improvements in infrastructure and staff development and a significant proportion of this funding will be directed towards these elements.

· Learndirect Scotland will brand a network of learning centres across Scotland, provide a learning support environment for online learners and commission ICT learning materials where there are gaps in provision.

· Under the Individual Learning Accounts initiative, implemented across Scotland in September 2000, grants and discounts on a wide range of learning will include 80% discounts on the costs of basic courses in computers.

2.2.4 Getting Government On-line

· The Scottish Executive supports the objectives of the UK ‘e-government strategy’ of 100% of public services would be available on-line by 2005 and is developing its own separate but complementary framework to achieve this aim.

· The Modernising Government Fund will provide some £25 million over the next two years to innovate public sector projects which are aimed at improving the quality, effectiveness and efficiency of public services in Scotland often through the application of ICT.

· To take forward electronic procurement, the Executive has established a Procurement Supervisory Board

2.3 Northern Ireland

A new corporate strategic framework for e-government has been developed to apply across the public services in Northern Ireland.

2.3.1 E-commerce

· Following a review of economic development strategy in Northern Ireland, the Information Age Initiative (IAI) was established in September 1999. This advisory group, comprising industry, academic and Government representatives, was tasked with preparing a strategic framework and comprehensive action plan aimed at ensuring that Northern Ireland takes maximum advantage of the opportunities offered by information and communication technologies (ICTs).

· The vision of the Information Age Initiative is to see 'a highly attractive, successful, dynamic and supportive knowledge-based economy in Northern Ireland'.

· The IAI recognised that realising this vision would require creative promotion and positioning of the messages to the business community. This resulted in the creation of the ‘Leapfrog’ brand which symbolises the stepped change or ‘leap’ which Northern Ireland must make.

· In April 2000 the IAI’s Strategic Framework and Action Plan ‘Leapfrog to the Information Age’ (www.leapfrog.gov.uk) was launched. The Action Plan had three key aims:

q to encourage all Northern Ireland businesses to adopt and use ICTs throughout their organisations;

q to develop the ICT sector to provide growth opportunities in the digital communications, electronics, multimedia and software sectors; and

q the enhancement of an environment supporting the knowledge economy.

· The Strategic Framework is based on a model produced by the IAI for the adoption of ICTs throughout organisations - The Connectivity Chain; along with a Three Channel Growth model for the development of the ICT Sector.

· Organisations are expected to progress along the Connectivity Chain, through the stages of awareness, access, presence, trading and ultimately becoming full e-businesses. Marketing efforts by the IAI have successfully achieved a significant level of awareness right across Northern Ireland and private sector marketing campaigns are now taking the lead.

· The Plan also contains a range of 25 innovative and creative Actions to support the three key priorities. These include:

q Joined Up Private Sector. The Information Age Initiative is keen to facilitate a ‘meeting of minds’ of key private sector organisations which have a direct relation with the entire customer base of Northern Ireland to explore opportunities for working together and providing synergy to their respective e-activity.

q E-Commerce Training. In January 2000 the Northern Ireland Training and Employment Agency ran the ‘Training for Buttons’ introductory workshops with the objective of providing information for participants to enable them to decide whether e-commerce was appropriate for them and provide advice on how to develop an e-commerce strategy. Over 2,000 places were booked

q ICT Showcase. The Information Age Initiative is keen that the very best in the Northern Ireland ICT sector is showcased with the aims of developing and growing the sector. A fully interactive and multimedia web-enabled database for promoting the sector and employment opportunities available is being developed.

2.3.2 Confident People

· Classroom 2000 is a major project which aims to put computers in every classroom in schools in Northern Ireland. Every pupil will have an e-mail address and the technology will be used to deliver the appropriate parts of the curriculum

· A budget of £9m has been received from the New Opportunities Fund’s Community Access to Lifelong Learning (CALL) to support:

q the development of ICT learning centres for adults;

q the development of appropriate community-based web sites which support the National Grid for Learning; and

q the creation of a network of online centres in public libraries.

The Electronic Libraries for Northern Ireland project has been established to procure for Northern Ireland robust systems that will support and enable the delivery of electronic information services to the Northern Ireland Community

3. UK Online Centres – Access For All

· Key rationale for UK online: Government’s policies are aimed at helping everyone get online. UK online centres will help to give everyone in the UK who wants it access to the internet and e-mail near to where they live, UK online centres may be in local public library, an Internet Café on the High St, a community centre, a village hall or anywhere available to the public.

· Aiming for over 6,000 UK online centres across England. UK Online centres will provide access to new technologies, and help to develop relevant skills.

· According to the UK Online Annual Report published in September 2000 – 600 UK online centres will be set up by March 2001, based wherever suits the needs of local people. They will provide people with access to new technologies and help to develop the skills to use them. By the end of 2002, all 4,300 of the UK’s public libraries will be online, funded through the National Lottery New Opportunities Fund.

· Also piloting Internet access in Post Offices, connecting all our libraries to the Internet and have launched a scheme to allow 100,000 of lowest income families to lease and buy reconditioned computers cheaply.

· According to the April 2001 report from the e-envoy to the Prime Minister – 1,200 UK On-line centres were launched providing public access to computers and the Internet. The Department of Education and Skills also announced in March 2001 plans to equip and open a further 1,050 UK online centres.

· A national TV campaign to attract people into UK online centres began on 28^th February 2001 and a freephone hotline has been set up for information about local centres.

· March 2001 also saw the second phase pilots of the Wired Up Communities programme, an initiative aimed at improving Internet access in some of the poorest estates and most isolated communities in the country by installing computers in homes and schools. These pilots will cover 12,000 homes in 6 communities across England.

4. UK Online For Business

A major component of the UK Online programme is UK Online for Business. It is a partnership between industry and Government to help British business, particularly small and medium sized companies, exploit the business benefits of ICT. Launched in September 2000, it aims to providing impartial, independent advice and help to small businesses on how to succeed in online business.

UK Online For Business has a number of programmes currently operating which according to their website will “help make the UK be the best place in the world for e-commerce”. These programmes are as follows

· Partnership Programme

· E-Commerce Awards & E-Business Start-Up Award

· Supply Chain

· Be Online For Business

· Technology Means Business

· E-business Showcase Events

UK Online for Business also provides information about E-business events taking place in the UK.

The UK Government is spending £25m to provide a comprehensive package of support for SMEs to learn about ICTs, as well as a forum to learn and share ideas and best practice. There is also an extra £60m package to help ramp-up existing services to SMEs including £10m to boost existing help and advice available through UK online for business centres.

4.1 UK Online For Business Partnership Programme

The DTI UK Online for Business initiative has a partnership programme which it hopes will increase awareness amongst small and medium sized companies of the products and services available to help them become e-businesses. The types of partners UK Online for Business is looking for to promote e-commerce are well established UK organisations from the commercial and non commercial sectors with extensive links to SMEs. These can include suppliers and other organisations in the ICT sector, banks, business clubs / networks, training providers, trade associations and public sector organisations.

Partners need to be committed to helping SMEs use new technology and will help the UK Government raise awareness of e-commerce. This can be through providing speakers at e-business events or by supporting elements of the UK Online for Business Programme such as providing sponsorship for the E-commerce awards. For larger companies the benefits of partnership include access to the Partners’ extranet, opportunity to network with other partners and use of the “supporting UK online for business” logo.

4.2 The E-Commerce Awards

These awards are run by UK Online for Business and Interforum, a not for profit campaign group of companies that helps British business trade electronically. The awards have been designed to recognise and award small companies that have demonstrated business excellence through the use of E-commerce. In terms of the awards e-commerce is defined as “selling to the world via the Internet, supplying a large retail chain with specialist products via automated electronic processes or integrating knowledge management systems into your business processes.”

The awards are open to all companies with fewer than 250 employees with their registered office in England, Wales or Northern Ireland. There is a national prize of £30,000 and regional prizes of £5,000 with awards of £2,000 and £1,000 for those in second and third place. In addition to the cash prizes, the winners receive media coverage, a trophy and a virtual website plaque. Each of the 10 finalists in each region receive a Certificate of commendation and each regional winner will receive one free place on a one day short course of their choice from the Institute of Export.

Winners are assessed on the basis of the tangible, quantifiable business benefits that have been achieved through the application of ICT. In particular those judging the awards are looking for entrants to demonstrate a clear set of objectives, an identified target market / audience and how fully the company has applied ICT to their business.

4.2.1 E-Business Start-Up

This is part of the E-Commerce awards but is a separate award category for companies with fewer than 250 employees registered in England, Wales or Northern Ireland after 1^st January 2000 and whose business model from inception has been developed on and supported by Internet technologies. For example this could include organisations who are based on buying, selling and marketing via the Internet or else those who have extended their use of the technology to back office processes. However, an organisation which started life with a traditional business model and migrated across to an internet environment would not be eligible, these would enter the main e-commerce award. (There is a separate award for Scotland called “Winners At The Web Award”. Companies who automatically meet the criteria for this will automatically be entered for this Award.)

The winner receives £10,000 plus a Sun server with a retail value of £10,000 and the runner-up receives £5,000.

4.3 UK Online For Business Supply Chain Programme

The UK Online For Business initiative has a programme called Supply Chains. This provides case study and good practice information for SMEs on how using technology can enhance customer relationships in integrated supply chains. In particular they have produced a free CD-ROM called 'Supplying Electronically' which can be ordered from the UK Online for Business website plus a booklet entitled Linking for Success to help SMEs understand “how a modern customer and supplier partnership approach of sharing information, risk and trust can create long term, win-win relationships”.

Impartial advice for SMEs in improving their trading relationships by using new technology is also available through UK Online for Business Advisers

4.4 Be Online For Business

This UK Online For Business Programme provides practical, tailored and impartial advice on creating and implementing a realistic e-business strategy. The website http://194.74.242.163/bo4b/ invites SMEs to

· Build their own e-business plan by

q identifying the business solutions that will provide the greatest commercial return,

q benefit from practical advice on how to get started

· Learn more about e-business by

q Exploring the issues surrounding successful e-business such as security

q Finding out how other companies are taking advantage of e-business

Developing the e-business plan is a seven stage process which can either be completed online or else worksheets can be printed off which enables SME owners / managers to think about the necessary issues. The plan contains the following steps

q Business Objectives

q Consider Solutions

q E-business Answers

q Review Solutions

q Your business

q Related Subjects

q Your Plan

When the SME manager has entered the relevant information into the online worksheets they will be able to download and save a customised e-business plan that includes

q Details of key selected e-business solutions

q Recommendations to make the initiative a success

q Information on related subjects of interest

4.5 UK Online For Business – Technology Means Business Programme

Technology Means Business (TMB) is the industry standard accreditation for those providing integrated business and ICT advice to SMEs. It was developed following a call from Government and leading technology companies to improve the quality and consistency of advice received by small businesses. It is an organisation within the Institute of Management and is supported by the Department of Trade and Industry under the UK Online for Business Initiative and by four founder sponsors: - BT, Compaq, Intel and Microsoft.

The programme aims to encourage greater uptake and usage of ICT among SMEs. It is also a recognition of the fact that SMEs turn to a variety of sources for advice on the implementation of ICT solutions to business problems, such as bank managers, accountants, ICT re-sellers, independent business and ICT advisers as well as local Business Clubs and UK Online for Business advisers. The ultimate aim of TMB is to improve the competitiveness of UK SMEs through the provision of effective business related ICT advice. Their vision is “Whenever an SME considers seeking ICT advice, their first thought is to seek a TMB approved adviser.”

Technology Means Business has a nation-wide network of accredited advisers who can be searched for through the central directory, maintained on the TMB website www.technologymeansbusiness.org.uk. Businesses can select an adviser by region and specialisation, and according to the TMB website “can be confident that the adviser will give realistic, up-to-date advice in line with business needs”. Every adviser must meet specific criteria and demonstrate a level of competence that combines technical knowledge with business expertise. TMB accredited advisers come from a broad range of general and specialist areas from the private and public sectors including: business support organisations (e.g., Business Link, UK online for business), IT resellers and consultants, independent consultants, financial advisers and banks.

According to the TMB website the availability of accredited advisers providing integrated business and ICT advice provides the following benefits for SMEs

· Access to high quality ICT advice focused on business needs

· Up-to-date advice on the latest technology and links to other sources of useful business information

· Reduction in the time and risk associated with choosing an adviser or supplier

· Reassurance of the adviser's or supplier's credibility and ability to

q Understand the role of ICT in business

q Understand issues facing SMEs

q Keep the use of jargon to a minimum

q Help integrate ICT into their business strategy

q Help identify how the full integration and utilisation of ICT can develop their business

q Assist them in managing the process of change

For advisers who undertake the accreditation, it's not a one-off exercise. Every year, all TMB accredited advisers are reaccredited, to ensure that the advice they give is current and up-to-date.

4.6 E-business Showcase Events

UK Online For business has three different e-commerce showcase events to help inform SMEs typically with fewer that 50 employees about the benefits of e-commerce entitled

· Working Electronically,

· Supplying Electronically

· Sales and Marketing over the Web.

Each includes a live demonstration, presentation, video case studies and audience interaction.

The Working Electronically demonstration encourages SMEs to investigate the potential benefits of working electronically and highlights the independent and impartial local expertise available from UK online for business advisors. The demonstration uses live communication links and takes SMEs through the business processes of a typical small business - from initial customer enquiry through to producing the final invoice. It uses a number of integrated ‘electronic services’ and audience participation to illustrate how business benefits can be realised - the possible reductions in operational costs, faster and more accurate communications, enhanced customer service and better business information.

According to the UK Online website “Working Electronically is not about getting you to buy the latest, state-of-the-art computers. It’s about getting real business benefits out of the technology you already have.”

The Supplying Electronically presentation encourages smaller businesses to investigate the potential benefits of using e-business tools to cut time and cost from the way they do business, and facilitate their customer and supplier relationships. Supplying electronically can help any small business realise the challenge of meeting its customer’s needs – on price, quality, delivery, speed, flexibility and responsiveness.

The presentation explains what e-business is, why trading relationships are changing, and why integrating e-business tools into a company’s general business strategy is important. The demonstration is live and illustrates the business processes of getting a product to market by following the involvement of the 6 companies connected in the product’s supply chain. Step-by-step, the audience is taken from the initial customer order, via purchasing of the component parts, stock issues, design and production, right through to the final delivery.

The ‘Sales and Marketing over the Web’ demonstrator shows how a fully secure, transactional web site can make ordering easier for the customer, increase sales, automate and monitor the whole order process. Focusing around the activities and effects of e-business on one company and its relationships with its key customers, the demonstration considers various web site stages and includes linkages to back office systems, traditional Sales & Marketing methods and business/customer strategies. A sample product is used to illustrate the systems and their benefits - both from the customer’s and the company’s perspective. The presentation and live demonstration focuses on taking the audience step-by-step from a basic brochure type web site through an intermediate site and onto a fully transactional web site.

4.7 Business Link

Business Link www.businesslink.org provided by the Small Business Service – an agency of the UK Government provides a wide range of information about e-commerce and IT for SMEs. In particular the website provides the following information in the following areas.

· Practical Benefits in particular information about the marketing, selling, purchasing and exporting implications and benefits of e-commerce

· Business Issues including

q advice on Internet Start-ups – such as how to trade on-line, the back office implications for an e-commerce site and how to get a merchant status account;

q Strategy & Policies including a draft IT and Internet policy covering topics such as security, access, Internet use, file management, back-up and care of equipment. It can be downloaded from the website and altered to fit individual SME requirements. According to the website this “draft document should get you off to a flying start in preparing a suitable IT and Internet policy for your business…without needing to invest a lot of time and effort in producing it from scratch.”

q Marketing, Finance & Practical Matters

q Frequently Asked questions such as What Does An E-Commerce Business Do?, What Makes E-Commerce Different, Building A Website – In-house or outsource, Customer Service Issues, Marketing channel conflicts, Taking the First Steps,

· Legal Issues including information on

q Data protection

q Six practical steps to doing business in the real world

q Employment issues and defamation

q IT and e-commerce contracts

q Intellectual property issues

q Internet advertising and the law

q Legal overview – where the law meets the web

q Legally Binding Contracts

q Terms and conditions

q The letter of the law

· Technical Issues including Site Design, Site Development & Security Basics

· Computers

· Case Studies of successful e-commerce award winners.

4.7.1 SMART Award

Smart is the Small Business Service initiative that provides grants to help individuals and small and medium-sized businesses to make better use of technology and to develop technologically innovative products and processes.

The following help is available in England (Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own initiatives):

· Technology Reviews
Grants of up to £2,500 for individuals and small and medium-sized firms (those with fewer than 250 employees) towards the costs of expert reviews against best practice.

· Technology Studies
Grants of up to £5,000 for individuals and small and medium-sized firms (fewer than 250 employees) to help identify technological opportunities leading to innovative products and processes.

· Micro Projects
Grants of up to £10,000 to help individuals and micro-firms (fewer than 10 employees) with developing low-cost prototypes of products and processes involving technical advances and/or novelty.

· Feasibility Studies
Grants of up to £45,000 for individuals and small firms (fewer than 50 employees) These help individuals and small businesses assess the technological and commercial prospects for turning innovative technology into new products or processes.

· Development Projects
Grants of up to £150,000 for small and medium-sized firms (fewer than 250 employees). These help small and medium-sized businesses develop to a pre-production prototype stage new products or processes involving a significant technological advance.

· Exceptional Development Projects
Also for small and medium-sized firms (fewer than 250 employees), a small number of exceptional high cost development projects may attract grants of up to £450,000.

4.8 Trade Partners UK

Trade Partners UK unites Government sponsored support for British exporters and investors. The services are provided by a network of more than 200 organisations in government and business. The network includes help in more than 200 countries worldwide.

4.8.1 Trade Partners UK Websites For Exporters

Trade Partners UK have a database of over 2000 websites for exporters. This is a searchable database which helps businesses find free information on the World Wide Web. The database provides links to the following types of websites

· Gateway sites - These sites are lists of links to other websites. They contain little or no information themselves

· Market Information - These sites contain information about a particular country or sector. This information can be statistical, written reports, general economic data or be in many other formats. Trade associations are found under this heading as well

· Contacts - These sites include online Yellow and White pages, trade directories and other sites that provide a large number of contact details

· Business News - Online trade magazines, newspapers and journals

· Commercial Sites - These are private sites which offer export related services. These sites may charge for some or all of the information offered.

· Business to business portals and trading exchanges offer companies the chance to advertise and trade online. Some of these are sector specific and most provide an International marketplace.

Each of these sites has been professionally evaluated by the staff of Trade Partners UK as potentially useful sources of information for UK exporters. The Trade Partners UK criteria for choosing the sites for inclusion in their database are as follows

· Availability of export information such as trade statistics, business regulations and licences, tariff information, demographic and social statistics, financial statistics, contact information, services for exporters, trade portals

· Availability of up to date, current information and evidence of regular updating of the site

· Authority - Official organisations or bodies such as statistical offices, government departments, chambers of commerce and trade associations are preferred in several areas. However other hosts are considered as Trade Partners UK are aware that many commercial sites produce accurate and up to date information

· Sites which do not have a strong export or overseas investment focus are NOT included in the Trade Partners UK website database.

4.8.2 Trade Partners UK E-Business Developments & Opportunities

This is a database of sales leads and opportunities which are identified by Trade Partners UK commercial staff in UK embassies around the world. It can be found at the following URL - http://tradeuk.brightstation.com/tradeuk-db/fx-esl By selecting E-Business development pointers as a product / service an SME can see details of a range of e-commerce opportunities. (For example in a search on 22/11/01 our researcher found the following information)

· 21/11/01 - Brazil: - Online Portal Covering Mining / Energy / IT / Transport / Chemicals/Petrochemicals

· 19/11/01 United States of America: - E-commerce B2b Website For The Telecommunications Industry

· 08/11/01 Philippines: - Electronic Marketplace For The Philippine Agriculture And Fisheries Industry.

· 02/11/01 Brazil: - Recycling Portal

· 02/11/01 Brazil: - B2b Portal For Healthcare, Medical And Dental Products

· 01/11/01 Brazil: - Brazilian Hospital Federation B2b Portal For Suppliers To The Hospital Business.

· 29/10/01 United States of America: - B2b Website For Agricultural Business

· 22/08/01 United States of America: - B2b Marketplace Serving The Automotive Industry With Products And Services.

· 22/08/01 United States of America: - Website For Exchange Of Crop Protection Products, Excess Stocks

· 17/08/01 United States of America: - B2b Portal For The Motion Control Industry With Sales Leads

4.9 National Organisations That Support SME E-Commerce Initiatives

4.9.1 InterForum

InterForum is a not for profit organisation that helps British businesses to trade electronically. All of InterForum’s activities are governed by the need to raise awareness of the many business opportunities and challenges presented by ICT.

The objectives of both Councils are

· To identify, examine and promote understanding of ICT issues of major benefit to UK enterprise

· To promote the development of a cohesive technology infrastructure to shape UK and EC legislation, standards and business practice to help British companies do business electronically

· To lobby and influence - government, standards organisations and business opinion

· To raise the awareness of InterForum Business Council as an authoritative voice

· To contribute to a strong and effective E-Commerce Standard for UK businesses

· Contribute to the development of electronic commerce through publishing case studies and disseminating unbiased information

· They also recognise the need to educate UK businesses and their educational programmes focus on the business implications and uses of new technologies rather than on the technologies themselves.

4.9.2 CBI E-Business Group

The CBI has set up an E-Business Group with the overall objective of helping to build UK competitiveness in the new economy by:

· ensuring that the UK government and international bodies that set policy and regulatory frameworks in the new economy understand the potential and needs of UK businesses

· helping businesses - CBI members - to respond quickly and effectively to the challenges of the new economy.

To achieve this they

· run an e-Business Council drawn from CBI members in all sectors to provide a voice for business as a whole, not just the technology sector, on developments in the new economy, and is therefore authoritative with Government, the media and the business world

· set out the findings from a survey of the current state of e-business in the UK and companies' expectations over the next three years

· run an e-Business Forum which gives CBI members opportunities to exchange experience and ideas more informally, and also to contribute a wider business view to the policy formation process within the e-Business Council

· provide the secretariat for the Information Age Partnership, which acts as advisory body to Government for the supply side

· keep in touch with developments in the e-business environment and business views.

The E-Business Forum is for anyone in a CBI member company who wants to get together with business peers across the sectors to exchange experience and ideas on moving into the information age. The CBI organises meetings for e-Business Forum members to discuss developments all of their policy areas and/or to contribute to policy statements. They also hold exploratory sessions to generate new ideas which enable people across the CBI membership to consider new developments in the knowledge economy and how they could impact the way that organisations work. One potential areas for exploration is Smart services. Here the CBI plans to hold small confidential sessions on how organisations can work together online to do quite new things - not just the old things more efficiently. Example topics include buying professional, creative and consultancy services, co-working to generate new ideas and products, and debating the commoditisation of consultation and media services.

4.9.3 The E-Centre

The e-centre is a non-profit making body which offers a "one stop shop" of help and advice on electronic commerce to UK organisations. It provides a comprehensive suite of services to its members to help them to adopt best practice in doing business electronically. Their vision is to be the pre-eminent, most trusted source of the best standards for business data and the best practices for electronic commerce. Their mission is “to promote UK excellence in electronic commerce by exploiting value from the business data standards from EAN International and the information exchange standards driven by the market.”

Their objectives are

· To offer a comprehensive suite of services to members to help them to adopt best practice in doing business electronically across the extended enterprise

· To provide a single strong organisation that offers a one stop shop for providing help and advice on electronic commerce to UK organisations

· To support and promulgate the EAN / UCC standards (International Article Numbering Association/Uniform Code Council)

· To be the place where public and private sector can work together on electronic business, and hence improve the competitiveness of the UK's private sector and the service levels of the UK's public sector

· To support and promulgate electronic commerce standards as required by members

· To develop a strong lobbying position on behalf of "UK plc"

The e-centre has over 15,000 members (over 90% are users and over 90% are SMEs) in most trade and industry sectors drawn from the public and private sectors and representative of both users and suppliers. Public sector members come from central government, local government and agencies. It offers facilities to encourage the public and private sectors to work together on electronic business, and hence improve the competitiveness of the UK's private sector and the service levels of the UK's public sector through the EAN·UCC standards. In so doing it is well placed to develop a strong lobbying position on behalf of "UK plc".

Through a wide range of interest sections and advisory groups it acts as a forum for existing and potential users of electronic commerce to meet and share experiences. The interest sections aim to promote and facilitate the use of electronic commerce techniques within their industry sectors, while the advisory groups, made up of leading experts, help members on issues such as law, security and communications. Members are invited to participate in the interest sections as well as enjoying access to the advisory groups. The formation of new groups is encouraged when there is a demand from members. Current interest sections include accountancy, logistics & transport, finance, health and public services and Advisory Groups include legal, security and advice for SMEs.

4.9.4 The Information Age Partnership

This is a high-level forum bringing together Ministers and the CEOs from over 30 major digital companies in the UK. The IAP aims to define the challenges, provide strategic leadership, and ensure that effective and speedy action is taken with a view to Britain driving future waves of global developments rather than responding to them. The great majority of its recommendations so far have been acted upon by Government. Moving forward, the IAP has identified the following strategic priorities:

q stimulating awareness and adoption of e-commerce among SMEs;

q building an internationally competitive supply base and leveraging the UK’s technological strengths;

q increasing user trust and confidence;

q supporting e-government;

q creating an international e-friendly policy environment;

q m-commerce;

q specifying and implementing global benchmarks for measuring the UK’s success.

The IAP adopts and maintains simple but demanding global benchmarks and measures of success, whilst promoting the long-range objective of the UK driving future waves of global information age developments. The full Partnership, chaired by the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, meets twice yearly to exchange insights into the technical, economic and political developments which characterise the information age, to review progress and endorse the IAP's goals and strategies. The Executive translates the policy and strategic guidance offered by the Partnership into focused programmes, and then ensures they are driven forward.

The IAP is tackling the following issues through focused, time-limited task groups.

q e-Commerce and SMEs

q e-Business User Skills

q e-Skills Implementation

q UK R&D Strengths

q Building User Trust and Confidence

q Supporting e-Government

q Policy Issues in the International Arena

q Benchmarking measures

q Mobility in the Information Age

4.10 Organisations That Promote E-commerce Security

4.10.1 Trust UK

Trust UK is a non profit organisation set up by the Consumers’ Association, the Department of Trade and Industry and the Alliance for Electronic Business to approve on-line codes of practice. Its purpose is to set a standard for the conduct of e-commerce between business and consumers. As e-commerce grows, it is anticipated that there will be an increasing number of codes of practice which will vary in the types of things they cover and the type of protection they provide. Trust UK will allow consumers to recognise whether the particular code they are relying on does in fact meet its standards.

When companies join Trust UK they have to comply with a strict code of practice which allows them to display the Trust UK e-hallmark on their website. The conditions of this code of practice are as follows

· Webtraders cannot collect personal data without consent.

· Any payment data (e.g. credit card details) must be collected and held securely and only kept as long as necessary.

· All on-line offers must be clear, helpful and provide adequate contractual information.

· Details of extra charges such as postage, packing and delivery must be clearly displayed

· There must be a clear policy for returns, cancellations and refunds. This must be displayed prior to purchase

· Immediate acknowledgment of orders must be sent to customers

· Unless agreed otherwise, webtraders must deliver orders within 30 days from the time when it was placed

· Webtraders must not market their products in any way that exploit children or collect information from children under 12 without first obtaining the permission of a parent or guardian

· It is necessary to have a procedure for handling customer complaints. If a customer feels that a webtrader has not fairly solved their problem, they can appeal to Trust UK directly.

4.10.2 Which? Web Trader Scheme

The Consumers’ Association, publishers of Which? Magazine, set up the Which? Web Trader Scheme in June 1999 because they believe that online shopping should be easy and safe. Their Code of Practice for UK-based websites encourages the highest standards among online traders to ensure consumers are treated fairly when shopping online.

According to Which? Web Trader the main benefit of the scheme for businesses is that it provides consumer confidence “which is the key to successful Internet trading.” They point out that the scheme could help UK organisations that want to do business on the Internet “trade more successfully” because the Which? Web Trader logo will “give consumers confidence in your service.” Membership of the scheme is free to businesses.

If businesses want to become a Which? Web Trader and be able to display the Which? Web Trader logo on their website, they have to complete the scheme membership form and agree to meet the conditions in their Code of Practice.

5. E-Government

· Recent Spending Review earmarking £1 billion for investment in electronic service delivery over the next three years was announced on September 11^th 2000 by the Prime Minister, Tony Blair.

· The web site www.ukonline.gov.uk acts as a single online point of entry to Government information and services. This will be a single, direct and easy way to access all the Government information and services that are available online. New services will be added to this UK Online citizen’s portal as the Government works towards meeting its commitment of delivering all of its services on line by 2005.

· In July 2000, a Cabinet Office survey showed that 33% of Government services were now available on-line, with current plans projected to get 71% on-line by 2002.

· UK was ahead of other countries in terms of monitoring progress against targets and having the necessary high level structures, commitment and motivation to push the e-Government agenda forward.

· 25% of UK businesses make use of Government support and advice on IT issues. We still have much to do to make businesses more aware of how Government can help them.

· Businesses are beginning to be aware that they can carry out interactions with Government online. The majority of interactions carried out online are to do with regulatory work.

5.1.1 Progress on E-government Initiatives

· NHS Direct. An innovative scheme to provide interactive healthcare information and services through call centres. This has now been extended to include a web-based information service. Future developments in the NHS include:

q patient access to electronic personal records by 2004

q electronic prescribing of medicines by 2004

q all local health services to have telemedicine facilities by 2005, allowing patients to get advice electronically from NHS staff;

· On 18^th October 2000 –Gisela Stuart announced the launch of new NHS Direct information points designed to give patients instant free access to key health information. Each information point will allow people who are not connected to the Internet to gain immediate access to the information contained on the NHS Direct on-line website. The information kiosks will be located in easily accessible public places including supermarkets, pharmacies, walk in centres and A & E departments.

· Pharmacy in the Future – this programme pledges that by 2004 electronic prescriptions will be introduced, with GPs e-mailing prescriptions directly to the pharmacist. Significant benefits for patients are expected, including fewer trips to the GP surgery to collect repeat prescriptions, and an end to illegible and incomplete prescriptions.

· the Inland Revenue’s online service for self-assessment taxpayers. The registration facility came into operation in April and over 83,000 individuals have already registered to use the service which was launched on 3 July and has now received over 13,000 self-assessment tax returns. On 10^th January 2001, the Inland Revenue announced that Self-assessment (SA) taxpayers are now able to pay their tax by Debit Card over the Internet.

· The Inland Revenue launched an Internet service on 28^th February 2001 that will allow employers to send PAYE end of year returns and a range of other PAYE forms over the Internet. All employers that use the Internet service to send in their 2000-2001 PAYE end of year returns and make at least one electronic payment of tax for 2000 – 2001 will qualify for a one-off discount of £50

· The DSS’s online application service for a retirement pension forecast.

· In January 2001 the Electronic Service Delivery Report indicated that for the whole of central Government, 42% of services were already online, well in excess of the interim target that 25% of services should be online by 2002. The report also stated that 73% of Government services are expected to be available online by 2002 and over 99% by 2005.

· In March 2001 the (then) Department of Education and Employment launched a major new website called www.worktrain.gov.uk - giving instant online access to 800,000 job and training opportunities across Britain. The website will also be available at UK online centres for job seekers to access information about jobs, careers And learning information

· In July 2001 in report from office of the e-envoy to the Prime Minister – stated that need to shift the focus of e-business strategies away from individual departments and towards delivering joined-up services that reflect citizen’s needs. Also policy to concentrate efforts on four key manifesto areas of education, transport, crime and health.

· August 2001 – development of a toolkit that will provide practical support to Government bodies in identifying their customers and their needs, in order to provide responsive, seamless public services.

· Project launched in August 2001 called business.gov which aims to simplify the interactions of business with Government by providing user friendly online services. The Office of the e-Envoy will be working with the Inland Revenue, Customs, the Small Business Service, DTI and others to develop one-stop online services such as ‘How to start up a business’ and ‘How to take on an employee’.

· In September 2001 – report from e-envoy to Prime Minister reported that work is underway on 25 pathfinder projects – involving more than 100 English local authorities – to develop a range of generic e-models, which can be scaled and replicated across local government.

· In September 2001 – over 99% of local authorities have submitted an Implementing Electronic Government (IEG) statement to the Department of Transport, Local Government and the Regions. Analyses of these IEG statements will help to identify priorities for progress at local level and will inform developments of DTLR’s Local Government Online strategy.

5.1.2 E-Procurement

The Office of Government Commerce (launched April 2000) is leading the drive towards full electronic trading between government and its suppliers. They have initiated a review of current e-procurement systems in government and in September 2000 set out the following actions

· development of a strategy to ensure coherence and standardisation of e-procurement across government (by end 2001);

· provision of advice and guidance on development of e-procurement systems tools and techniques (ongoing); and

· sponsorship and support for pilot projects to explore innovative e-procurement solutions (pilot projects identified by end 2000, and started by 2001).

To support the targets of 100% electronic tendering by December 2002 in central civil government, the September 2000 UK Online Annual Report reported that the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) is leading the development of an e-tendering system, which will start with a number of departments piloting the successful system to ensure success in its widespread adoption. OGC is also piloting a Government Supplier Information Database (G-SID), which records basic supplier information on a website and is free to suppliers.

On 3 April 2001 OGC announced the introduction of a new web-based pilot Electronic Tendering System – OGC TenderTrust – to replace the traditional paper tendering system in the purchasing of products and services by central Government, which could produce savings of around £13 million for the taxpayer over 4 years. OGC TenderTrust is expected to reduce burdens and costs to suppliers, reducing supplier's tendering costs by an estimated £37million and to stimulate interest in the market. It will not only add value in its own right but will also form part of the Government's move to embrace e-commerce with its supply chain.

5.1.3 Government Electronic Procurement Initiatives

(as at September 2000)

· MOD Defence Electronic Commerce Service (DECS) consisting initially of an electronic messaging systems capability and online hosting of product catalogues. Contract placed with service provider, with the initial service being progressively introduced over the remainder of this year.

· Northern Ireland Government Purchasing Agency (GPA). Northern Ireland operates a fully Electronic Requisitioning and Ordering System (EROS), with full GPC integration - including reconciliation. The system provides a service to the Benefits Agency and all government departments in Northern Ireland, and its delivery is proven across the UK.

· Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) Services are purchasing an end-to-end e-procurement solution to be rolled out to all worldwide posts. The system will incorporate catalogues and third party catalogues and will include a ‘track and trace’ facility. It will be implemented by end March 2001.

· The Buying Agency (TBA) has a pilot online facility covering all the 500,000 products and services in its direct call-off contracts. This allows any of the TBA’s public sector customers to use call-off contracts in an electronic environment.

· The NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency’s e-commerce trading system - SupplyStream - allows paperless requisitioning and purchasing, integrated to finance systems. An electronic warehousing system is already in place. Electronic tendering is currently being tested and the electronic catalogue continues to be refined and is available on the web, as well as in CD-ROM format.

· DSS, in conjunction with the Employment Service, estimate that they have saved £18 million since April 1998 through e-procurement.

· The Environment Agency (EA) has signed up as an early adopter to an electronic trading portal. The portal is a utilities focused joint venture, which has a significant synergy with the utilities sector. The pilot involving EA will be in operation by autumn 2000.

· In MAFF an electronic procurement initiative is under way that will allow paperless requisitioning and purchasing, fully integrated with the financial management system. The initiative will incorporate electronic supplier catalogues maintained internally as well as access over the Internet to the electronic catalogues of contracted suppliers. The roll-out of this initiative is planned to meet the Prime Ministerial target of March 2001 for 90% of low value transactions online.

· Government IT Catalogue GCAT: a comprehensive catalogue of IT goods and associated services providing online browsing, ordering and payment facilities and supporting use of the government procurement card.

· Government Telecommunications Contracts (GTC): a widely based framework of telematics contracts. Progressive roll-out of electronic browsing and ordering is planned for this year.

· Some other departments and agencies, such as DVLA, are using supplier catalogues to place orders, payment being made using the government procurement card.

5.1.4 Government Gateway

According to the 5^th February 2001 monthly report from the office of the e-envoy to the Prime Minister - the Government Gateway went live for Registration and Enrolment on the 25^th January 2001 on time and on budget. This is a World First; the first time anyone in the private or public sector has developed a secure system for signing XML documents over the Internet.

The Gateway is the ‘middleware’, or the tier that enables Government to join up in a coherent way. This is a self-contained and sophisticated piece of secure infrastructure with intelligent routing and authentication software. It enables different parts of central Government, devolved administrations and local authorities to conduct authenticated transactions with citizens and businesses.

The Gateway will make it much easier and more efficient for citizens and businesses to use online public services by acting as the single authentication service for e-Government. For example, once a user has successfully registered, they will be able to access services from different Departments using the same registration. The Gateway will also allow different legacy systems in different government departments to communicate with each other, allowing true joined-up transactions for the first time.

August 2001 saw the first citizen transaction using the Government Gateway – Self Assessment. Although this service was already available directly through the Inland Revenue web site, the move to the Gateway will allow people to take advantage of other services that we will make available, all with one password. The Inland Revenue's service uses web forms to allow people to easily complete their tax return and it even calculates the tax due or to be refunded, before the form is sent to the IR and an acknowledgement returned instantly.

6. Skills Improvement

6.1 Improvement in ITEC Skills

As part of the commitment to implement a strategy to make the UK the number one country for the supply of higher level ITEC skills, the Government will invest at least £8 million over the next three years to drive forward the ITEC skills strategy (announced September 2000), through:

· a major new business-led campaign to improve the image of careers in IT, particularly targeting children and women;

· a new programme of work placement opportunities for electronics undergraduates;

· coordinated action to develop and maintain an interest in electronics amongst school children to encourage more young people to follow electronics-related careers;

· preparation of better ITEC labour market information through DfEE’s skills sector dialogues; and

· rationalising the number of IT awards around a coherent set of IT qualifications which have value and standing in the eyes of business - the current provision of around 800 IT awards has left many learners and businesses confused about the purpose and value of many qualifications. By the end of 2001, the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority will have reviewed the currently unregulated IT qualifications and reduced them by 90% to give a coherent framework of accredited qualifications.

The programme to improve the supply of specialist ITEC skills will benefit from the Government’s drive to embed information and communication technology skills in the education system and throughout lifelong learning (see commitment 6).

6.2 Progress on Skills Improvement

· April 2001 – major initiative by Learning and Skills Council to match information technology training more closely to employers’ needs

· The LSC aims to help many more people to gain valuable IT skills by setting qualifications targets for the 20 million people who use IT regularly in their work. At present only around 1% of the UK workforce has a full IT qualification. The initiative will assess the current skills of a sample of 500 trainees who have achieved different ‘vendor’ and national IT qualifications, and match their skills against their employers’ assessment of needs. They will then fill any gaps, bringing the pilot trainees’ skills up to the best industry standards. The project will also consider whether IT qualifications could be split into modules, to rationalise assessment and other costs

· In 18 April Patricia, Tessa Jowell, and Michael Wills announced plans to set up all-girl computer clubs in schools. Jointly supported by the DfEE and DTI, the project will encourage more young women to take up Information and Communications Technology (ICT) as a career. The move came in response to a Government task force report which recommended that young women need to see careers in ICT as accessible, credible and enjoyable. MORI research for the e-skills National Training Organisation (NTO) shows that despite high earnings potential the key barrier to girls entering the ICT profession is its unfashionable image.

· The clubs will be aimed at girls aged between eight and 14 years old, and will create a virtual learning environment in which girls can develop both hard and soft skills, and will be developed in conjunction with the e-skills NTO and industry. Business is predicting a shortfall of 400,000 IT professionals over the next couple of years, and by bringing girls into IT clubs at an early age we can help reduce the skills shortages in British business. The clubs will involve private sector support and will initially work with City Learning Centres, which are part of the Excellence in Cities programme.

7. Related Activities

7.1 Fiscal Incentives in Relation To The Use of ICT

· Small businesses that invest in ICT equipment between 1^st April 2000 and 31^st March 2003 will be able to claim 100% first year allowances, thereby getting immediate tax relief on the whole cost of their investment

· The most tax-advantaged all-employee share ownership plan the UK has seen.

· A new Enterprise Management Incentives scheme to help small companies recruit and retain key personnel through highly favourable share options packages.

· A package of major tax cuts to the capital gains tax taper rules for business assets to boost productivity and increase the provision of risk capital.

· Discounts for electronic filing of tax returns in 2000-01, worth up to a total of £150 for small businesses.

· R&D tax credit for SMEs: introduced in April this year to encourage investment in R&D by increasing the 100% tax relief on current R&D spending by SMEs to 150%.

· Corporate venturing scheme: designed to promote mutually beneficial technology-driven investment which aids innovation and product commercialisation by providing tax relief on companies’ investments in small higher-risk trading companies.

7.2 DTI Engineering Industry ‘ICT Carrier Programme’

According to the September 2000 UK Online annual report, the DTI have set up a £12 million hi-tech hi-tech ‘ICT carrier programme’ to support the engineering industry, with industry providing half of this sum. The programme will encourage industry to:

· develop innovative engineering products and processes and make better use of ICT;

· speed up the uptake of new technologies by supporting and developing collaboration between companies, sector organisations and others; and

· improve awareness and understanding of the opportunities such technologies offer to improve competitiveness in the engineering sector.

7.3 ITEC Knowledge Transfer

As part of the government’s commitment to facilitate ITEC knowledge transfer it will

facilitate links between the ITEC sector, universities and other sectors of the economy, by:

· investing over £24 million in new LINK programmes to promote industry/university collaboration on next wave technologies, optical systems, information storage and display and electronics manufacturing.

· helping UK businesses to secure over £75 million per year funding from European programmes for the development of the information society, bringing suppliers and users of information and communications technologies in all business sectors together with academic research institutes. Work ranges from the more applied areas such as transport and healthcare through to the development of new technologies that may only reach the marketplace ten or more years in the future. DTI provides a comprehensive guidance and advice service largely through an interactive website (www.ukishelp.co.uk) and a helpline (0870 606 1515) as well as through conferences, seminars and publications

The Government will also review with the Information Age Partnership any actions needed to facilitate cluster development in the ITEC sector.

· A Cabinet Committee chaired by the Chancellor of the Exchequer is overseeing the development of national policies to encourage the growth of clusters of interdependent companies and institutions. In the ITEC area, the Government has worked with the Information Age Partnership (IAP) to map ITEC clusters, with a view to identifying policy actions to facilitate their growth.

8. Recent Initiatives

8.1 3e’s initiative

In September 2000 the Government launched the 3e’s initiative: e-business, the euro and exports. This has been developed by the DTI and Trade Partners UK to help SMEs and intermediaries trading on-line understand hoe e-business, exports and the euro are changing the working environment.

8.2 Digital divide

· In terms of the proportion of the population on-line, the UK is third among the G7 nations (behind the US and Canada). This makes the UK the leading online nation among the major European economies (although the Scandinavian countries have percentages similar to those of Canada and the United States).

· During the past year there has been significant growth in the online population in all countries. However, the proportion of the UK population online grew twice as fast as in the US. The UK has maintained its lead over other major European economies.

· ONS figures for internet access from home (for 1999-2000) showed variation according to household income (from 3% of the poorest households to 48% for the richest 10% of households)

8.3 A Policy Makers' Guide to e-Commerce and Legislation

We are continuing to press forward with an effective light touch framework for e-commerce. Work is already in hand to identify and remove all remaining regulatory and legal barriers to electronic ways of working. But there is also a need to adopt a more strategic approach to policy development across Whitehall, so that the regulatory objectives of the UK Online Strategy are taken into account early in the policy process. It is important that when policymakers consider how they can achieve their policy objectives, they take account of the impact their legislative proposals may have on e-commerce. The Office of the e-Envoy is leading a cross Government project to develop a policy makers' guide to e-commerce and legislation. The idea is to set out principles for policy makers to ensure that new and amended legislation/regulations do not damage or unduly burden the e-commerce industry. We plan to publicise these principles in the UK Online Annual Report

9. Measurement

9.1 Measurement of E-Commerce Usage In The UK

(as reported in the September 2000 UK Online Annual Report)

9.1.1 Business use

The Office for National Statistics has been developing a strategy for gathering information about the use made of the Internet for business activity. Investigations have covered:

· a stand-alone survey of the level of business activity conducted using the Internet; this is due to be piloted in autumn 2000;

· use of data from ISPs’ discussions with the Internet Service Providers Association (ISPA) are ongoing with the aim of producing data in autumn 2000; and

· changes required to existing inquiries related to e-commerce; questions will be included for the first time in the Annual Business Inquiry (ABI) to be issued in January 2001.

Much of this development has required thorough preliminary work to ensure that surveys minimise the burdens placed on business. To ensure this, the ONS undertook an audit of the existing surveys in relation to e-commerce.

9.1.2 A stand-alone survey

Work is progressing on a regular stand-alone survey of business use of the Internet for conducting transactions. The purpose is to measure the scale of e-commerce in business activity by asking businesses directly about their use of e-commerce. This will involve piloting a questionnaire in October with a view to establishing a business case for a regular survey from April 2001. In considering the size of the survey, the government has been keen to balance the need for robust statistics with minimising the burden on business.

The current source of information for business use of the Internet remains the DTI’s International Benchmarking Study. Conducted this year by Romtec, this provides a valuable method of measuring take-up, and also allows for international comparisons to be made on a consistent basis. The ONS business survey will supplement this by providing quantitative values for e-commerce transactions.

9.1.3 Use of data from ISPs

Discussions have been held with the international e-Commerce Research Centre at De Montfort University and with the ISPA about how the Government can make use of information already held by ISPs to measure business use of the Internet. The intention is that by tapping into information that is already available, this can avoid the need for additional data collection. This exercise has the potential to deliver useful data but is still at a relatively early stage.

9.1.4 Changes required to existing inquiries

The Annual Business Inquiry is the largest and most comprehensive inquiry conducted by the Office for National Statistics. The inquiry for reporting year 2000 - to be issued in January 2001 - will contain questions requesting information on those businesses involved in e-commerce. These filter questions will serve two purposes: first, to improve the sampling frame for the stand-alone survey and second to provide a body of data that links Internet access to various other economic variables.

On the international front, OECD’s Working Party on Indicators for the Information Society (WPIIS) agreed in April 2000 that they gave the highest priority to surveys of ICT use in business. A model questionnaire is being developed, which will be considered by the Voorburg Group of statisticians in September 2000. It will be necessary to ensure that any questionnaires that ONS issues are in line with international definitions.

9.1.5 Government use

Government has set out its methodology for measuring Electronic Service Delivery until 2005 using a new monitoring process based on monitoring the number of services that are enabled for electronic transactions. It is expected that 71% of services will be enabled by 2002.

On government procurement, the target is still that 90% of low value procurement will be conducted electronically by 2001. The methods for monitoring this have still to be agreed.

It remains important for the Government to benchmark its service delivery against other governments. This has been done for the list of priority services set out in the Modernising Government White Paper. We now need to develop a methodology for benchmarking progress in delivering electronic services across a broader range of services, in both local and central government. In order to monitor the UK’s progress in delivering electronic services as compared with other governments, we will repeat and develop the benchmarking exercises in 2001 and 2002 to ensure that all major areas are covered.

9.1.6 ITEC sectors

The measurement of the enablers of e-commerce - the ITEC sectors - will be undertaken through the analysis of data on relevant goods and services. For computer services, this will be done through the SERVCOM project, which is a two-year project to explore the feasibility of introducing a survey of turnover generated by sale of services. The initial pilot will be targeted at computer services. The SERVCOM inquiry would be analogous to an existing survey in the manufacturing sector called PRODCOM, which collects sales of approximately 5,000 product categories, which would serve as the source for the necessary product details within manufacturing.

The product-based approach replaces the original DTI industry-based proposals for new five-digit codes for e-commerce enabling industries within the UK Standard Industrial Classification. It was felt that they would be both difficult to implement and of limited value in the fast-moving and converging IT services industry.

The OECD’s regular Information Technology Outlook (the most recent edition published in March 2000) brings together comparative data from member states’ statistical offices.

9.2 Sectoral Studies

To contribute towards the achievement of Action 10 of the UK Online Strategy – Support Industry in improving competitiveness through e-business technologies and processes, the Department of Trade and Industry has produced a number of studies which examine the impact of e-commerce on different sectors. According to the UK On Line For Business website these will enable Government to “provide the right help for business” by having “a clear understanding of the different ways in which the new technologies affect different sectors”. The Department of Trade & Industry plans to do 60 studies over the next three years. Studies on the impact of e-commerce on the following industries have been produced

q aerospace

q bio-industry

q book selling

q chemicals

q clothing

q downstream gas

q electrical retailing

q electronics manufacturing

q exhibitions and conference

q heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration

q leather tanning

q management & consultancy

q marketing and communications

q metal forming and finishing

q motor vehicle retailing

q paper and board

q sports goods

q steel

q supermarkets and convenience stores

q telecommunications

q upstream oil and gas

These reports can be downloaded from the UK Online For Business website at www.ukonlineforbusiness.gov.uk/Government/impactstudies.htm

In addition to these sector specific reports, the DTI has commissioned an analysis of these first studies which pick out areas of common opportunity or concern across sectors. This according to the UK Online for Business website will “help us understand the impact that e-commerce is having on British industry as a whole”

The Department for Media, Culture and Sport has produced sector specific reports on the impact of e-commerce on the following industries

q Music

q Culture, media and sport

q Creative Industries and Government response

The Department of Transport, Local Government and the Regions has produced sector specific reports on the impact of e-commerce on the following industries

q Construction

q Road Haulage

The Department of Environment, Food & Rural Affairs has produced sector specific reports on the impact of e-commerce on the following industries

q Farming

q Fishing.

The Lord Chancellor’s Department has produced a report on the impact of e-commerce on the legal services industry. The Department for Education & Skills has produced a study on the impact of e-commerce on the employment sector. The Treasury has produced a study into the impact of e-commerce on the financial services sector.

9.3 DTI International Benchmarking Study 2001 – Business In The Information Age

To measure the UK’s progress against the targets set and improve understanding of the use of e-commerce the government publishes an annual International Benchmarking Study (IBS 2001), now in its fifth year. This year's study launched on 11^th October 2001, covers businesses in the UK, other G7 countries, Sweden and, for the first time, Australia and the Republic of Ireland. 7,658 businesses contributed to this study, making it one of the largest of its type.

9.3.1 Objectives

The principal objectives of this year’s study are:

· to enhance understanding of the levels of ownership and usage of ICTs by UK businesses across all their business processes;

· to measure the UK’s performance against other benchmarked countries, and to highlight areas of relative strength and weakness across all sizes of business; and

· to measure progress towards the Government’s targets of ensuring that:

a) 1 million micro, small and medium-sized businesses are trading online by 2002 and;

b) the performance of UK’s micro and small businesses is up with the best in the world.

This year's study, looks beyond trading online, through to the integration of ICTs into business processes, and towards the transformation of organisations as they adopt new ways of working through the use of technology. To investigate these areas the study has examined the levels of sophistication with which businesses are using ICTs to transform the following activities:

· marketing and sales activities

· purchasing functions

· logistics and delivery

· finance

· operations, processing and assembly

· after sales services

9.3.2 Key Findings

· Further growth in the proportion of businesses with access to the Internet (from 90% to 94% on an employee weighted basis) – approaching saturation point;

· UK connectivity up from 1.7million to 1.9million SMEs;

· Number of SMEs trading online up from 450,000 to 540,000;

· Encouraging evidence that businesses are starting to make more sophisticated use of ICTs to change and transform the way they operate;

· UK among the leaders for most indicators (with US, Canada and Germany), but with more to do to be right at the forefront; and

· For the first time, an apparent division of businesses into those that make only intermittent use of ICTs and do not consider this use to be core to their strategy and those who use ICTs on a regular basis and are moving towards increasingly sophisticated uses in their future activities.

9.3.3 Implications For Existing Government Targets

Target	Result of Benchmarking Study
1.5m SMEs to be connected by 2002	1.9m SMEs connected - Target exceeded last year
Performance of UK small and micro businesses to be up with the best in the world	Overall improvement against other countries
Connectivity	UK small and micros now third instead of fifth
Trading online:	UK micros now third instead of fifth; UK smalls now fifth instead of second
Government target of 1million SMEs to be trading online by 2002	540,000 SMEs trading online increase of 20%

This is good progress, especially as there are now 2 more countries in the comparison than there were last year. But there is more to do to catch up with the real leaders.

9.3.4 Trading Online

We are unlikely to meet the Government target of having 1 million UK SMEs trading online by 2002. Further research has indicated that businesses are not making a conscious decision not to trade online. Three key points have emerged:

· the definition that we use for trading online (that a business must either order and pay online or must allow its customers to do so) is more stringent than that used by other organisations and that we might consider relaxing our definition;

· more businesses than we expected seem to be making progress towards more sophisticated use of ICTs while still using off-line payment systems. Thus it seems that the significance of trading online (as defined) in moving into e-business may be less crucial than thought when the target was set; and

· businesses, especially the smaller ones, who trade online only occasionally may be more prone to classify themselves as “non online traders” whereas previously more would have regarded themselves as “online traders”.

It is important to recognise that our assumption that most businesses would, at this point, benefit from trading online may be incorrect. The fact that businesses appear to be using ICTs to facilitate more sophisticated change and transformation, even though uptake of trading online is not as rapid as anticipated, suggests that we attached more importance to trading online (as opposed to other e-business activities) than is now warranted.

In some countries, most notably France, Sweden, the USA and Canada, the proportions of businesses with broadband access is high. In the UK, of businesses with access to the internet 1% are connected through wireless broadband/satellite. The majority at 32% are connected by a dial-up modem.

9.3.5 Conclusion

Overall the 2001 International Benchmarking Study gives a positive picture of the UK's position. And although the slower than expected growth in trading on line has been a surprise we do not consider it to be a major issue. This is evidence of a more complex pattern of ICT use than previously expected and reinforces the development of the UK online for business programme into more complex activities.