MAPPING POLICIES FOR SMEs IN THE DIGITAL ECONOMY: UK (2000-2005) [1]

Regional Innovation Fund: to enable Regional Development Agencies in England to run programmes, to stimulate increased private sector involvement, support clusters and incubators

Start: 2001 – Finish: not known

Budget: £ 78 millions per year

Work with Trusted Service Providers to ensure interoperability with government

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

Biotechnology Finance Advisory Service: to improve awareness and accessibility of private sector funds or appropriate government grants for biotech SMEs

Start: 1996 – Finish: 1999

Budget: up to £ 250,000

University for industry: aims to deliver education via home PCs and in the workplace

Start: pending – Finish: indefinite

Budget: not known

Advice on use of biotechnology to reduce business costs, improve product quality and reduce environmental impact, to enable the biotechnology supplier industry to take advantage of developing markets

Start: 1999 – Finish: 2003

Budget: £ 13 million

The Enterprise Zone is an internet based gateway to business information for SMEs, is selects relevant web sites and provides a single point of access to them

Start: 1997 – Finish: indefinite

Budget: not known

Small Firms Loan Guarantee Scheme: to help meet the gap in the market, where small businesses with viable business proposals are unable to raise finance because of lack of security

Start: 1981 – Finish: 1999

Budget: £ 317.05 million

The DTIs innovation unit: promotes innovation by management education and catalytic action

Start: 1991 – Finish: no set date

Budget: £ 3.7 million in 1998/9

Advice on use of biotechnology to reduce business costs, improve product quality and reduce environmental impact, to enable the biotechnology supplier industry to take advantage of developing markets

Start: 1999 – Finish: 2003

Budget: £ 13 million

UK online for business: to provide small business with advice on using information and communication technologies to assist performance and competitiveness

Start: 2000 – Finish: indefinite

Budget: unknown

Budget: £ 30 million over the next 3 years

Small Firms Training Loans Initiative

Start: 2002- Finish: 2004

Budget: £ 8 million

UK (2000-2005) [2]

Access to networks

HUMAN RESOURCES, AWARENESS, EDUCATION, TRAINING

TLC & ICT INFRASTRUCTURES

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

CLUSTERS & NETWORKS

REGULATION AND eGOVERNMENT

FISCAL AND FINANCIAL INCENTIVES

Knowledge Pool: to encourage and facilitate debate in the next round of Foresight, an internet based national resource for Foresight panels, and organisations in their own Foresight exercises

Start: 1999 – Finish: indefinite

Budget: unknown

The Small Business Service to establish the Business Link contact centre and web site as the key access channel to a wide range of information and advice for small business and start-ups

Budget: £ 50 million over the next 3 years from the Enterprise Fund

Faraday Partnerships: to link business, scientists and engineers in universities, research organisation and capital providers on collaborative research projects and commercialisation processes

Start: 1999 – Finish: 2002

Budget: £12 million

Promote co-operation between university innovation centres and new technology institutes in the regions to boost R&D activities, innovation and technology transfer, and to provide the regions with skills in ICT and high technology

Budget: £ 80 million over the next 3 years by Higher Education Innovation Fund e £ 250 million from European Investment Bank

Improve the organisational capacity of government to deliver electronic services

Work with PR company: to improve the legal and regulatory environment in the UK

Start: 1994 – Finish: 2000

Budget: not relevant

R&D tax credit for SMEs

To address the equity gap for risk capital available to SMEs; to make risk finance available for growing SMEs

Start: 2001 – Finish: 2011

Budget: up to £ 80 million

Liaison at ministerial and official level with private sector providers of finance to address concerns about financing of innovative SMEs

Start: unknown – Finish: continuous

Budget: not relevant

The Information Society Initiative Programme for Business: to help UK business to use ICTs more effectively, a partnership between industry and government

Start: 1999 – Finish: 2000

Budget: not defined

Invest an additional £25 million over three years to help small businesses exploit the potential of ICTs

Promotion of best practice in industry: the Government operates a range of advisory and dissemination schemes aimed at promoting best practice throughout industry

Start: 1999 – Finish: indefinite

Budget: difficult to quantify

R&D Scoreboard- document aimed at encouraging more effective investment in R&D

Start: 1991 – Finish: not yet planned

Budget: not known

BMI Challenge: to stimulate growth of the UK biotechnology industry via new company formations, to encourage inter-media organisations to provide new incubator facilities and specialist business mentoring services

Start: 1996 – Finish: 2000

Budget: DTI support of up to £ 4.9 million

Foresight Programme: to develop networks linking business, the science base and government and identifies opportunities in markets and technologies over the medium and longer term

Start: 1993 – Finish: continuous

Budget: not relevant

Small Business Research Initiative: allows small businesses access to R&D procurement from Government Departments and Research Councils

Start: 2001 – Finish: unknown

Budget: £ 1.56 billion

Support regional clustering

To increase interactions between universities and companies (career development benefits)

Start: 1987 – Finish: unknown

Budget: unknown

Sector challenge: to improve competitiveness: developing people and skills, exploiting technology, entering new markets, improving access to finance

Start: 1996 – Finish: 2000

Budget: not known

Regional Competitiveness Development Fund: to pursue a long-term policy of regionalisation

Start: 2000 – Finish: 2003

Budget: £ 10 millions over 3 years

Higher Education Reach Out to Industry and Community: to recognise regional and business links as a third core activity for the HEI sector

Start: 1994 – Finish: after 4 years

Budget: £ 70 million

Small Business Research Initiative: allows small businesses access to R&D procurement from Government Departments and Research Councils

Start: 2001 – Finish: unknown

Budget: £ 1.56 billion

Corporate venturing tax relief: to provide tax relief to firms involved in corporate venturing, in order to encourage corporate venturing and the support and investment they can provide for SMEs

Start: 2000 – Finish: unknown

Budget: no direct funding

To encourage private sector partnership: arrange more venture capital for very early stage high-tech firms; extend and improve the Small Firms Loan Guarantee Scheme

Start: 1999 – Finish: by 2002

Budget: £ 160 million

UK (2000-2005) [3]

Access to knowledge creation

HUMAN RESOURCES, AWARENESS, EDUCATION, TRAINING

TLC & ICT INFRASTRUCTURES

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

CLUSTERS & NETWORKS

REGULATION AND eGOVERNMENT

FISCAL AND FINANCIAL INCENTIVES

The Patent Office will work with the Small Business Service (SBS) to revamp the delivery of information for lone investors and small business and set up a pilot private applicant unit to deal with patent applications from them

SMART provides grants on a competitive basis for two types of projects: a technical and commercial feasibility study into innovative technology, the development up to pre-reproduction prototype stage of a new product or process which involves a significant technological advance

Start: 1997 – Finish: continuing

Budget: £ 15 million

Database of Technology Offers: to enable universities to promote their own technology which is available for licensing and enable investors and researchers the possibility to identify potential opportunities

Start: 2001 – Finish: indefinite

Budget: unknown

The IP Portal: its intention is to generate an interest and awareness of IP

Start: 2000 – Finish: indefinite

Budget: unknown

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

BEP Challenge: to encourage syndicates of bio-science research organisations and technology transfer to work together and build portfolios of intellectual property

Start: 1999 – Finish: indefinite

Budget: DTI support of up to £ 6.45 million

Develop standardisation procedure in e-procurement (by end 2001)

White paper & White paper

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

IP strategies between Patent Office and companies in specific market sectors (construction, containers and packaging, automotive and financial services); lack of knowledge of IP in UK companies

Start: 1997 – Finish: indefinite

Budget: not known

To bring together several enquiry points in the Patent Office to create a centralised service giving general advice and information on all aspects of IP

Start: 1995 – Finish: 2000

Budget: not relevant

To improve competitiveness of industry: abolition of patent application fee, to secure business assets by identifying and asserting the copyright and registering patents, designs and trade marks

Start: 1998 – Finish: indefinite

Budget: no direct funding but savings to industry are estimated at £ 12 million

The provision of tax relief for SMEs conducting R&D to help improve the quantity and quality of R&D

Start: 2000 – Finish: indefinite

Budget: not known

Reform of the taxation of IP: to capture all forms of intellectual property, to consider the ways in which current tax rules relating to IP may be reformed (simplify the arrangements for the taxation of royalty payments)

Start: 2000 – Finish: indefinite

Budget: revenue neutral