Liikanen launches Go Digital awareness campaign 2002
Enterprise Commissioner Erkki Liikanen launched the Go Digital awareness campaign 2002 on 21 January at a conference organised by the German confederation of skilled crafts (ZDH) in Berlin. The campaign aims to make small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which are lagging behind larger companies in Internet use, more aware of e-business opportunities and help them to tap in to the e-economy. It will also provide practical assistance through conferences and support networks. The Berlin conference is the first of a series of events to be held during the campaign, supported by the European Commission, the Euro Info Centres (EICs), chambers of commerce, research institutes and SME organisations. An EU workshop to assess regional and local strategies for helping SMEs to 'go digital' was also held in Brussels on 21 to 22 January this year. The event aimed to take stock of the progress made to date, 10 months after the launch of the Go Digital strategy in March 2001. The conclusions and policy recommendations from the workshop will feed into a report on to be finalised in February 2002. The report will aim to provide a clear picture of the take-up of ICT (information and communication technologies) and e-business by SMEs as well as existing policy initiatives in support of e-business for SMEs. It will be published on the Go Digital web site at the address given below.