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Content archived on 2024-05-14

Assessment of GEN-technology-usability and integration for SMEs

Objective

The objective of AGENT-ISME is to assess, integrate and demonstrate technology for Electronic Commerce related to GEN - The Global Engineering Network, involving all necessary actors - end users, suppliers, service providers.

The scope of these pilot activities will cover business-to-business transactions and topics such as marketing and directories, but also interactive co-operative work, sometimes called teleworking. In particular co-operative business activities in the area of product design and engineering are addressed involving initial contact, design implementation, information transfer, pre- and post sales support. Technologically the project will be based on a layered service architecture and seeks to employ information exchange standards such as STEP and EDI in a variety of user scenarios. Part of this effort is the collection, analysis and implementation of SME-requirements, both end-users and suppliers, for GEN-oriented value added services - initiated and conducted by selected European Chambers of Commerce and Industry (CCIs) and other SME organisations. AGENT-ISME processes are new as it is almost completely uncommon that SMEs use the emerging EC technologies to their competitive advantage. AGENT-ISME is promoting dissemination, awareness and particularly the evaluation of GEN-Service capabilities. For the proposed project a number specific electronic commerce objects and added-value demonstration scenarios will be tested for SME acceptance:
- Search strategies for Products and Services
- Post Sales Service
- Training and Education
- On-line-Consulting

These scenarios will also be evaluated in conjunction with the GEN-testbed of the G7-Pilotproject 'Global market place for Small and Medium sized Enterprises', part of the G7 Global Information Society Initiative. The baseline of the proposed scenarios is provided by existing projects, both commercially and publicly funded. The major technical thrust of the project is the integration of technologies identified and their transfer to SMEs, thus enabling them to act as virtual company. Consequently the core effort of the project is directed to the exploitation and demonstration of innovative value-added-service technologies for Electronic Commerce for small and medium sized enterprises. Presently there is an ongoing networking of the major SME organisations under way, in particular the networks of CCIs and their Associations, for instance in Germany (DIHT) or with the international G7-SME network which are in the process to connect large numbers of SMEs. The project aims to exploit this ongoing process as well, such that it provides a value added communication infrastructure with a growing variety of services such as company information, business partners on the domestic market and on international markets, access to technical and commercial databases.

A second phase of the project is designed to test and evaluate easy and cost-effective access to the proposed GEN value added services. This analysis aims to identify and verify the required access and service products for SMEs and to show also where shortcomings continue to be present. The overall project cycle of AGENT-ISME is designed to verify all useful instruments for ELECTRONIC COMMERCE in the GEN context and it includes besides the capabilities of INTERNET and WWW also the use of integrated EDI services for SMEs.

Another area of service integration are solutions for tele-co-operation. Besides information services supplied by the CCIs , truly interactive tele-working and tele-co-operation services will empower SMEs to conduct electronic commerce business processes effectively. In particular those solutions are supplied by varoius related external technology projects and they will be exploited by AGENT-ISME.

Many SMEs still have no or limited experience in electronic commerce with regards to the integration of information/knowledge exchange technology in product design and manufacturing business processes. Often their knowledge about these processes is rather diffused. Thus for the transfer AGENT-ISME results to SMEs a well targeted GEN-oriented awareness strategy will be developed, for a technology that is new terrain for SMEs and which includes besides active PR work and information a variety of specialised workshops and training seminars. The project partners will have varying infrastructures and access to networks at the time of submission of the proposal. The results of AGENT-ISME are designed to be placed on a network of WWW-servers in order to be widely accessible as early as possible.

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EIF - Marie Curie actions-Intra-European Fellowships

Coordinator

Ihk Gesellschaft fuer Informationsverarabeitung Mbh
EU contribution
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Address
Emil-Figge-Strasse 86
44227 Dortmund
Germany

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Total cost

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Participants (4)

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