Irish businesses need to close gap in electronic business, says Tánaiste

IRISH business needs to close the gap on other countries in the take-up of electronic business, Tánaiste Mary Harney said yesterday.

Ms Harney said companies here would lose out if they did not adapt to new ways of using information technology (IT).

Speaking at the launch of a new campaign to heighten awareness of eBusiness, Ms Harney said increased use of electronic procurement, both by the private sector and government bodies, would provide greater opportunities for Irish companies to expand their customer base.

“Faced with an increasingly competitive environment, it is essential for all Irish companies to explore the eBusiness option. eBusiness is as relevant to a company employing 10 people making furniture as it is to one with a staff of 200 in the computer industry,” she said.

The new campaign was organised by Enterprise Ireland, the state business development agency, and is supported by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment and the Information Society Fund. It features a redeveloped website, www.openup.ie, which provides information to businesses to allow them focus on areas of relevance to their company and is aimed at web users with relatively little IT knowledge.

The campaign will also distribute booklets and CDs through Chambers of Commerce and County Enterprise Boards to help raise awareness of ways to use IT to improve business performance.

The initiative is one of three eBusiness and IT advice modules currently being managed by Enterprise Ireland, which cost a total of 1 million.

Other programmes include free one-day visits to companies by IT strategy consultants, as well as a system of grant aid to help businesses get long-term IT advice.

The Tánaiste also said businesses needed to realise that there was more to eBusiness and IT than simply having a website or being able to take orders online.

Using IT effectively can cut costs and make internal business processes more efficient, enabling better and faster service to customers, she said.

She added that Ireland’s ability to attract significant eBusiness investment, such as new facilities for internet search engine Google and online auction provider eBay, compared favourably with other leading economies.