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business@jamtland

Country of activity:

Sweden

Web site:

http://www.it.jamtland.se

Category:

A Global Village

Vision, objectives and goals:

The main objective of the project is to get at least 300 SMEs in the Jamtland region to engage consultants to produce a web site for their business. The reason for the objective is to increase the use of internet amongst enterprises in the Jamtland region. Access to internet is No problem, the region is very “computerised”, the whole region has access to AXE and most areas have access to ISDN. “Broad band” is being offered since a few month in the town of Jamtland, Östersund, and will be offered to other areas this year. Since there is No lack of technical access the project focuses on increasing the mental access to Internet. Our experience is that that available techNology needs promotion to be used, otherwise people do Not kNow what to do with the techNology. The background to the objective is that Jamtland is a disadvantaged area because of its location in the Northern inland and is inhabited by few people. For this reason Jamtland is an objective 6 region in EU. In Jamtland there are 6.100 enterprises (around 3.000 are active) and 98 percent of the enterprises are micro and there are No enterprises with more than 500 employees. The consequence of our sparsely populated region, for the enterprises, is that their markets are far away and that access to high quality consultants is low. This is a disadvantage compared with enterprises located closer to their market and Internet is an important tool to get closer to your customers. The objective of the project will be achieved by: A financial grant to enterprises, max 50 percent of the consultant fee An invitation to a all web producers to get on the “list” of available web producers that is presented to interested enterprises Seminars for the web producers to enhance their competence Seminars for participating enterprises Individual training for each enterprise that participates An extensive common web site for all people involved The unique aspect of this project is that both enterprises and web producers are seen upon as target groups and are treated as such. The model of interaction is carefully developed and includes the two groups and additional individuals like suppliers to web producers, trainers and regional organisations. What is appreciated in the group is also the approach to invite people and the flexibility, meaning the wide range of possibilities for within the project

How ICT contributes to the organisational objectives:

In the Jamtland region there are 6.100 enterprises of which around 3.000 are active. The main objective was that 300 enterprises would produce their own web site. Today, one year after the start of the project (activities started in may 99) 278 enterprises are participating in the project and the project will easily reach the number of 300 before the end of the project, December 2000. The purpose of the objective was to increase the interest of internet among SMEs and today the awareness and use of IT is much higher then when we started. Each participating SME also communicates with other SMEs which makes a good multiplier effect in the region. Participating SMEs are very pleased with the quality of the project and they will continue to work with their web site. The involved web producers, 62 today, are by Now aware of each other and can find other web producers to co-operate with. The seminars have brought up a discussion on quality towards client and this discussion will continue. The contact within the group are increasing and the mailing list that was set up is Now being used a lot. The web producers have also gained a considerable experience because of the increased number of demand and clients. The training concept was developed by university students and graduates and this work has given them a better understanding for SMEs and the way they work. The method to visits each enterprise is working fine and is an effective way to approach SMEs. Internet is Now a hot topic for frequent and broad discussions in the Jamtland region and the business@jamtland project has shown that concrete action is an important contribution to increase the use of internet. The “working model” that has been developed during the project is considerad as a success in the region and will be made transferable to other development projects in the region. The model is based on broad interaction and the “inviting” approach to both SMEs and web producers (demand-supplier).

User needs:

Tell the story of how your project came about.

Summary:

The Jamtland region is a disadvantaged area since it is situated in the Northern inland of Sweden, which means that enterprises have to compete on different terms than others situated in a very populated area. Markets and clients are far away and all kinds of communication are intense. IT and especially Internet is an important tool to bring the enterprise closer to clients and also to find new clients. The aim of this project is to increase the use of Internet among SMEs in Jamtland. The objective is that 300 enterprises set up their own web site. There is No lack of techNological access, it is the “mental” access that is low, meaning that the use of IT is still rather low compared with its capacity. The project aims at increasing the use of internet by promoting concrete use of internet. When the SME decides to set up a web site they will have to start learning how it works and what to use it for. The project promotes the SME to take a decision to set up a web site by offering a grant to cover max 50 percent of the costs for a web producer. During the process a visit from in an internet-trainer is done and gives an introduction to internet and also discuss any issues raised by the SME. The SMEs that start working with internet seems to continue to work on the site and develop it further. What is of great importance in this project is the working method. There have been clear aims from the beginning to co-operate closely with web producers and with other IT-projects. Regional organisations are involved and this broad interaction has been of great benefit for the good results in the project. ANother clear aim in the project has been to put an effort in making it simple for the SMEs to apply and participate in the project. The development of meeting place situated on the internet has been successful and is being used for many purposes and target groups. Several mailing list have been set up and are being frequently used, distances within the region are huge and physical meetings are expensive. The result is that enterprises have been very interested and that nine months before the end of the project 278 of 300 enterprises are already in the project. The broad interaction and intensive dissemination together with the many participating enterprises have resulted in internet-friendly atmosphere in Jamtland. Good lessons have been learnt and they will be brought into future development work.

Competition year:

2000