SMEs gain ICT support

Recognising the increasingly critical role that information communications technology (ICT) is playing in the development and growth of local businesses, the ICT Solution and Service Centre (ICTSSC) has launched e-Marketplace (http://www.ictjobsbid.hk).

The free online mini-project trading platform will serve as a portal, enabling enterprises to engage with service providers to solve specific business challenges through ICT.

A United Nations report titled 'e-Primers for the Information Economy, Society and Polity' notes that the global economy has become increasingly reliant on ICT to receive, process and send out information.

The same report also notes that small and medium enterprises have not shared in the benefits of ICT because of lack of engagement in regional and global economic business networks which, in turn, demand the provision of a prerequisite level of access and use of ICT.

Without access to ICT, SMEs are set to lose out on opportunities to integrate their operations with the global supply chain. They will also be unable to bid for outsourcing business, and their ability to increase internal productivity and efficiency will be limited.

Market researcher AMI-Partners points to cloud computing as the next wave in ICT adoption for SMEs. Cloud computing is marketed as a new approach to ICT adoption without the high costs traditionally associated with new technologies.

A Hong Kong Government survey on ICT adoption among SMEs reveals that businesses understand the importance of ICT in generating revenue. With strong economic prospects for 2011 and the opportunities presented by cloud computing, SMEs need to have a way of integrating ICT into their business processes for maximum effect.