Seminar Report: SME frustrations using IT: Is standardisation the solution?

Tineke M Egyedi, Department of ICT, Delft University of Technology

1/01/2005

On the 25th of October 2002 the seminar SME frustrations using IT: Is standardisation the solution? took place at the Delft University of Technology. SME stands for Small-and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), while IT standards for Information Technology(IT), also sometimes referred to as ICT (Information and Communication Technology). The seminar was funded by the European Commission (DG Enterprise) and had the support of the Dutch standards body (Nederlands normalisatie-instituut, NEN). The programme included five lectures and a round-table debate in which seven experts with diverse backgrounds participated. A buffet rounded off the occasion. In all, 21 people attended.The seminar design (guiding questions, choice of speakers, etc.) was based on the idea that it is often difficult to point out the cause of IT frustration and, therefore, to address them. A seminar is a means to bring together experts who could help analyse the IT problems which SMEs have and examine possible solutions. The focus was to be, in first instance, on interoperability problems, an important category of IT problems and on the solution of standardisation. However, there are several problems and possible solutions. Depending on the circumstances, different mappings of solutions to problems may be best.