NEWTIME

Microfirms - companies with less than ten employees - are considered as the core of the new EU economy as they now account for 93 per cent of Europe's 20 million-plus companies, and employ one EU worker in three. Yet although microfirms are considered essential for an expanding and healthy economy, they tend to experience a number of specific problems and therefore require assistance if they are to benefit from the innovations of the new information society.

 

The European Commission is therefore providing 1.4 million euro for a Sixth Framework Programme (FP6)  project, NEWTIME, which will enable microfirms to take advantage of the opportunities presented by broadband and business networking.Compared to bigger firms, micro-enterprises suffer from considerable time pressures, poorer productivity, higher unit costs,tighter skills and labour constraints and less access to finance, advice, information and support. For these combined reasons, despite their important presence on the market, microfirms account for less than 20 per cent of total sales in the EU.

 

NEWTIME brings together seven partners from six EU countries and aims to 'tackle barriers and problems in using broadband, through inter-active mentoring and taking into account differences in business sectors, local economies and culture and provision of broadband services,' explain the project partners.

               

Computers, the Internet and fast broadband and mobile connections are changing small and family-run businesses, and entrepreneurs need to keep on top of those changes in order to flourish.

 

'There is a huge variation in the way broadband is deployed in small-business communities across Europe,' says project co-ordinator Colin Gray from the Open University in the UK. 'For example, broadband is generally available in Denmark, but is both rare and difficult to obtain in Sicily. So, we worked with a variety of business groups across Europe, including business associations, clusters, joint projects and supply chains. This enabled us to establish relationships both with formal entities - such as chambers of commerce - as well as informal groups working within the same business areas,' Professor Gray added.

 

NEWTIME helps microfirms in various ways. It provides a source of reliable advice, support and training on business development and Information and Communication Technology (ICT)  applications; offers clear and appropriate e- business support strategies, effective networks, market information and joint projects and guidelines for boosting business use of computer technologies.

 

'These microfirms tend to be highly dynamic and are usually able to call on an established support network of other microfirms and individual professionals,' adds Professor Gray. 'This enables them to react quickly to changing economic cycles. So, we trained mentors to visit these groups and help them explore the benefits of more powerful communications and then watched what happened when they stepped up their provision of connectivity.'

 

For further information on NEWTIME, please visit:

http://www.newtime.org/