SMEs find pan-EU voice for IT

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Small-to-medium sized enterprises (SMEs) have this week been given a new forum in which to discuss and influence IT-related European Union (EU) policies.

UEAPME, the European craft and SME employers' organisation, is behind the creation of the first pan-EU association exclusively focused on representing the interests of the SME community in the information and communication technology (ICT) sector.

The Pan European ICT & e-Business Network for SMEs (PINSME) is aimed at bringing ICT SMEs on the business and political scene, where so far large companies have dominated. And its founding members are national sectoral SME federations and ICT clusters from eight EU countries, representing more than 50,000 enterprises employing around 200,000 people across Europe.

PIN-SME will focus on policy issues such as software patents, ICT standardisation, e-invoicing, e-health and e-skills, UEAPME said.

"We believe that European SMEs must speak with one voice on the development of European ICT policies," said UEAPME secretary general Hans-Werner Müller.

"This new initiative is rooted in the past battles fought by small businesses on software patents, which reinforce monopolisation in the software sector, damage interoperability and act as a barrier to innovation by SMEs."

Johann Steszgal from the Austrian ICT organisation UBIT is the newly elected PIN-SME president. He added: "The standardisation process in the ICT sector will be a key policy priority for PIN-SME. We believe that standards are indeed useful for ICT companies operating in the internal market if they are designed according to their needs. We will work to make sure that ICT SMEs are fully consulted and their views are taken into consideration in the decision-making process."

Other areas of focus outlined by Steszgal include increasing the attractiveness of the ICT profession in Europe to address the lack qualified personnel in the SME sector and promoting exploitation of new technologies like e-invoicing and e-health for the opportunities they provide for SMEs.

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