Ict and Business

ICT, E-BUSINESS AND SMEs

ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT

FOREWORD

This report was undertaken by the Working Party on the Information Economy (WPIE), and carried out in co-operation with the Working Party on SMEs and Entrepreneurship. It was prepared for the second OECD Conference of Ministers Responsible for SMEs held in Istanbul 3-5 June 2004 and hosted by the Turkish Ministry for Industry and Trade The report sets out policy messages and recommendations from the work undertaken on this topic. These messages and recommendations provide material from which governments may draw in promoting innovative SMEs in the global economy. Graham Vickery and Ken Sakai, Inho Lee and Hagbong Sim of the OECD’s Directorate for Science, Technology and Policy prepared the report, with a contribution by Muriel Faverie, FORUM, Université Paris X, Nanterre, France. Preparation of the report received financial assistance from the French Government and from the United States Department of Commerce [e-Business Facilitation Initiative at the OECD]. It was initially issued under the code DSTI/IND/PME(2002)7/FINAL. This report is issued on the responsibility of the Secretary-General of the OECD. Views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Organisation or its member governments.

Copyright OECD, 2004. Applications for permission to reproduce or translate all or part of this material should be made to: Head of Publications Service, OECD, 2 rue André Pascal, 75775 Paris Cedex 16, France.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ............................................................................................................................ 4 Business environment ................................................................................................................................. 4 Network infrastructure

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