A campaign has been launched to encourage small businesses in the south-east to switch on to e-business.
The initiative is part of a drive by the Chambers of Commerce of Ireland (CCI) to stimulate business development among its members and follows publication of a MORI/MRC survey which found that small and medium businesses need to develop an Internet strategy.
Mr Seβn Lynam, the manager of the project in the south-east, says the region has lagged behind in taking up the business potential of the Internet.
The CCI-commissioned survey found that, nationally, less than a third of businesses with a turnover of less than £5 million had developed an Internet strategy.
Of the 726 businesses surveyed, only 46 per cent had their own websites. In the south-east, the figure was just 41 per cent.
The new initiative includes an e-business training programme for owners and managers of small and medium enterprises which will be delivered at locations in the south-east. Workshops and seminars will also be held throughout the region.
Mr Lynam says the training programme will be divided into five three-hour modules and by the end of the course each participant will have developed an understanding of e-business technology and its applications.
They will also have mapped out an information technology strategy for their businesses. The programme was developed by the CCI with Beckinbridge Technologies.
"One concern that people often express is how to apply the theory to a practical application in their business. Each participant in this programme will develop an e-business action plan as part of the course. The key is to apply what they have learned on the course to the very real environment of their own business," he said.
Dr Chris Horn of Iona Technologies will act as patron of the south-east programme, which was launched for local business in Waterford last night.
The Wexford launch is at the Talbot Hotel at 6 p.m. this evening, with similar events for all the major centres in the region over the next two weeks.