National Network of Euro Info Centres Electronic Commerce Campaign

The Euro Info Centres began a campaign in 18 countries on the 14th of September 2001. The aim of the campaign is to provide practical information and support national Small and Medium Sized Businesses (SMSB) that intend to take part in electronic commerce.

The Euro Info Centres Network Campaign on Electronic Commerce is one of the first actions to be launched in the context of the community initiative GoDigital for Small and Medium Sized Businesses and will last until June 2002.

Within the bounds of this initiative, 18 national EIC networks will receive financial aid from the European Commission and local bodies to coordinate actions in the respective Member States. The general coordinator of the Portuguese national campaign - Campanha Nacional e-vital.pt is the Silicon Euro Info Centre.

Organised work sessions will be integrated into this initiative between the months of October and November of this year to analyses the main questions faced by Small and Medium Sized Businesses in relation to electronic commerce, along with the presentation of the Euro Info Centres National Campaign on Electronic Commerce. The aim of this initiative is to encourage the use of electronic commerce by more than 25,000 Small and Medium Sized Businesses and to accompany the first 700 (Small of these Business and Medium Sized Businesses) who wish to adopt the necessary resources to practice commercial relationships by electronic means for the period of one year.

Regional sessions will take place in Lisbon on the 16th of October, in the FIL Meeting Centre, followed by sessions in Oporto, Braga, Aveiro, Leiria, Faro, Évora, Ponta Delgada, Funchal and Coimbra under the theme supporting the Small and Medium Sized Business to face the challenges of Electronic Commerce (See Apendix)

These sessions are designed for all entrepreneurs and Small and Medium Sized Business managers/executives and are aimed at promoting productivity, competitiveness and improving relationships within their respective markets, especially foreign ones. The work sessions are also intended for, the supply and consultancy businesses in the area of information technology, telecommunications and the electronics markets.

The increasing demand for electronic communications, associated with the rapid technical changes in the demand for communications services and infrastructures, and the significant implications this has on the way that national industry and commerce will face in a progressively global market the ICP as regulator of the communications sector will actively support and participate in the planned actions