e-Newsletter No. 1/2007, August 2007

The work programme for 2007/08 – sectors and topics in focus

Six sectors and four cross-sector topics have been selected for 2007/2008. Sectors include chemicals, rubber and plastics; steel; furniture; retail, transport services and logistics; and banking.

In addition, the four special topics are Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) adoption and implications, Intellectual property rights for ICT-producing SMEs, ICT and e-business implications for energy consumption, and the Economic impact and drivers of ICT adoption and diffusion.

The final study reports are expected for April 2008.

More about the the SeBW studies of 2007/08

ICT help companies increase their process efficiency – and develop innovative customer services

The e-Business W@tch 2006/07 has shown that e-business has gained new momentum in the EU and in other advanced economies of the world. The overly pessimistic and hesitant attitude towards ICT, which the burst of the new economy bubble provoked in many companies, is a thing of the past. The cost-saving potential of ICT has been broadly recognised by companies. Efficiency and productivity gains have been a key driver for growth in ICT investments. Large firms, and increasingly the public sector, are spearheading this development. However, in parallel to the continued search for cost-cutting potential, companies are become more creative in using ICT for new forms of customer service.

More results of e-Business W@tch 2006/07

Drivers and barriers for RFID adoption

The development of RFID technology promises to be one of the most interesting innovations for the improvement of efficiency and effectiveness of business processes across the manufacturing, transportation & logistics, wholesale distribution and retail trade sectors. RFID is essentially a new data acquisition platform for enterprises, and as such it needs to be integrated within evolving IT infrastructures and allow exchange of information between dissimilar platforms of value chain partners.

One of the SeBW studies of 2007/08 will assess the main drivers and barriers for RFID deployment in the four sectors mentioned above. For each sector, a market scenario will be developed analysing RFID adoption dynamics in the past two years and assessing expected changes in the short-term. A decision-maker survey among 420 medium-sized and large enterprises will provide up-to-date empirical evidence on the issues studied.

More about the forthcoming study on RFID

ICT and e-Business implications for energy consumption

Energy markets have seen major changes in recent years, driven mainly by market liberalisation, unbundling of vertically integrated industries, and the emergence of new (and often decentralised) energy technologies. At the same time the role of information and communications technologies (ICT) and e-business in shaping energy needs and behaviour has increased tremendously. ICT and e-business can help to reduce energy consumption and thus costs by reorganising production processes, but it can also lead to additional demand for energy due to new products and services provided.

So far very little research has focused on quantitative analysis to determine the relationships between ICT usage and energy use. A forthcoming study by the SeBW will explore these issues, in order to determine whether income or substitution effects of ICT diffusion viewed against energy use dominate in the various industries studied by the SeBW.

More about the forthcoming study on ICT implications for energy consumption

e-Business in the furniture industry

The EU furniture industry is an economically important sector, providing employment to 1.2 million people. The e-Business W@tch has never covered the furniture industry comprehensively in its surveys. A forthcoming SeBW study will close this gap and assess to which degree European firms in the furniture industry use ICT and apply e-business in their internal and external business processes.

A special focus will be the use of ICT for integrating product design and modelling processes with manufacturing and marketing & sales. Furniture manufacturers face many challenges when designing and modelling new products. These include the difficulty in exchanging the information with the shop floor as well the supply and sales chain. Advanced 3-D modelling tools have demonstrated tremendous potential for improving the efficiency of generating product information needed for the production of furniture pieces. The key, however, is to link this information with the product data workflow through the development and manufacturing process.

More about the forthcoming e-business study on furniture

e-Business in the steel industry

The steel industry has not been covered by e-Business W@tch sector studies before. A forthcoming SeBW study will close this gap and assess to which degree European firms in the steel industry use ICT and apply e-business in their internal and external business processes.

The steel industry began conducting e-commerce with key global customers in the 1970s through basic EDI and, later, e-mail. Since then, e-commerce developed steadily in the steel industry and burgeoned in the mid-1990s. Individual steel companies have developed a range of web-based applications such as employee recruitment, customer order tracking, product information and specifications, corporate account administrations, as well as supplier interfaces focused on the procurement process. The study will assess the current and potential role of ICT and e-business in a global sourcing and supply process in this industry. Special attention will be paid to the development of standards for e-business in the steel industry’s supply chain.

More about the forthcoming e-business study on the steel industry

The Advisory Boards

The work of the SeBW is guided and validated by an international Advisory Board for each of the ten main studies. Members of the Advisory Boards include industry representatives from the sectors studied, researchers, consultants and representatives of the ICT industry. Cooperation with the Advisory Boards also facilitates the communication with target groups and the dissemination of results.

Resources for researchers: case level survey data

The SeBW encourages researchers, academics and students to use the data of its e-Business Surveys (2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007f.) for carrying out empirical studies on the economic impact of ICT and e-business in enterprises.

Data have been gathered by means of representative surveys among decision-makers in European enterprises, based on computer-assisted telephone interviews (CATI). The SeBW offers access to case level data at no cost, based on the acceptance of the conditions for use. Data are stored and will be delivered in SPSS format, together with a manual about the survey methodology and the questionnaire. As of September 2007, it will be possible to make applications for receiving data online on the website.

Information how to obtain survey data for research

e-Business case studies on the web

The SeBW conducts short e-business case studies based on in-depth interviews with company representatives from the sectors studied. About 170 case studies (conducted as part of the research from 2004-2006) are currently available on the website.

In 2007/08, 100 company case studies will be conducted in Europe, the USA and in further American and Asian/Pacific countries. In the forthcoming studies, analysis will place more weight on case studies. They will constitute an important input to the study reports and be separately published on the website.

Download SeBW case studies