Almost 95 percent of enterprises in the Asia-Pacific region are SMEs. They are a key driver of national economies. While ICT can benefit these SMEs, they have been slow to adopt ICT due to poor telecommunications infrastructure, limited ICT literacy, the high cost of ICT equipment and incomplete government regulations for e-commerce. These gaps need to be addressed so that the opportunities provided by ICT are accessible to SMEs as well as larger corporations.
SMEs can benefit either as producers of ICT or as users of ICT for purposes such as increased productivity, faster communications and reaching new clients. This e-Primer, with a foreword by Kim Hak-Su, (i) discusses benefits ICT brings to SMEs; (ii) explores possible uses of ICT; (iii) surveys past ICT policies and programmes for SMEs; and (iv) recommends policy options for the consideration of interested governments.
It is part of the e-Primer Series for the Information Economy, Society and Polity, which details the concepts, issues and trends regarding those topics. The Series is intended to raise awareness and help policy makers and planners understand the relevance of ICT for development by explaining applications in simple terms.
This e-primer is jointly produced by UNDP Asia-Pacific Development Information Programme and the Asian and Pacific Training Centre for Information and Communication Technology for Development.
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