THEME
C :
DEVELOPMENT
OF
BUSINESS
USAGES
OF
INFORMATION
TECHNOLOGIES
Need
for
a sector-based
approach
The
use
of
ICTs
generates
productivity
and
competitiveness.
However,
this
value
creation
is
not
the
automatic
result
of
investment
in
ICTs.
It
is
driven
by
the
reorganisation
of
production
processes
on
the
back
of
real-time
circulation
and
processing
of
information;
such
reorganisation
is
not
limited
to
internal
processes
but
covers
all
relations
and
exchanges
between
companies
and
their
partners.
Analysis
of
innovative
practices
- among
which
those
used
by
French
players
are
still
the
exception
- highlights
many
areas
where
such
practices
can
create
value.
Examples
of
new
practices
generated
by
ICTs
include:
personalised
real-time
relations
with
suppliers
and
customers
at
the
sales
and
production
end,
cooperative
design
of
new
products
in
the
development
process,
immediate
application
of
market
information
to
suppliers
and
stock
management
at
the
distribution
end
and
real-time
fleet
management
in
the
area
of
logistics.
Such
practices
involve
networks
of
human
resources.
ICTs
allow
these
resources
to
interact
continually
according
to
original
patterns,
based
upon
concerted
analysis
and
actions
within
the
company
in
conjunction
with
its
main
economic
partners.
Whether
the
goal
is
to
transform
brick-and-mortar
sectors
or
to
create
new
markets,
management
needs
to
develop
a shared
strategic
vision
with
its
sector
partners
in
order
to
make
the
most
of
these
new
opportunities.
Innovations
sparked
by
the
use
of
ICTs
generally
involve
relations
between
businesses,
sometimes
entailing
a radical
overhaul
of
the
business
model,
which
can
only
be
effective
when
implemented
by
all
stakeholders
involved.
The
stakeholders
need
to
dialogue
in
order
to
create
value
with
new
usages.
This
kind
of
dialogue
is
not
limited
to
institutional
discussions.
It
requires
genuine
efforts
to
define,
explain
and
assume
ownership
of
a new
way
of
"working
together"
using
new
tools.
This
is
the
level
where
the
cultural
change
to
an
"intelligence
society"
takes
place.
Moreover,
it
is
essential
for
the
standardisation
of
data
interchange
and
storage
and
for
the
identification
of
the
critical
paths
which
must
accompany
such
ownership.
While
these
concepts
are
widely
shared
by
major
businesses
in
all
sectors,
they
are
nevertheless
difficult
to
implement
due
to
the
need
to
make
sector
players
see
the
existence
of
shared
interests
or
to
identify
natural
leaders
who
will
have
a spillover
effect
on
the
entire
industry.
These
difficulties
are
worse
for
medium-size
industries
and
even
worse
for
small
entities.
These
are
also
the
businesses
which
take
longest
to
benefit
from
the
productivity
and
competitiveness
gains
generated
by
ICTs.
Many
attempts
have
already
been
made
without
much
success.
Appropriation
of
ICTs
by
French
SMEs
is
lagging.
While
the
link
between
investment
in
ICTs
and
their
contribution
to
growth
has
been
demonstrated
at
macroeconomic
level,
their
value
should
also
be
demonstrated
by
default
at
the
level
of
SMEs.
It
is
a matter
of
survival.
Appropriation
of
ICTs
affects
their
capacity
to
expand
and
do
business
outside
their
immediate
sphere
and
determines
their
export
opportunities.
It
determines
their
relations
with
customers
and
their
capacity
to
make
technical
offers
or
to
submit
pricing
tenders
(online
reverse
auction)
since
electronic
documents
and
their
date
of
issue
have
now
legal
validity
(electronic
contracts
- French
law
on
confidence
in
the
digital
economy
(LCEN),
Articles
25
and
27).
This
last
aspect
highlights
a particular
source
of
opposition
and
suspicion
by
SMEs,
i.e.
knowledge
or
even
the
availability
of
recognised
and
standardised
standards
for
certification,
storage
and
trusted
third
parties.
Moreover,
the
improvement
in
productivity
and
competitiveness
expected
by
SMEs
because
of
the
way
in
which
ICTs
simplify
and
speed
up
the
dialogue
with
customers
depends
as
much
as
upon
the
SMEs
themselves
as
upon
the
involvement
of
their
customers.
In
conjunction
with
such
organisations
as
SYNTEC
Informatique
and
Club
Informatique
des
Grandes
Entreprises
Françaises
(CIGREF),
the
government
has
laid
the
groundwork
for
an
approach
of
this
type,
particularly
in
the
service
sector
(mass
retailing,
financial
services,
freight
transport
and
logistics,
etc.).
Here
the
government
acts
as
the
catalyst
of
common
action
by
the
players
of
the
sectors
in
question.
Obviously,
the
players
themselves
will
have
to
define
the
new
business
model
resulting
from
more
intensive
use
of
the
ICTs.
Launched
by
Association
Française
des
Utilisateurs
du
Net
(AFNET),
the
"Boost
Industrie"
initiative
in
the
aviation
and
space
sector
provides
a concrete
example
of
the
same
concept.
It
is
complemented
by
the
e-PME
project
and
should
be
extended
gradually
to
other
industrial
sectors
(nuclear,
railway,
shipbuilding,
etc.).
This
initiative
can
provide
a general
methodological
framework
for
the
development
of
a similar
approach
in
other
sectors.
Lastly,
Mouvement
des
Entreprises
de
France
(MEDEF)
has
set
up
a working
group
on
the
use
of
ICTs
by
SMEs,
whose
conclusions
appear
to
be
going
in
the
same
direction.
PROPOSALS
It
is
proposed
to
strengthen
and
amplify
these
initiatives
according
to
a coherent
overall
approach.
They
should
take
the
form
of
sector-based
analysis
and
dialogue
structures
whose
members
would
include
businessmen,
trade
organisations,
technical
experts
and
economic
intelligence
specialists.
Such
structures
would
be
cooperative
and
particularly
make
it
possible
to
share
a vision
on
the
innovation
expected
from
ICTs,
to
determine
the
impact
of
public
policies
in
this
respect
and
subsequently
to
monitor
and
to
provide
operational
assistance
with
the
implementation
of
the
resulting
measures.
Recent
experience
has
shown
that
support
for
businesses
is
useful
when
it
covers
both
technological
and
management
aspects:
-
Technologically,
it
is
necessary
to
promote
standards
(in
principle
international
standards)
through
operational
solutions.
This
applies
especially
to
tier-two
companies
(industrial
logical)
and
to
SMEs
in
general.
However,
it
is
necessary
to
determine
sector
maturity
in
this
respect
and
potential
difficulties
resulting
from
the
application
of
sector
standards
for
players
who
are
simultaneously
involved
in
several
sectors;
