STATE AGENCY FOR INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND COMMUNICATIONS EVITA Kick-off meeting Athens, December 8-9th, 2008 ELISA events in BULGARIA

STATE AGENCY FOR INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

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EVITA Kick-off meeting EVITA Kick-off meeting Athens, December 8-9th, 2008Athens, December 8-9th, 2008

ELISA events inELISA events inBULGARIABULGARIA


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Bulgarian participantsBulgarian participants

Two partners from Bulgaria took part in ELISA project - the State Agency for Information Technology and Communications(SAITC) as a leading Bulgarian partner and the Information Society Technologies Foundation(ISTF).

The project team included experts with a necessary qualification and competence in the field of e-Learning and e-commerce, corresponding to the tasks in the action plan


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State Agency for IT and CommunicationsState Agency for IT and Communications – – Bulgarian partnerBulgarian partner

In 2005 the Bulgarian government established a State Agency for IT and Communications in order to:Conduct the state management in the fields of IT, communications and Information Society in Bulgaria Synchronize and actively participate in ICT development in the public sectorCoordinate Information Society activitiesSupport the development of networks for security and defenceFacilitate the establishment of partnerships and encourage the development of business relationships between Bulgarian and foreign companies in the ICT sectorCoordinate the promotion and marketing of the Bulgarian ICT brand


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Implement modifications and extensions to the Implement modifications and extensions to the selected e-Learning platformselected e-Learning platform

The project team worked on the development of a selected e-learning platform and on its adaptation to the local context, along with the complete translation of the training content into Bulgarian.

The experts completed the customization of an existing e-Learning and e-communication tool, chosen

during the previous stage of evaluation.


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Implement modifications and extensions to the Implement modifications and extensions to the selected e-Learning platformselected e-Learning platform

This activity included a study of the status and

application in the sphere of SMEs regarding services

such as electronic commerce and transactions,

education and training, networking, innovation and

technology transfers, establishment of networks and

partnerships between businesses and research

institutes etc.


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Training packages for SMEsTraining packages for SMEs

Starting from existing training material of the Greek GoOnline initiative and e-business training material, a complete training package was produced by the leading partner of the project GRNET in English, including lessons on basic ICT skills, e-business processes, applications, solutions, legislation, e-banking, e-government, sectoral specificities, etc.


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Training packages for SMEsTraining packages for SMEs

The training materials were translated in Bulgarian by the Bulgarian project team. Furthermore, the training materials were customized to reflect particularities of Bulgarian SMEs in the local legislation and government-to-business services, namely with regard to production processes using ICT as well as to existing policy measures and documents on SMEs initiatives and the digital economy.


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Adoption of ICT by enterprisesAdoption of ICT by enterprises

All Bulgarian enterprises with more than 10 employees - computerised

28 % of the enterprises with less than 10 employees had no computer

Employees using a computer at their workplace – nearly 30 % in 2006

About 60 % of SMEs use ICT mostly for secretarial work, document registration and accounting activities


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Adoption of ICT by enterprisesAdoption of ICT by enterprises

Only 10 % of SMEs use ICT for management information systems, production automation systems, client relation management systems In 2007 about 90 % of the computers and 90 % of the

enterprises linked to Internet In 2007-2008 more than 50 % of the enterprises with

more than ten employees with own websites


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Legal FrameworkLegal Framework

Law on Electronic Document and Electronic SignatureLaw on Access to Public Information Law on Personal Information Protection Amendments of the Criminal Code Law on Electronic Commerce Law on Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Law on Administrative Servicing of Citizens and Legal Entities


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Government to Business e-servicesGovernment to Business e-services

Social security and health insurance information

Public procurement

Corporate taxes

Customs declarations

VAT

Registration of Legal Entity

Submission of tax declarations

Submission of data to the National Statistical Institute


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Existing Strategies and ProgrammesExisting Strategies and Programmes

e-Government Strategy

The National Strategy for Encouragement of SMEs Development, 2002 – 2009

Bulgarian National Innovation Strategy

The National Investment Promotion Strategy, 2005-2010

Operational Programme “Development of the Competitiveness of the Bulgarian Economy” 2007-2013.


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e-Business survival kite-Business survival kit

An e-business survival kit was created by the project partners. The e-Business survival kit was an easy to use guide-compilation including various chapters from the training materials (e.g., basic ICT skills, e-business practices, etc) A Bulgarian team took part in the translation(48 pages) and the quality control regarding, editing and customization of the content to the particularities of Bulgarian SMEs, local legislation and other country specific content and services.


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e-Business survival kite-Business survival kit

As a result of this activity the leading partner of the project printed 10 000 copies, including a 48-page booklet and a CD version of the training content.

All 10 000 e-Business survival kits were distributed to a large number of Bulgarian SMEs nationwide through different communication channels – dissemination seminars, the Bulgarian SME Promotion Agency, Network of telecentres, the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce, SME Associations and different NGOs, etc.


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First training seminar for SME’sFirst training seminar for SME’s

The first training seminar for SME’s in Bulgaria within the framework of the ELISA Project took place in the Bulgarian-Korean Telecenter in Sofia on the 19th and 20th of February 2007 using tele-education rooms inside the National Research and Educational Network.


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First training seminar for SME’sFirst training seminar for SME’s

32 selected SME’s from various fields and regions participated in the training.

The training was divided into sessions covering topics on basic IT skills for business and introduction to e-business – principles and best practices and entrepreneurship on the Internet (The Internet, Creating Websites, The e-Business Environment, e-Business – Business to Business (B2B), e-Business and Enterprise's Internal Operation etc.).


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First Dissemination eventFirst Dissemination eventPlovdiv, 11 May 2007Plovdiv, 11 May 2007

E-Commerce. Tools for SMEs E-Optimization Government institutions strategy for popularizing popularizing ICT for SMEs Search engine optimizationSharing good Practices

ARC Fund Center for innovation and technology transfer-Global

Ltd Regional Development Agency with Business

Support Centre for SMEs Plovdiv, Bulgaria


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First Dissemination eventFirst Dissemination eventPlovdiv, 11 May 2007Plovdiv, 11 May 2007


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Second Dissemination eventSecond Dissemination eventSofia, 12 October 2007Sofia, 12 October 2007

The Telecenters - training centers for increasing SME competitiveness using ICTCRM - good opportunities for development of the SME sectorE-Commerce - Strengthening the international market positions of SMEsBenefits of utilizing e-business practices in the transport sector E-Learning - competitive SME sectorE-Learning possibilities in the frame of EQN Perspectives of GRID-Technology for the small and medium businessFinancial resources for spin-off enterprises, Operational Program Development of the Competitiveness of the Bulgarian Economy


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Second Dissemination eventSecond Dissemination eventSofia, 12 October 2007Sofia, 12 October 2007


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Policy Makers WorkshopPolicy Makers WorkshopSofia, 11 October 2007Sofia, 11 October 2007

Policy recommendations

Presentation from the Bulgarian partner of a proposal for National Level Training Strategy

Discussion on ICT National Training Strategy Proposal

Conclusion for future activities


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Representatives from

both Bulgarian partners,

the Ministry of economic and energetics in the

person of Bulgarian SME Promotion Agency

the Ministry of education and sciences

Bulgarian Association for Information Technology

Bulgarian Association of Software Companies


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Sofia University, Applied Research and Communication Foundation, Center for Innovation and Technology Transfer-Global Ltd, Regional Development Agency with Business Support Centre for SMEs Plovdiv, Bulgaria our partners from GRNET and from DanubeTrained SMEsTutors


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Policy recommendations Policy recommendations

There are three key essential recommendations to be taken into consideration while developing initiatives to encourage the adoption of ICT by SMEs:

Raise awareness among SMEs of the benefits of ICT;

Strengthen ICT literacy and build capacity in the alignment of business and ICT strategies;

Create enabling environments for the adoption and growth of ICT firms.


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National ICT training programme featuresNational ICT training programme features

The programme should provide:Information regarding the benefits and costs of adoption of ICTsE-learning courses that are flexible and tailored to specific ICT skills industries, employees’ position and role, or software/hardware applications;WEB-based consultancy and advice in adopting ICT applications new business processes and business models based on ICT, including e-commerce and e-business;WEB-based resource center for SME relevant digital content in Bulgarian and in other languages


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Bulgarian ELISA teamBulgarian ELISA team


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Thank you very much

for your attention!

Documents

STATE AGENCY FOR INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND COMMUNICATIONS EVITA Kick-off meeting Athens, December 8-9th, 2008 ELISA events in BULGARIA