After two years of intensive preparation, PIN-SME (Pan European ICT & eBusiness Network for SMEs) was established in December 2007 in Brussels, where the organisation is also based. The eight founding members represent more than 50,000 IT-SMEs with over 200,000 employees throughout Europe. With PIN-SME as the umbrella organisation, IT-SMEs now speak with one voice.

In its endeavours to assist IT-SMEs, PIN-SME is intensely supported by the Brussels-based organisations UEAPME and NORMAPME.

UEAPME is the employer organisation for commerce, trade and SMEs in the EU. From the 82 member  organisations, more than 12 million businesses with over 55 million employees are  represented. NORMAPME is a unique organisation with trans-European engagement for representing  the interests of European SMEs with regards to standardisation. The member organisations represent more than 11 million businesses in all EU and EFTA Member States.

The PIN-SME Vice Presidents hold positions in various European bodies, such as the IT-Forum in  Denmark, the BASSCOM in Bulgaria or the UKITA in Great Britain, as well as many more.

Twelve months of political work – a short retrospect

Within the first year of its existence, PIN-SME established an effective organisation and communications structure, which aided the dismantling of existing geo-graphic and intercultural barriers among the members.

Since existence, its presence has been clearly displayed and much has been ac-complished in a short time. At the fifth eBusiness Watch conference in May, PIN-SME founding member and Vice President in Great Britain, Mike Sharpe, gave an impressive presentation on the subject “the Challenge of eSkills in SMEs”. The confer-ence was organised through a programme launched by the European Commission (Sectoral eBusiness Watch). The results of the newest studies for the acceptance of eBusiness in specific fields were presented. The goal of the event was to gain support from policy and industry decision-makers through the identification of important eBusiness trends as well as by discussing various scenarios and their effects on business.

For example, this was how PIN-SME Presi-dent, Johann Steszgal (Austria), defined the point of view of the IT-SMEs at the European eSkills conference in Thessaloniki from the October 9-10, 2008.

He presented the PIN-SME position paper and explained that eSkills for citizens and businesses in Europe are a key factor for the increase in production, competitive-ness and occupations and the success of the Lisbon Strategy. In particular, PIN-SME expressed recommendations on behalf of IT-SMEs on the subject of eSkills.

At the 11th Summit Economic Forum of the Central European Initiative (CEI), hosted by Moldava, PIN-SME and the European Commission both took part in a conference entitled “SMEs and ICT in the CEI region: The role of business associa-tions in fostering growth and competitive-ness”. PIN-SME was represented by Gen-eral Secretary, Sebastiano Toffaletti. George Brashnarov (Bulgaria) and Martin Prager (Austria) were also present on behalf of their national organisations.

At the 20th World Computer Congress (WCC 2008) from September 7th to 10th, PIN-SME President, Johann Steszgal and Gianfranco Granara, Vice President for PIN-SME in Italy, were invited as speakers. For the first time, the event was hosted in Milan (Italy) in the Milan Convention Cen-tre with the support of the International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP). The World Computer Congress 2008 consists of major conferences, organised by the technical committee of the International Federation for Information Processing, and associated workshops and seminars. The PIN-SME delegates spoke on the subject “ICT Procurement and the Challenge of Specialisation for Small and Micro Enterprises”.

At The ICT-Event in Lyon from November 25-27, PIN-SME organised a network session focussing on the role of IT-SMEs as catalysers for innovation processes. The goal of the session was, among others, to establish how IT-SMEs can contribute to the innovation process and which assistance they require in order to fulfil this role. This event is the biggest of its kind for ICT in Europe.

SMEs Earn Recognition

“SMEs play a significant role in the Europe-an economy. Therefore, they deserve our attention when taking political measures, especially when it involves their competi-tiveness”, confirmed Viviane Reding, EU Commissioner for Information Society and Media, to PIN-SME. “The introduction of Information and Communication Systems occurs often enough at too high of costs and too slowly, yet it is also hindered by the primary focus of solution providers on the market of major enterprises”, continued Reding.

Through a lasting representation of the interests of IT-SMEs on the European stage, PIN-SME indirectly supports the harmonisation of ICT application in small and medium-sized enterprises in Europe. It also helps to secure and generate jobs, thereby strengthening the economic power of the European economies.

Goals 2009

One of the primary goals for PIN-SME in 2009 is the acquisition of additional members to be able to reinforce the voice of IT-SMEs in European countries even more. Within the scope of CeBIT 2009, PIN-SME will organise the “Third European Expert Forum for Innovation and Internationalisation in SMEs”. Last but not least, the creative power of all parties involved will be oriented to further promote the issues of IT-SMEs.