Net Impact Study Canada: The International Experience

Interim Report
May 2003
Canadian e-Business Initiative (CeBI)

Despite the recent economic downturn, particularly in the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector, the transformation of traditional business processes using Internet Business Solutions (Internet Business Solutions) continues. Businesses and governments around the world are leveraging the Internet to improve performance.

Net Impact Canada: The SME Experience, published in November 2002, reported on how Canadian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) were using Internet Business Solutions to improve their business processes. Just over half (50.2%) of Canadian SMEs were using or implementing Internet Business Solutions and a further 20.3% intended to adopt Internet Business Solutions over the next three years. The study also suggested that in a "best case" scenario, an average firm could increase net profits by more than 150% with the changes in revenues and costs brought about by their adoption of Internet Business Solutions.

However, that same study also found that more than a quarter of Canadian SMEs (28.4%) had no intention of adopting Internet Business Solutions. Those SMEs who choose not to adopt Internet Business Solutions will not benefit from the potential productivity improvements offered by Internet Business Solutions. As a result these firms are also running the risk of getting shut out of global supply chains which are increasingly being integrated using Internet Business Solutions technology. This group of non-adopters has been the central focus of the Canadian e-Business Initiative (CeBI), a group of Canadian business leaders and academics who are led by the private sector, and are partnering with government, to further the development of the digital economy in Canada. CeBI believes that in order for Canada's economy to remain competitive, SMEs must accelerate their adoption of Internet Business Solutions.

Net Impact Canada: The International Experience extends the findings of The SME Experience and explores how Canadian SMEs compare with similar firms abroad. In particular, Canada is compared to the United States (U.S.) and three leading European Union countries as a group: the United Kingdom, France and Germany.