Government backtracks on SME web targets

The Times reported that government figures show just 490,000 SMEs use the web for buying and selling, a long way short of the target set in 1998, while the number actually fell by 50,000 over the last year.

However, UK Online for Business, which aims to encourage SMEs to use the web effectively, admitted the target was a misguided attempt by government to push businesses on to the internet bandwagon during the boom years, forcing it to backtrack.

While the boom has been and gone, government now accepts that buying and selling over the internet should not have been an end in itself and only recommended to those businesses' for whom web trading was suited.

The Times reported UK Online for Business head Elizabeth Grant as saying: "We thought trading was the be-all and end-all and the ultimate utopia, It is an indicator but it's not the only game in town."

The initiative is now gauging its success though other indicators and is instead aiming to give advice to businesses about how the web should be used.

"www.ukonlineforbusiness.gov.uk ":http://www.ukonlineforbusiness.gov.uk

"Email us about this story ":mailto:editorial@netimperative.com