The e-Trade Bridge Programme and e-Competence for SMEs
Looking forward to a bright and fruitful year in 2005, I got a great headstart by participating in the e-Trade Bridge Programme Training of Trainers (TOT) held last January 3-12, 2005 at the Philippine Trade Training Center. This was organized by the Association of Training Institutions for Foreign Trade in Asia and the Pacific (ATIFTAP),in partnership with the International Trade Centre (ITC)/WTO, and the Philippine Trade Training Center (PTTC) under the e-Trade Bridge Programmewhich aims to create e-competent enterprises.
The Training of Trainers (TOT) is a capacity-building programme which provides a group of trade development professionals with the necessary tools, materials and skills to design and develop training and counselling interventions. The aim of the programme is to build capacities within multiplier institutions to help SMEs make best use of Information and CommunicationTechnology (ICT) and e-business practices to improve their international competitiveness.
I was anticipating that the training will provide me more knowledge, competency and network in my field of expertise, specifically in website development. Having been chosen together with 28 businessmen, professionals and consultants who are experts in different fields is a great privilege. Five of the participants came from other countries. There are only four of us who are from the I.T. industry.
Dr. Atac, who is the guru of the Business Management System (BMS) and Head of the ITC Enterprise Management Development System (EMDS), heads the list of trainors which also includes EMDS experts like Luz Suplico, Jojo Mutuc and Angie Resurrection. Aside from the trainors, I also got a lot of insights from the other participants as we went through a series of lectures, workshops, case studies, plant visits and on-the-job training.
However, the 10-days of training was not sufficient to cover the competencies in Export and E-Trade. Since, most of the participants are new to the programme, we have to take time in absorbing the fundamentals of the BMS framework and Management competence. We were just able to have scratched the surface of features of the e-tools, NeedSME and PlanSME (there are other e-Tools like ExportSME and eSME). We were however, given copies and licenses of the software that we can practice on.
We discovered that there is still a lot to learn and there is still along way to be an expert even in just one competency of the EMDS programmes. Two of the participants from Turkey have taken the EMDS programme for one and a half years already and they still attended the training for the updates on the programme. I am looking forward to further training specially on the e-Trade Competency.
At the end of the training, I presented my action plan which includes my decision to be an expert in the E-Trade Competency Programme. By finishing the TOT, we were certified as EMDS associates and can become EMDS Advisers after making a case study applying the BMS to at least one SME. Gaining a new perspective from attending the TOT, I decided to apply the new principles I've learned first to my own company and current web projects.
One immediate application is in the development of the training programmes and Website Development Workshops I am conducting at the Philippine Trade Training Center based on the BMS. Instead of a software-centered approach, the workshops will be focusing more on helping SMEs build a functional and effective online presence based on their market segment and competencies.
I was inspired by the efforts made by international organizations like ITC in bridging the gap between developing and developed countries specially in the use of ICT. Hopefully, I can also contribute my share of "e" to the industry.
In my next blogs, I will be sharing my experiences and adventures in the e-Trade Quest. I will also be sharing tips and techniques in building dynamic and interactive websites even without programming knowledge.
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