1. 1 Merkur Day 2004 Naklo, Slovenia, 22 October 2004 ICT & Business: New chances for Europe and its regions TAPANI MIKKELI European Commission, Enterprise Directorate-General D4: e-business, ICT industries and services

2. 2 European initiatives for promoting e-Business eBSN e-Business W@tch e-Business Legal Portal e-Marketplaces portal eSAP

3. 3 Objectives of eBSN Better co-ordination among e-business policy initiatives in Europe Promote the exchange of best practice in the field of e- business policies in favor of SMEs Discuss the new challenges in this field with a view to adapting e-business policies

4. 4 eBSN structure eBSN Steering Group eBSN Portal e-business watch function e-business legal portal e-marketplaces portal Thematic workshops Best practice promotion Others European Commission eBSN Members Business, academia Enterprise Programme Management Committee Member States, Acceding and Candidate Countries, EEA/EFTA States eEurope Advisory Group

5. 5 Policy challenges

6. 6 eBSN-ing in practice Promoting effective methods of ICT uptake Enhancing best practice exchanges Facilitating networking

7. 7 eBSN-ing in practice Finding new potential partners Learning from others Identifying and reusing best practise

8. 8 eRegions: Best Practice for networking? Governments/regional policy makers Universities of the regions involved Businesses both from supply and demand side of ICT uptake

9. 9 Legal initiatives New calls for tenders: Validity and recognition of e-documents Benchmarking national legal practices Unfair business practices in B2B e-marketplaces Costs and benefits of reverse auctions

10. 10 For more information e-mail:tapani.mikkeli@cec.eu.int entr-ict-e-commerce@cec.eu.int http://europa.eu.int/comm/enterprise/ict/index.htm http://europa.eu.int/comm/enterprise/ict/policy/e-bus- snfsme.htm http://www.ebusiness-watch.org http://www.ebusinesslex.net/index.asp http://www.emarketservices.com