The Sectoral e-Business Watch studies of 2009 - interim results

ICT and e-business in the glass, ceramics and cement (GCC) industry

The capability to innovate is a critical success factor for companies in the European glass, ceramics and cement industries to stay competitive and keep their position in high value-added market segments. ICT has an important role to play here as an enabler of process innovation. This does not necessarily imply large investments in hardware and software – simple ICT solutions can often be sufficient. In most segments of the GCC industry, e-business adoption in general is slightly less advanced than in other process manufacturing sectors. Smaller companies in particular tend to have little incentive to use e-business. On the other hand the majority of process innovations in the industry (about 75%), according to the innovating companies interviewed, are linked in one way or the other with ICT usage. Furthermore case studies show that successful use of ICT does not necessarily require major investments in hardware or software. In one case, a medium-sized ceramics manufacturer uses a self-programmed production planning and management system which is based on a standard office software application.

More about the study on the glass, ceramics and cement industry»
Table report of the survey in the glass, ceramics and cement industry »

ICT and e-business in the energy supply industry

There is a flurry of activity related to the use of ICT in the energy supply industry: smart metering, intelligent or smart grids, demand management, intelligent power plants are some of the most prominent issues. The basic question is about how ICT can better support the evolution of the utilities industry and enable the achievement of the EU objectives of security of supply, environmental sustainability, and creating an efficient, reliable and competitive European energy market. ICT plays a fundamental role in improving business processes in the European energy supply industry. Currently, the most widespread business application deployed is Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), used by firms representing two thirds (67%) of the industry’s employment. Other widely deployed sector-specific ICT solutions include: customer relationship management (CRM, 56%), health, safety and environment systems (HS&E, 50%), energy trading and risk management (ETRM, 45%), and carbon management systems (25%). ICT is also driving profound innovation, bringing the industry closer to the vision of the “intelligent utility” to which users can actively participate. Furthermore, ICT can facilitate the efficient use of energy by helping energy suppliers to analyse consumption data and to stimulate consumers to respond to energy prices at specific times.

More about the energy supply industry study»
Table report of the survey in the energy supply industry »

ICT impact on greenhouse gas emissions in energy intensive industries

Climate change is one of the main challenges of our time. Energy use produces, on average, 80% of greenhouse gas emissions. Energy-intensive industries are consequently the object of much attention. ICT can help to reduce emission intensity, but the potential differs between industries. An e-Business Watch study finds that in three of the five most energy-intensive sectors in the EU, greater ICT capital intensity has been associated with increased efficiency and lower emissions intensity. The chemical, glass-ceramic-cement, and the metal sectors exhibit the expected association between greater ICT capital and greater efficiency. In contrast, in the paper and transport sectors, more ICT capital was associated with less efficiency. The trend bodes well for a future reduction in emissions intensity due to ICT. Case studies were conducted with companies that use ICT systems to collect, transfer, and process information about their energy consumption in order to optimise their energy use and business processes. The cases show that this leads to a reduction in GHG emissions. The typical reduction of energy use found in the case studies is considerable, ranging from 10-20%.

More about the study on ICT impact on greenhouse gas emissions»

An economic assessment of ICT-related industrial policy

Findings from an SeBW expert survey indicate a clear need for public policy to support ICT research, development and innovation (RDI) in ICT-producing companies as well as to support e-business adoption in ICT-using manufacturing companies. The experts confirmed that the European Commission is focusing on the right issues in its ICT- and e-business related industrial policies but their assessment can encourage the EC to extend the scope of these policies. The results also suggest that the importance of the European single market for the ICT companies’ ability to sell their products is less well understood than the importance of ICT RDI. Furthermore, the experts see a need for closer co-operation between the EC and the Member States in related policies. As regards e-business adoption in ICT-using manufacturing industries, there may be a critical need to improve electronic value systems, i.e. electronic data exchange between companies. In particular, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are at risk to drop out of large enterprises’ supply chains if they do not adopt e-business practices. 84% of the experts confirmed this. There was also unequivocal agreement among the experts that ICT R&D and innovation in Europe needs to be improved. The agreement was strongest for the statement that “ICT R&D in companies needs to be improved”.

More about the study on ICT-related industrial policy»

e-Skills demand developments and challenges in manufacturing industries

Having the right ICT-related skills ("e-skills") is important to create and sustain competitive advantage – for individual companies and for the economy as a whole. A shortage of e-skills in the market is an obstacle to productivity growth and can therefore have a negative impact on competitiveness and employment. A study by the Sectoral e-Business Watch explored the actual e-skills demand of enterprises. A quantitative shortage in the supply of ICT practitioners is mainly a concern for ICT service providers. The ICT using sectors, on the other hand, had not experienced major difficulties recently in finding and hiring ICT practitioners (ICT specialists) with the required qualifications. Many more jobs require computer and software user skills. In a survey among companies from the glass, ceramics and cement industry, more than 50% of the respondents felt that the demands on employees regarding their computer and software skills "have noticeably increased" in the past few years. However, it appears that the vast majority of employees can cope well with the requirements. Many large companies have a dedicated e-business manager, whose job is to explore opportunities how ICT can be used to support the marketing and sales activities as well as developing the company's ERP system. e-Business activity is closely linked with financial and accounting issues.

More about the e-Skills study»

e-Business and the company strategy: how ICT can transform business models

Companies use ICT in many different ways, and at different levels of sophistication. At a very basic level, applications such as e-mail and using the web do not have major implications for the existing business. They support processes as they are. To effectively use more advanced forms of e-business, such as the exchange of standardised data with business partners, companies often have to implement significant organisational changes in parallel. In some sectors, the rise of e-business has not only had an impact on internal processes but is transforming the entire business model of companies or the sector as a whole. Different levels of e-business impact are describing this transformation.
Level 1: Basic ICT use – little organisational impact: ICT use has become a commonplace in modern business.
Level 2: Advanced e-business activity – significant impact on business processes: "Advanced" e-business means that companies can exchange data electronically with suppliers or customers based on e-business standards.
Level 3: e-Business transformation – new business models and value chains: The sectors which have been most affected by ICT include the ICT services industry itself, tourism, financial services, publishing and the logistics industry.

More about ICT and e-business model transformation in the SeBW brochure 2009 »

Insights about the enabling role of ICT for innovation

ICT is crucial for innovation of new products and services and, even more so, of new processes – it has an “enabling role” in this respect. SeBW enterprise surveys in the energy supply as well as in the glass, ceramics and cement industries confirmed this for the whole research, development and innovation stream but also showed differences between industries. The SeBW enterprise surveys in 2009 found that in energy supply, companies representing 53% of the industry’s employment said they introduced new products or services in the past twelve months, and 76% introduced new processes. In glass, ceramics and cement, companies representing 45% of employment introduced new products or services and 54% new processes. The vast majority of innovators in both industries stated that ICT played a crucial role for innovating. In energy supply 89% said that the new products or services have ICT components (48% “applies fully”, 41% “applies partly”) and even 97% that the new processes are supported by ICT (54% fully, 43% partly). These are the highest values for ICT-enabled innovation the e-Business Watch ever found in an industry. In both industries, ICT also played an important role in R&D processes leading to the innovation as well as in market launch or implementation. It also turned out that a large share of companies collaborated with business partners or external experts in developing the new product, service or process.

More about the enabling role of ICT for innovation in the SeBW brochure 2009 »