15/01/2008

Galway, Ireland. January 15, 2008

FÁS, the Irish National Training Authority, and ALISON, a global online education service, have launched a new initiative to provide IT training to employees of Irish Small and Medium-sized Companies.

Many respected Irish economic analysts believe that small indigenous firms have the potential to put the fangs back in Ireland’s ‘Celtic Tiger’ economy and reverse the sudden decline in its growth rate. Indeed they believe that the future of the country is linked closely to the health of these companies. In 2004, four out of every five industrial enterprises (82%) in Ireland, were small firms employing less than 50 people. The vast majority these firms are Irish owned (95%), compared to over 40% of the larger firms which are foreign-owned. There is much that is dependent upon their success.

Although much has changed since the advent of Ireland’s economic boom ten years ago, doubts have been expressed that small and medium-sized companies (SMEs) can sharpen the economy’s teeth! Take the case of ICT usage in domestic companies: It is widely accepted that Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) have profoundly changed the business world. Yet, the results of a 2006 Central Statistics Office (CSO) survey on e-commerce and ICT usage in Ireland confirm that small businesses tend to have dramatically lower and less sophisticated usage of ICT than larger enterprises. Also, an Irish National e-Business Strategy document, recently published by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, highlighted the fact that within Irish companies, “there is a distinct lack of engagement with ICT.”

In this climate, the online education service ALISON and the Irish National Training and Employment Authority FÁS, have embarked on programme that uses ‘online learning’ as a strategy to teach basic ICT skills to managers and employees of forty small and medium-sized industrial enterprises in Ireland’s western region. FÁS and ALISON are adamant that Internet-based commerce offers considerable opportunities to SMEs in the west of Ireland to expand their customer base, enter new product markets, and increase productivity.

The underlying rationale for the training initiative is to immerse industrial-sector SME employees in basic ICT skills training, with the intent that the participating SMEs can begin to take advantage of ICT applications to exploit new business opportunities, increase company productivity, and develop a workforce skilled in key digital age competencies. In the west of Ireland this is particularly important, because many of the traditional problems facing SMEs such as a lack of financing are exacerbated by poor use of ICT in general, and an unwillingness to exploit ICT to capitalise on global business opportunities.

The FÁS and ALISON programme is therefore an important initiative. While the roar of the Celtic Tiger may depend on the success of Ireland’s small companies, it is their willingness to embrace ICT and become ’Digital Enterprises’ that will give the economy back its fangs and truly secure Ireland’s future!

Information on FÁS

FÁS is Ireland's National Training and Employment Authority. Its mission is to enhance the skills and competencies of individuals and enterprises in order for Ireland to further develop as a competitive, inclusive, knowledge-based economy. www.fas.ie

Information on ALISON

ALISON is an online education service providing high-quality self-paced interactive e-learning in all areas of basic workplace and life skills. www.alison.com