An Examination of Regional Policy Implications Pertaining to SME E‐Business Adoption in South‐East Wales

Telecommunications Policy

2020

Increasing attention has been paid to the potential for demand-side policies to stimulate use of broadband networks. Such policies form part of the increasing digitalisation of the economy and wider society. This is an area where governments are also facing challenges in their efforts to maximise the efficiency and effectiveness of their policies. The paper sheds light on the impact that the transition towards digital has had on demand-side policies supporting the adoption of broadband and digital technologies by SMEs, and draws out the implications for policy, using a case study of Wales in the UK over a ten-year period. It shows that digitalisation has seen policy mechanisms and messages evolving as policy makers have created a more integrated and multi-channel approach to the delivery of advisory support to SMEs, but that the emergence of multiple types of actors (large digital platform businesses) and ongoing digitalisation are adding complexity to policies and their interaction with other forms of public and private business support.

Section: Discussion and Policy Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Demand-side broadband policy in the context of digital transformation: An examination of SME digital advisory policies in Wales

Telecommunications Policy

2020

“…Other challenges facing by SMEs relate to their lower engagement with the digital technologies enabled by broadband (Thomas et al, 2015). A common pattern has been larger firms adopting digital technologies at a faster pace and making use of a wider range of technologies (OECD, 2017).…”

Section: Problems For Smes In Engaging With the Resource?mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Regional Consequences of New Digital Infrastructure: Can Welsh Smes Gain an Edge From Access and Adoption of Superfast Broadband?

Munday

Roberts

2021

NIER

Across the United Kingdom public (and private) resources have been targeted on improving broadband infrastructure. While this has served to provide new opportunities for households and firms, there has been some debate around the ability of firms to take full advantage of the opportunities that arise through this evolving infrastructure. In this respect, there has been particular debate on how far small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have taken up the challenge of effectively engaging with the resource. Drawing on the case of Wales, this paper explores the digital maturity of a sample of Welsh SMEs. The paper provides evidence of how far SMEs are successfully engaging with the new opportunities available through broadband, and develops a typology of firms according to their engagement. The paper then explores how these differences produce policy implications.

“…Here, researchers have increasingly argued that there is no longer a binary distinction between access and non-access to broadband and impact, and that this is giving way to a more nuanced picture in which broadband connection and use varies across households and businesses (Grubesic and Mack, 2016; Philip and Williams, 2018; Salemink et al., 2017), but also different types of sectors (Calvino et al., 2018). Research on SMEs shows comparatively lower use of internet-enabled technologies, relative to their larger counterparts (Price et al., 2018; Thomas et al., 2015), with particular challenges identified with respect to factors such as technical expertise and digital skills (Huggins and Izushi, 2002), resources (Wolcott et al., 2008) and owner manager attitudes (Jones et al., 2012) .…”

Section: Winners and Losers In The Ict And Broadband Revolutionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Broadband and uneven spatial development: The case of Cardiff City-Region

Jones

2019

Local Economy

The internet and e-connectivity more generally are increasingly held to be an important element of business success. Evidence however suggests that the productive impacts of such technologies are contingent on factors that include firm size and sector, and human capital. It follows that if companies with these characteristics are unevenly distributed across space, the increasing importance of broadband in economic activity might impact unevenly on economic outcomes across space. We examine the Cardiff City-Region in South Wales, where the distribution of businesses and skills suggests that without policy intervention the roll out of broadband might further increase economic disparities between the relatively prosperous coastal belt and the poorer post-industrial hinterland.