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During the meeting, all companies present shared their experiences of using the internet and moving to online trade. The conversation covered the significant opportunities that getting online offers to companies, what getting online has meant for their business to date, and what obstacles the firms have had to overcome. There was also a broad discussion of how existing supports could be enhanced to assist firms to trade online. Key points included:

• The firms highlighted the value of training courses and external expertise to help SMEs develop an online presence. Ideally this would be coupled with good follow-up support where participants can interact and learn from each other.
• The merits of a one-stop-shop for all supports to business to get online, including the new trading online voucher scheme, were discussed. It is clear that knowledge of the full range of supports and opportunities is not easily available to all firms as they dedicate their time to running successful businesses. The new Local Enterprise Office network will have an important role in this regard.
• There was a recurring theme of the costs associated with developing and maintaining an online presence, including logistics costs. Credit-card processing capability, getting a merchant ID, and high shipping costs all featured in the conversation.
• A number of the firms raised the issue of the ready-availability of the necessary technical and marketing skills needed for successful internet trading. These points underscore the importance of current initiatives such as the Government’s ICT Skills Action Plan.
• Information management was also a theme at the meeting, with references to the value of a post-code regime, a shared fraud database, and of constructing and maintaining a customer database for direct marketing. Many of the firms noted the importance of these information issues and that these could feature in future initiatives.

The Taoiseach committed to taking on board these issues for consideration by respective government Departments over the coming weeks. He recommitted the Government to doing what it can to assist business getting online.

Some of the participants in the roundtable spoke to us after the event to share their thoughts:

You can download the audio of the event

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To find out more about the ten companies at this meeting and about online retailing in Ireland, click

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Also attending this meeting were Sean O'Driscoll of Glen Dimplex and Ronan Harris, representing John Herlihy of Google. Mr O'Driscoll and Mr Herlihy are two of the six Industry Leaders appointed by Government to assist with the

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