Answers from Caterina Berbenni-Rehm:
Q1: Why may the simple and manageable access and processing of complex information be business critical factors for SMEs nowadays and in the future?
The mission statement of my company PROMIS@Service is
“To simplify complexity and make simplicity effective”
In 5 words we have here a full program which shows that our society (I mean here business and society at large) is in urgent need to find simple structures and rules to manage and face an ever increasing and non structured information flow.
European SMEs are known for being heterogeneous, disperse and not easy to be reached. For such SMEs to have ICT instruments that help them to find the answer to their questions ‘at a finger tip’ is crucial because this supports them achieving:
- Evidence-based compliance to legal requirements
because this decreases the managers’ responsibility and risks; - Transparency and order throughout the organization
thanks to the systematic structure of company processes and data; - To save time and money
because they are supported online by experts and consultants during their daily work - Increased effectiveness and efficiency
Proven return on investment
(Blue collars do no longer need to know legislation or the meaning of integrated management to do their daily job while complying with the requirements and Consultants have a new way of working which brings them an enormous economy of scale.)
With the support of the European Commission, we have developed the PROMIS® knowledge management and integrated management platform. A Cloud / SaaS which helps micro- and midsize organisations to:
- find the answers to their questions ‘at a finger tip’
- get rid of hardware on-site
- be professionally served and advised directly online
However, we have a big job ahead of us: to go into a multilingual European market.
Q2: With special reference to increasing regulatory requirements: Why is it possible to make an active effort in corporate governance and the creation of space for all parties involved by means of future-oriented technologies?
Regulatory requirements, Compliance, financial regulations, CSR are a rule of the game for corporates. A fortnight ago Daimler Corporation extended the Board of Management by a new board member with the only responsibility for Compliance and Governance.
Corporates have structures and resources for it; we as SMEs are pressured by requirements with minimum structures and without resources.
For me the key is:
Technology is an instrument at the service of humans; it should not be seen as the end but as a means to reach a goal.
Having said that, technology is the most powerful instrument to bring different parties together -in a synergetic collaboration- which otherwise would hardly be able to speak with each other.
During the last 14 years of work with and for SMEs I learned that there are:
- Institutions, who have developed a wealth of content but have difficulties to reach the SMEs e.g. universities, research institutes and public insurances;
- Associations and Chambers of Commerce, who have a direct contact to their SME members and need to become the providers of knowledge intensive services to their SME members, thus achieving new innovation themselves.
I am deeply convinced that here the alliance among these parties, supported by an ICT multilingual instrument like PROMIS® will bring a tangible and measurable difference to all partied involved, and above all to the SMEs we want to serve.