THE Department of Trade and Industry and the Philippine National Information Technology Standards (Philnits) have teamed up to enable small and medium enterprises nationwide to harness the power of information technology to grow their businesses.

Under the Japan-funded Training Enhancement for Competitiveness in Harnessing Innovative Entrepreneurs or “Techie” program, SMEs all over the country will be given relevant training to allow them to use information technology (IT) in their day-to-day operations.

“Upgrading the entrepreneurs’ IT skills will increase SME operational efficiency,” Trade Undersecretary Merly Cruz said in a statement. “Making small entrepreneurs adept in IT would facilitate the growth of SMEs.”

According to a recent DTI survey, very few SMEs were harnessing the power of IT, despite the efficiencies that advanced tools offer. Some of the barriers to SMEs’ IT adoption included the lack of adaptability of IT tools for certain types of businesses; inadequate IT skills, qualified personnel, and network infrastructure; lack of budget for IT equipment and software; and concerns over the security and reliability of e-commerce systems.

The Techie program, which started in September and would run until June next year, was piloted in Davao and La Union, where 500 SMEs from each of the two cities were given a series of trainings in the use of IT in their operations.

Apart from the theoretical aspect, the more important part of the training has to do with allowing SMEs to experience various IT tools so they could see how these could help improve operations in a highly competitive market environment.