Tuesday, May 23, 2000
Taft: Ohio to try to boost e-commerce
By John J. Byczkowski
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Ohio businesses lag national averages in getting online and joining the e-commerce movement, and state officials vowed Monday to find ways to turn that around.
During a videoconference broadcast from Columbus to Cincinnati and four other Ohio cities to unveil the results of the ECom-Ohio report, Gov. Bob Taft listed a half-dozen areas that the state would explore to increase penetration of the Internet in Ohio.
Steps ranged from the state's putting key government services online by 2003, to increasing Internet literacy, to providing incentives to small business to go online.
But the governor left the videoconference without answering questions from participants, who wanted more specifics about what could be an expensive program.
One questioner asked about the state's plans for bringing broadband services to rural areas. With the governor gone, NCR Corp. chief executive Lars Nyberg, who
is co-chairman of the statewide ECom-Ohio effort, stepped in.
“I hope the state has a lot of plans,” he said. “These kinds of investments are counted in the billions of dollars.” Telecommunications network companies need to invest nationwide, and Ohio “needs a plan to actively sell the state as a market and get high on their lists.”
ECom-Ohio participants say their study — aimed at benchmarking the state's readiness for e-commerce — was the first of its kind in the nation. While Ohio consumers are at national averages for use of the Internet, Ohio businesses are below average in adopting e-commerce techniques. Less than 15 percent of Ohio companies have Web sites.
GE Aircraft Engines, for in stance, spends $3 billion a year with Ohio-based suppliers, but only 15 percent of those companies are online, said H. David Overbeeke, the group's e-business leader. GE in increasingly moving to track all business with customers and suppliers online, in ways employees can monitor.
“It's not a novelty. It's about productivity,” he said. The state can help by improving education to develop talent, by providing incentives for construction of communications infrastructure and by encouraging investment in Ohio.
Cincinnati Bell has agreed in principle to support the Institute for Advanced Manufacturing Science's ongoing ECom-Ohio effort in the Cincinnati area, but specifics haven't been worked out.
Other cities fight similar retail battles
Brake plant might expand
Cincy Bell names new president
Taft: Ohio to try to boost e-commerce
Toyota looks back, ahead
Cho returns to Georgetown plant
2 casinos 'win' $42M in April
SDRC names Wienkoop COO
Tristate Business Summary
What's the Buzz?
Industry notes: Banking
Toy e-tailer calls it quits
