Some local companies have still got their heads stuck in the sand when it comes to e-business, according to Government's Green Paper on e-business.

The results of a Government survey carried out in January 2002 showed that nearly 60 percent of companies surveyed did not perceive a real business case for integrating e-business technologies into their business.

The Chamber of Commerce has been running seminars this year through its Business Technology Committee which aim to get local businesses to enhance their e-business components. However, attendance has not been strong, according to the Chamber of Commerce.

Sometimes it's difficult for small "one man bands" to commit the time to going to a seminar. So what has tended to happen is that those who are already involved in e-business come to the seminars, but those who have most to learn do not.

At a public forum to discuss the Green Paper on Friday, one e-business expert, Stephen Davidson, commented that the main obstacle for smaller businesses was the cost of setting up. He suggested that some of the money spent on trying to get the message across could be better employed in funding small businesses to set up a web site.

E-business components could include using e-mail, a web site for promotion, a web site for interaction, customer relationship management, knowledge based software, e-procurement, supply chain integration, intranet for sharing information and electronic payments.

Of the 813 companies surveyed last year, all of them anticipated doing more on the e-business front in the next 2-3 years.

The Green Paper has proposed that a more comprehensive and detail survey of e-business development should be undertaken this summer which should reveal whether this has taken place.

Of major concern is the fact that many of the small companies surveyed rely on magazines, information on the Internet or advice from friends to help them build their e-business, instead of getting advice from local experts. Consequently the Green Paper recommended that specific research be undertaken in respect of small local companies in Bermuda on their specific adoption of e-business techniques and what barriers they face in taking up e-business.