In the planning stage, the CISA conducted a series of research projects as a basis for achieving project objectives and goals and for developing effective execution strategies. The Planning stage was conducted for 3 months from November 2004 to January 2005.

Digital  Divide  by  Geographic  Distribution

The first research task was identifying the digital divide status of micro businesses by geographic location. The government census bureau, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting, and Statistics (DGBAS), conducted a nationwide census on business entities in 2000.

Although the data quoted below were somewhat outdated, the results of the census indicated the digital divide status in greater detail than other available statistics. The findings were instrumental to this Project in identifying the geographic distribution of the digital divide at city and county levels.

Table 3: 2000 Digital Divide Status - by Geography

Source: DGBAS 2001

Table 3 indicates that there were 982,206 business entities registered in Taiwan in 2000. Of these, 94.3% were micro businesses with a workforce less than 20. Among these 927,188 micro businesses,
the average computer installation rate is 32.11%.

There are 25 cities and counties in Taiwan. In 19 of these, computer installation rates were lower than the national average 32.11% among those businesses with less than 20 employees in 2000.
It was therefore determined that these 19 rural areas were digitally underprivileged.

Digital  Divide  by  Industry

Table 4:2000 Digital Divide Status – by Industry

Source: DGBAS 2001

Of the 13 industries surveyed, the average computer installation rate for all 982,206 entities was 32.11%. In the micro business sector, there were 5 industries for which computer installation rates were lower than the overall average. Lead by the wholesale and retail industries, these 5 industries accounted for 70.5% of total micro business entities. It was therefore determined that these 5 industries were digitally underprivileged.

Product  Strategies

Many studies found that micro businesses have their own unique requirements for business software. Most business applications and solutions are designed for medium to large industries with complicated configurations and sophisticated functions. However, micro businesses only demand easy-to-use ICT solutions with basic and easily self-taught functions.

Working with the SMEA, the CISA developed product strategies to clearly define the Project roadmap.
The chart below indicates the migration paths for micro businesses in adopting ICT solutions.