Taskforce recommends measures to boost small business use of productivity-enhancing digital tools
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Posted: Tue 18th Mar 2025
The SME Digital Adoption Taskforce, of which Enterprise Nation founder Emma Jones is a founding member, has made recommendations to government on how to accelerate digital adoption among small and medium sized businesses to drive growth.
Set up by the Department for Business and Trade in April 2024, the taskforce is aimed at helping small firms better adopt digital technology to improve productivity.
It is exploring how SMEs can be supported to implement digital tools, such as customer relationship management, accountancy and resource planning software.
In an interim report, the taskforce has recommended that the government should consider:
creating a single point of accountability within the government to drive digital adoption
creating artificial intelligence powered support tools available to all SMEs
providing better access to data for monitoring and evaluation
developing comprehensive understanding of how to drive demand using behavioural science and targeted communication
establishing standards for e-invoicing
The taskforce will develop the recommendations through engagement with stakeholders and small businesses over the next few months. A final report will be published in the summer.
Small business minister Gareth Thomas said:
"I am grateful to Phil Smith and the SME Digital Adoption Taskforce for their hard work on this interim report. They have been generous with their time and expertise, and I am pleased to see industry and government coming together to shift the dial on the UK's productivity problem.
"Their bold ambition aligns with this government's growth mission, and I look forward to seeing their final recommendations so we can consider next steps."
Phil Smith, chair of the SME Digital Adoption Taskforce, added:
"Helping small businesses harness technology benefits not only them but also their employees, customers, and the wider economy. Supporting SMEs is crucial for national productivity and competitiveness.
"I'd like to thank the taskforce and supporting organisations for deepening our understanding of these challenges. Hopefully, this work will make the journey easier and more impactful for SMEs as they drive economic growth."
Members of the taskforce are:
Phil Smith (Chair)
Alex von Schirmeister, Xero
Melissa Di Donato, Kyriba
Ian O'Donnell, Federation of Small Businesses
Simon Kenyon, Lloyds Banking Group
Anthony Impey, Be the Business
Tera Allas, Pro Bono Economics
Emma Jones, Enterprise Nation
Jon Cowan, Sage
Shevaun Haviland, British Chambers of Commerce
Leigh Thomas, Intuit
Antony Walker, techUK
Neil Ross, Public First
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