According to a study carried out by the Institute of Economic Studies, only 65% of Maltese businesses have a webpage.

This might sound abysmally low, but in actual fact, it is not too far short of the 70% mark, which is the European Union average. The same study shows that some 94% of European businesses have access to the internet and it goes to show that there is quite a gap. One only needs to look at the success of local and international traders in books, music, electronics and games to see that selling online is a good business model that generates profits.

Similarly, one only needs to run a search on the internet to look for a service whether in Malta or anywhere else in the world in order to see one of the other benefits of having a simple online presence.

When one then factors in social networking sites, such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and others, the opportunities offered become almost limitless. It is therefore obviously clear that being online, whether it is in a classified listing or a fully-fledged trading outlet, is beneficial to most (if not all) businesses.

If this is taken as a given, then we must identify why more businesses do not have, as a minimum benchmark, at least a webpage. Again, if we look at the figures, Malta does not fare that badly. But where the presence is high, the economy is generally growing: Sweden (89%), Denmark (88%), Finland (87%), Germany (84%), the Netherlands (81%). Where they are low, the economy tends to be sluggish or inefficient: Italy (61%) Greece and France (58%), Portugal (52%); Latvia, Bulgaria and Romania bring up the rear with 50% or less.

When we think about Maltese businesses’ online presence, we must also bear in mind that Malta has consistently been a top performer in the field of e-Government and is a leader in Europe. So the question must be: If we have the infrastructure and the penetration, why is business presence not as high as it could be?

The answer lies in the fact that mechanics, small-shop owners, wood restorers and hundreds of other tradesmen and women and SME owners might know how to browse the internet and operate a computerised system, but that does not mean they have the skills to manage their own site.

There is an opportunity for all here. The government should set up a scheme whereby small local companies could design and maintain websites of other SMEs for a fee. Large web design companies are out of reach in terms of costs for smaller businesses. In setting up the scheme, the government could offer assistance to both the smaller web design firms and the smaller firms buying the service, stimulating activity for both of them. It is a win-win situation. People might have woken up to the power of purchasing over the internet, but they have not discovered the potential of presence and selling online. While we are not lagging too far behind in Europe, we are still middling and can do so much better.