Government needs to get citizens involved in online targets, CBI says

The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) has applauded the progress the government has made with ebusiness, but has warned the UK still has much to do.

In 1999 the government set itself a target of becoming the best country in the world in which to do ecommerce by 2002. It has failed to meet these aims, coming second after the US, according to a new report.

But speaking at this week's eSummit in London, CBI director general Digby Jones said the fact that the targets had been missed was not a necessarily a problem.

'I don't think there's any point setting easy wins,' Jones said. 'It's better to set a difficult target that you may not reach than an easy one that won't push you.

'Great gains have been made. What we are talking about today is creating an opportunity, an opportunity for businesses, and the people who work in these businesses,' he said.

However, Jones also said the government needs to get the citizen more involved with the process of electronically enabling services, and must pay special attention to educating citizens to the benefits of ebusiness and ecommerce.

'Ebusiness doesn't make a bad company good, but it does make a good company better,' Jones said.