Micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) must not fear technological revolution. Instead, players in this sector must embrace it and capitalise on benefits it can offer to grow the business and the economy.
International Council of Small Business (ICSB) immediate past chairperson Dr Winslow Sargeant made these comments at the recent inaugural MSME conference in Suva, assuring MSMEs of the benefits that can be derived from embracing digitisation.
He said sometimes there was the fear of technologies taking over peoples’ jobs. “But you know what, we are not going anywhere. What we recognise that technology used in the right manner makes us much more efficient,” Dr Sargeant said.
“We have to think about it this way, how we can use technology to help us with the supply chain.”
Dr Sargeant said an era of innovative and strong MSMEs was coming. He said when thinking of new revenue generation, to consider a thought on young people in communities who may have skills but not tapped into because they may not see the opportunities ahead.
“We shouldn’t fear technological revolution, we should embrace it.”
Dr Sargeant said MSMEs could be assisted with scheduling, supply chain management and drawing up productive plans.
“We really need to make sure that we embrace digitisation. That is so important because it helps you in supply chain management, it helps you in pay management, it helps you with your reach to your customers.”
