According to the vice president of sales and operations, North and Central Europe, Google’s Matt Brittin, Small and Medium Enterprises should be recognised as the “real internet businesses”, not Google.

The Google executive also states that SMEs which have a strong internet presence are the force behind economic growth, before calling for changes to policy and attitude to be made so that the success can be built on. Brittin, speaking at a conference in Brussels pointed out that the Internet provides a voice for businesses. Google, together with The Lisbon Council, launched a project to study the contribution made by SMEs to the UK economy, and how incorporation of the Internet can strengthen the contribution.

Ann Mettler, the co-founder of The Lisbon Council pointed out that companies that embrace the power of the Internet double their growth rate. Matt Brittin added that for SMEs to continue their success, the Internet must be fully embraced and not just kept at the edge of operations. He also declared that having a head of digital or online is old fashioned. He said:

“In the early days of electricity, companies would have had a head of electricity because it was new, scary and might kill you. Now companies have a head of Internet or head of digital because it’s new and scary. We’re at a point of inflection from the Internet being a specialised thing to being, like electricity, something you have to do to do your job better.”

More than 20 percent of economic growth is due to online services and trade.

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