Project of the Month February 2004

New Platform for Industrial Networks in Aalborg  

In ”The Digital Chamber of Commerce” the Aalborg Chamber of Commerce & Industry has got a portal that is easy to overview even though it is loaded with information, – and which will facilitate the formation of new networks

Af Naia Bang / Texthuset Aalborg
The Aalborg Chamber of Commerce & Industry, – The oldest Danish association for trade, industry and retail commerce – has got a new portal, which will receive many envious glances from the other Chambers of Commerce for quite a while into the future. It is named http://www.detdigitalehandelskammer.dk/, and is the result of a collaboration between three North Danish IT Enterprises and the Chamber of Commerce.
"The Digital Chamber of Commerce" project was started in January 2002 under the umbrella of the Digital North Denmark, and today after the official conclusion of the project, the visions behind the portal is to prove their viability for good: Will the portal attract new – and maybe younger – members? And will members use the portal actively to search information – and establish new networks?  

Wants to Attract Entrepreneurs
One of the initiators behind the portal is Peter Balling of the DCE Datacenteret i Aalborg. - I'm on the board of the Aalborg Chamber of Commerce & Industry, which until recently– like many other chambers of commerce – was rather low-tech: Our Web-site was obsolete and outdated, and even e-mailing the Chamber of Commerce was difficult, explains Peter Balling.
So he approached the ebc network ApS company in Støvring, the Logimatic Software A/S company i Aalborg, as well as the North Denmark EU-office. And the four enterprises quickly agreed that ”this can be done much better”.
- Networking is the big thing these years. But the Aalborg Chamber of Commerce & Industry has always been a forum for enterprises to meet up and practice networking - so in that respect they have been ahead of their time, points out Martin Storgaard, senior consultant of ebc network.
And exactly networking was a core item when the three enterprises started brainstorming on the potentials of a new portal for the Chamber of Commerce.
- In particular we would like to get contact to the younger generation of  the business community – for example entrepreneurs from the NOVI knowledge park. What would they find relevant? Why would it be attractive for them to join the Chamber of Commerce?
And one answer among others was that they should have the opportunity to search for information and make new contacts – without necessarily having to meet in on events and arrangements, explains Peter Balling.  

Asked Members for Council
But also existing members were keenly interested in a new portal. The project management behind ”The Digital Chamber of Commerce” invited a range of member enterprises to fill out a questionnaire expressing their wishes and needs, and based on this a number of focus groups were established across professional fields. Approximately 30 enterprises were represented in the focus groups throwing all their weight into producing proposals for services to be offered by the new portal.
- A tremendous host of ideas were delivered – some being quite down-to-earth and doable, while others were rather dissipated. But the requirement shared by all was that the portal should be easy to use and understand. It should be easily navigated. And the members wanted a network engine – and they wanted benefits. North Danes want good special offers – and free events, laughs Peter Balling humorously.
Members of the project management spent a lot of time searching through the Internet to see how others had solved the task, both in Denmark and elsewhere in the World. This was really inspiring. Still, a lot of scary examples were found that made it clear how this was NOT to be done.  

Created the Framework
Now the project management possessed the information needed to make a requirements definition, that was presented to the board of the Aalborg Chamber of Commerce & Industry. The plan was approved and the development of the portal was initiated.
Today the http://www.detdigitalehandelskammer.dk/ Web-site is reality and the creators of ”The Digital Chamber of Commerce can take a break after a busy year. The Web-site was established while the Chamber of Commerce moved to the newly established Industrial House - Erhvervenes Hus - in Rendsburggade near the waterfront of Aalborg.
- We have not made a complete and full-featured Web-site yet, but vi have created the framework – for trade, for networking, for events, and for the search of information. Now the long haul is next, because from here on the portal is to develop in accordance with the desires and wishes of the members, explains Martin Storgaard, and Michael Paarup, project manager of Logimatic Software A/S, adds:
- The portal is a supplement to the existing physical network. Members can upload their information – for example in search of partners for a cooperation in a large-scale project. And they can request a news mail on the occurrence of topics that are of particular relevance to their business. In the initial phase, however, members will receive printed mail of this type along with arrangements etc. being uploaded to the Web-site. This is done partly in consideration of the members who are used to this type of service, and partly to boost the knowledge of the portal known.
In the future the Aalborg Chamber of Commerce & Industry will be in charge of the updating and further development of the portal. Still, the initiators behind ”The Digital Chamber of Commerce” have promised to be available for input and council.

See ”The Digital Chamber of Commerce on: http://www.detdigitalehandelskammer.dk/ - also read more about the project on: www.thedigitalnorthdenmark.dk.  

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