Knowledge models for adopting advanced technologies in SMEs

Smaller economies like Latvia and Ireland tend to be more reliant on small and medium sized firms (SMEs) for indigenous economic development. In recent years, governments have begun to recognise the importance of advanced technology in the development and sustenance of SMEs in these countries. However, against this, the nature and development of advanced systems engineering methodologies has largely bypassed SMEs, focussing instead on the requirements of large multinational firms in which many of the methodologies originated, and thus making a systems engineering knowledge gap regarding SMEs. This paper sets out the importance of SMEs to the socio-economic development of Ireland and Latvia, which are presented as two cases of smaller, outlier economies in the developing European Union bloc. It presents an overview of a new systems requirements engineering approach entitled the SmAll Firms Requirements Analysis Framework (SARAF) that. This approach reframes systems engineering into the context of small firms and enables small firms to identify the requisite knowledge models in order that they make informed decisions about technology adoption. This paper presents ICT as an example of automation technology in this space.