Justine Linley, Western Melbourne Regional Economic Development Organisation Ltd
Bizewest, the Western Melbourne B2B or E-Business Portal was developed over the past 18 months to provide a tangible, regional approach to enabling business in Melbourne's West to actively participate in the information economy. The project was undertaken by the Western Melbourne Regional Economic Development Organisation (WREDO) in conjunction with the six councils in the region with funding assistance from the Victorian State Government. The objectives of the project were initially ambitious:
This paper will look at the development of the bizewest project, from the heady days of its conception when ideas are plentiful and enthusiasm is great; through the gestation period when the 'experts' are called on and the guessing begins; through the birth which is fraught with expectation and anxiety followed by the first six weeks of chaos and onto the trials of training the toddler.
The bizewest portal project is essentially concerned with business growth, not technology and is about building a stronger local economy able to engage and adapt to the changes and challenges of the broader, global knowledge economy. This paper will look at the challenges, pitfalls and solutions developed in creating an online business presence for the Western region of Melbourne.