The INTRINSIC project helping regional identity products thrive in the Internet age

Carefully made regional products are often very evocative of local cultures and traditions. Such identity-rich goods are usually produced by small, rural SMEs that make and sell their wares in time-honoured fashion. Now, in the Internet age and with the help of the latest information society technologies it is possible for many European SMEs to reach a global market. Unfortunately, many of these smaller, rurally based firms do not always know how to exploit new e-business applications. The INTRINSIC collective research project, started on October 2004, aims to help these SMEs gain access to e-commerce facilities in the most proper brand regional image way so they can improve their own businesses and raise the profile of the regional economies in which they operate.