Londonderry Chamber of Commerce (LCC) bridging the gap between business and technology with WesternConnect Challenge A 2001 e-business survey of SME's discovered that 90% of LCC members were not using e-commerce as part of their business. Subsequently it was found that the main barrier to e-commerce involvement was a deficiency in access to affordable and independent consultancy in ICT. Londonderry Chamber of Commerce decided to address this issue by recruiting WesternConnect as advisors and project managers Solution Working in partnership with the Chamber, WesternConnect devised the 'Exemplar Program' to introduce local companies to e-business solutions. The programme is focused on getting companies to utilise the LCC website, as well as helping them progress along the connectivity chain by providing specialised mentoring. It is envisaged that this programme will to be an invaluable help to many companies in the Derry area, enabling them to make optimum use of their current IT Infrastructure in the first instance and plan their technology requirements as a coherent part of their overall business strategy. Achievements WesternConnect have been instrumental in enabling the 'Exemplar Chamber Program' (ECP) to secure funding for 100 companies to take participate in this project. The project is on schedule to have these companies evaluated and action plans in place by Quarter 4 2004. WesternConnect will continue to support these companies throughout the project to realise real and tangible business benefits.