Certification of SME online: A web-based service, of universal use, for SME qualification

Abstract

SME certification is an electronic service that certifies SME condition according to criteria defined in Portuguese legislation which, in turn, follows the EU recommendation. The process of certification occurs exclusively online. If the enterprise meets all necessary requests an electronic certificate is immediately generated, certifying it as micro, small or a medium-sized enterprise. The certificate may be accessed online by any entity, public or private, that is obliged to request the SME proof. The service reduces administrative burden, reduces contextual costs and promotes harmonization of SME classification. This service is, up to the moment, the only structured, of general use, information-system based, online implementation of SME recommendation. Also, it is the first formal approach to SME dimension constraints modeling. This paper presents the SME certification service, discusses its major implementation issues and evaluates exploitation results. Also points out possible future work from a national and European Union perspective. © 2014 Springer International Publishing.