About eFootprint TM

The eFootprint™ idea has been running around Robin Gurney’s (co-founder of altex
marketing) head for years, possibly as far back as 1999.

The idea is simple enough.

If we consider the size of presence of an entity (it could be a person, organisation,
region, a country or even a continent) online we can all understand that some entities
make more impact (positive or negative) than others.

For example, Britney Spears has more “internet space” devoted to her (blogs, forums
postings, fan sites, hate sites, official websites, media stories etc etc.) than I, Robin
Gurney, do.

Of course Britney is more famous than me so you would expect her coverage to be
greater.

We could say she has a bigger footprint on the internet.

We, at altex, say she has a bigger eFootprint™

Our hypothesis is that if we can somehow manufacture growth in an eFootprint™ then
change will happen.

We believe, for example, that if we can increase Estonia’s eFootprint™ then more people
will talk about, invest in and come to Estonia and in fact, ultimately, GDP will improve.

Its quite a radical thought for some people (but an obvious one for us) and so we have a
challenging task ahead of us to prove to Estonian (and perhaps EU) politicians, diplomats
and economists that investing in growing Estonia’s eFootprint is a worthwhile activity.

This website is the emerging tip of one of the icebergs that form the eFootprint™
project.

It’s something we have started to create with students from Tartu University. It’s a work
in progress.

In the background, professionals and academics in internet public relations (this
activity falls under that label just about) from Estonia, UK and India are collaborating
to ensure eFootprint™ methodology is solid and the results are measurable.

One day we hope the Estonian Government will financially support this project.

For now we will continue to gather the evidence that this is not just another good idea.

We need “proof of concept”.

If we can get that.. and Estonian leaders “get it and respond quickly and positively” then
Estonia could, once again, demonstrate that is leading another area of e-innovation.

Just imagine for a moment….

When an emerging economy or a small nation decides to market its tourism (or export or
investment) potential to the world it’s an expensive program.The traditional way I mean- lobbying,
road shows, exhibitions, direct mail, TV ads, all that “big branding” stuff etc.

If instead (or as well) nations could justifiably invest in growing their positive eFootprints™ then
you can begin to see how eFootprint™ could help reduce the digital divide and bring
poorer nations a greater slice of the  £$€ pie.

For me personally this is a dream. To help balance the world a little more. To encourage
fairer trade, investment and tourism for the “smaller or less developed countries”
through use of eFootprint™.

However, in the meantime, we will focus on doing our real jobs and serving our clients
(by increasing their eFootprints™ ) - we have bills to pay and mouths to feed too.

UPDATE:  eFootprint Limited, a UK Company, is formed to audit the online presence of organisations.