March 26
Australian Official Calls For Businesses To Embrace
E-Commerce
The new chief executive of the National Office for the Information Economy,
Paul Twomey, called on Australian business to wholeheartedly embrace
the Internet revolution and embark on full electronic commerce. The Federal
Government is holding an electronic commerce summit in Canberra on April
16 and 17, as part of a two-year, $3 million campaign to promote
“e-commerce” to business.
Internet Shares Trading Coming To Singapore
Soon
The Singapore stock exchange plans to allow investors to trade shares
through the Internet by the end of the year. Most Internet trading systems,
like U.S.-based E*Trade and discount broker Charles Schwab, require
investors to place online orders with stockbroking firms which then execute
the deals. Internet trades will most likely be restricted to $50,000 a day
and orders that will have to be executed immediately at prevailing market
prices. Payment for shares must also be made immediately, unlike the
seven-day settlement period under ordinary trading. Users will likely have
to use a smart card to identify themselves before trading and link up to a
bank to make online payments.
(Straits Times; March 25, 1998)
British News Service Offers Analysis, Commentary Via
Web
Foreignwire.com, a British-based
international
affairs news service, offers free news, comment and analysis on world
issues. The service has grown out of Tower Magazine, which was established
in January 1996 as a free service to all those with a close interest in
foreign affairs.
(Bangkok Post; March 25, 1998)
European Companies Begin To Close Wired Gap With
U.S.
According to IDC, 18 percent of companies in eight major West European
nations were trying to sell products over the Internet last year and 39
percent planned to get into cyberspace this year. The volume of goods and
services purchased online in Europe would surge to $26 billion in 2001 from
$3 billion this year. Rombach und Haas, a German maker of cuckoo clocks,
uses its Web site to provide views of its clocks from all angles and lets
users hear their distinctive chimes before pointing and clicking their way
to an online order. Deutshce Telekom plans to launch Internet telephony
services in the autumn, one of the first of the world’s major carriers to
do so.
(Reuters News Agency; March 23, 1998)
Singapore Firm Offers Business-To-Business E-Commerce
Solutions
Singaporean Internet firm SilkRoute Ventures will ramp up its Internet
commerce business in the manufacturing sector this year.
Founding chairman
Wong Toon King said the firm aims to increase the number of companies using
its manufacturing Internet commerce solution – called EC net – from 20 to
500 this year. The 20 current users of EC net include two large Japanese
manufacturing firms, Sony and Matsushita, and their smaller partners and
suppliers, all based in Singapore.
Newly targeted firms are in Malaysia,
Hongkong and Thailand. EC net has reduced the time it takes Sony Singapore
to process confirmations of orders from seven days to one day.
(Singapore Business Times; March 23, 1998)
European Law Enforcement Officials May Seek Net
Traffic Interception
Last year, the Dutch Ministry of Justice ordered ISP XS4ALL to log all the traffic of a user who
was under
government investigation, but the ISP refused. Jack Straw, Britain’s home
secretary, is considering widening the existing powers of the police and
other law enforcement agencies in Britain to intercept Internet traffic,
and he is also encouraging other European countries to do the same. “We are
using 19th century procedures to pursue 21st century criminals,” he said at
a recent meeting of EU ministers.
(Boardwatch magazine; March 1998)
Cisco Reports Increase In Internet Savings, Sales In
Europe
Speaking at the CeBit technology fair in Hanover, John Chambers, CEO of
Cisco Systems, said Europe is now the fastest-growing sales region for
Cisco. In contrast, the proportion of sales in the Asia-Pacific region had
fallen from 17 percent to 10 percent, with sales in Korea particularly
badly hit. Sales in Japan were down slightly, but the Chinese market
remains strong. At Cisco, Web-based commerce accounts for 41 per cent, or
$3.6 billion, of its annual sales; it is already saving about $400 million
a year by using the Internet for sales support, software distribution,
messaging and recruitment.
(Financial Times, Britian; March 21, 1998)
WTO Report: E-Commerce Set for Major Boom By Year
2000
Internet commerce is poised to boom over the next three years, with the
value of transactions set to reach US$300 billion by the year 2001, from
virtually zero at the start of the 1990s and less than US$10 billion today,
according to a study on electronic commerce by the World Trade Organisation
(WTO). The number of Internet users is projected to almost quadruple to
about 280 million (or 5 per cent of the world’s population) by the year
2000 from 78 million in 1997.
While the U.S. dominates the Internet today,
accounting for 70 per cent of all Web sites, other regions like Africa,
Asia and Latin America have posted the highest growth rates for the number
of sites created during 1993-97.
The number of personal computers in use
worldwide is expected to almost double to 450 million by 2001, from 245
million in 1996; and total consumer expenditure on hardware, software and
related services could rise to US$30 billion by 2000, from US$4 billion in
1996. E-commerce will also transform the very structure of some industries,
such as finance and air travel.
(Singapore Business Times; March 20, 1998)
Gates In Internet Deals for Malaysia,
Singapore
On a visit to SouthEast Asia, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates unveiled five
initiatives to flesh out his vision of “the digital nervous system” for
Singapore, including Internet acesss via TV, video-on-demand services, and
online educational services.
Gates outlined his vision of the “one-stop,
non-stop government,” where government services can be made available to
citizens 24 hours a day in a one-stop service on the Internet, without
paperwork.
In Malaysia, Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said Gates pledged
his commitment to the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC), and also expressed
interest in participating in the country’s education programmes –
especially in smart schools, universities and training of Information
Technology (IT) workers.
(Singapore Business Times; March 20, March 19, 1998)
Intel’s Net Products Suitable for Asian Market Despite
Economic Crisis
Intel’s nine new networking “Intel InBusiness” products may also help small
and medium-sized businesses in Asia.
Thomas Lacey, director of product
marketing and business management at Intel Asia-Pacific, said investment in
networking infrastructure by small-to medium-sized companies remained
relevant in the region’s weak economic environment. According to IDC, only
2.5 per cent of small- to medium-sized businesses in the Asia-Pacific,
excluding Japan, had access to the Internet in 1997.
Under a worldwide
initiative supporting small and medium-sized businesses, Intel has
partnered with ISP Hongkong Telecom IMS to offer bundled packages including
online access, a modem and the new Internet Station at promotional prices.
(Hong Kong Standard; March 19, 1998)
British Telecom to Start WebTV Trials
British Telecom (BT) has linked up with Microsoft subsidiary WebTV to start
a four to five month trial of the WebTV service using set-top boxes
supplied by Pace Micro Technology and Philips.
Britain is generally
acknowledged to be at the forefront of adopting digital TV. Cable &
Wireless (C&WC) has already announced a digital TV/Internet access package
that will use their cable system to offer more interactive services than
WebTV, and at higher speeds.
(Internet Magazine, Britain; March 16-20, 1998)
