Across Asia Pacific: Examples of Electronic Commerce Uses

BUSINESS APPLICATIONS


DA Information Services Pty Ltd. of Australia provides scientific, technical, medical and other academic information using books, electronic media, journals, document delivery and video. DA provides customers with a wide range of titles from Poland, Germany, the UK and the USA at lower prices than many imported titles. Its customers include librarians, researchers, scientists, government organizations, business professionals and the general public. The company has a high quality web site to facilitate online ordering and provide user-friendly online catalogues. DA markets its services globally and conducts research on the web. The web site provides current and potential customers with 24-hour access to DA's catalogue and allows them to place their orders online, using electronic payment services. Using the Internet also enables DA to assist customers in locating the resources they need. DA research facilities reach almost all books in print, even those available from publishers not represented by DA. Apart from assisting customers in their search, DA also can acquire these materials quickly and efficiently. Using electronic commerce tools (facsimile, electronic mail, the web and EDT) for daily business operations has driven DA's success in expanding its market worldwide. DA has found that by using the web and other Internet services (such as electronic mail and remote computer log-on), the firm has evolved and progressed. The Internet enables the firm to increase its portfolio of publishers around the world, and has helped make it the largest Australian owned provider of scientific, technical, medical and other academic information. These fast and reliable communication channels have also enabled DA to reduce the cost of acquiring materials by 20 per cent, and has enabled DA to reduce the average transaction cycle (ordering from overseas) from 21 to 12 days. By making its presence felt on the web, DA can expand its market worldwide and trade internationally. Consequently the firm has employed additional staff to deal with increased demand, as the business is growing rapidly. DA is experiencing a revenue growth rate of around 15 per cent per year with online ordering now accounting for 40 per cent of sales. DA believes using the web and Internet is a matter of business survival. Based in Kaipara north of Auckland, 7am news is the brainchild of Bruce Simpson. It is a global Internet news service that provides a growing range of free news services to other Web sites. Most of these services are provided on a "value exchange" basis. The centerpiece of 7am news is a simple but highly innovative concept, namely a Java apple news ticker that anyone can add to their web page for free. The site concerned gets to add some valuable, regularly updated news to their offering and 7am gets the chance to more widely display its advertiser's message. 7am news is now syndicated to over 10,000 web sites around the world and has a global audience of over 15 million people every month. Because of the simplicity of the concept combined with its effectiveness in delivering an audience to advertisers, 7am news are able to offer some of the lowest advertising rates on the web. How it uses electronic commerce. 7am news is a knowledge economy business par excellence. It is entirely built around packaging and delivering information to as wide an audience as possible using the Internet. Marketing, sales and service are all Internet based. Without the Internet 7am news would not exist. The Internet eliminates the barriers of time and distance – indeed New Zealand’s time zone with New Zealand being awake while the rest of the world is asleep is a positive advantage. It has not been all plain sailing, with some barriers being encountered. Because many of it’s sales are to US customers 7am News prefers to deal in US dollars. However, the policy of local credit card companies allows billing of customer credit cards in New Zealand dollars only. The inability to bill a customer’s credit card in US dollars would seem to be a substantial and unnecessary barrier to the development of electronic commerce. However, these problems are outweighed by the advantages provided by the Internet which, when combined with an innovative product, allow a very small New Zealand organization to successfully compete with the major news organizations of the world, attracting more "viewers" than such luminaries as the online edition of the New York Times. VIPAR is a leading truck part marketing group based in Williamsburg, Virginia. In response to industry changes, VIPAR is creating a strong customer focus strategy, which will allow them to be more effective. To create these efficiencies for their members, VIPAR implemented a technologically advanced Electronic Commerce (EC) system, which will enable VIPAR’s members to exchange electronic documents via the Internet. This EC system will allow VIPAR members to expand their customer bases, reaching larger national clients who require electronic business transactions. This capability will assist in balancing inventories for VIPAR providing a great return on their inventory investment. It is now much easier for VIPAR’s members to interact with their supplier partners and brings new customers to VIPAR’s members, creating the potential for higher profits, in addition to the cost savings in improved order efficiency. C. Stokes & Co. LTD’s a small, family owned and operated Australian customs broker that provides clients with import and export services from customs documentation handling to freight forwarding and cartage services. Prior to installing computers, the firm had 50 staff to process paper documents (including typists and personnel who completely checked the documents). Now, the firm has 25 staff and a UNIX-based computer system to automate procedures and provide better quality customer service. C. Stokes & Co. uses electronic data transfer (EDT), such as the EXIT and EXDOC systems, to lodge customs and quarantine entries, request customs clearances, and pay customs duties with direct bank-to-bank funds transfers. Through the use of electronic commerce, C. Stokes & Co. has significantly reduced document cycle times. For example, it used to take three days to obtain quarantine clearance for meat exports, but the current lead-time is a few hours using EDT. C. Stokes & Co. believes document cycle times will improve further when internal business applications are integrated with the EDT systems, which will then allow staff to concentrate more on customer service. (Currently, both the inefficient paper-based and more expedient EDT-based method of doing business operates simultaneously). C. Stokes & Co. plans to extend its use of electronic commerce when EDT systems are fully integrated with its internal business applications, and will focus initially on improving internal business processes through electronic mail and EDT. After developing its internal expertise with electronic commerce, C. Stokes & Co. plans to use EDT and electronic mail with clients, shipping agents and overseas freight forwarders. Once these tools are used with these partners, C. Stokes & Co. anticipates that it will financially benefit by using EDT. Export growth from using electronic commerce most likely will come from marketing the firm as EDI-capable, which, in turn, should win new clients. Berita Bookcenter (www.bbc.com.my) sells books on-line. It specializes in Malaysia-published books but sells foreign books as well. Shoppers may browse via keyword or subject category. The Pillsbury Company, based in Minneapolis, produces a range of refrigerated dough products, frozen foods, and other grocery products for the U.S., European, and other international consumer markets. Pillsbury has a number of transportation EDI documents in place, including the load tender and the shipment status message. Both of these documents are used with truck, trailer, container and rail car carriers. The transportation EDI documents were implemented as part of a program to centralize logistics. Pillsbury sought to streamline operations by moving the load tender function to company headquarters and away from the company’s numerous plants and distribution centers. The electronic shipment status message replaces the invoice as part of an evaluated receipt settlement (ERS) program with carriers. Pillsbury uses the shipment status document to eliminate the freight invoice. Benefits of this new system for the load tender, response, and shipment status message, include improved speed and accuracy including freight payments, elimination of manual effort and paper invoicing, reduced cycle times and inventory levels, and improved supply chain management. These benefits combine to help Pillsbury improve customer service, build stronger relationships with carrier trading partners. Incorporated in 1985, TOWER Software is a software research and development company based in Canberra. The firm, which specializes in records and electronic document management and offers off-the-shelf, records management solutions to both the government and private sector. Although TOWER is an SME, it is one of only around ten companies worldwide, which are well positioned to take advantage of the large potential demand for more efficient electronic records management. Currently, the company uses the Internet to advertise worldwide, provide demonstration versions of products for distributors to trial with customers, accept orders, and distribute products. In addition, customers use the TOWER Records and Information Management System (TRIM) for electronic data interchange over the Internet - for transferring documents both between companies and within companies - in Australia and overseas. TOWER Software's growth rate reflects the opportunities afforded by electronic commerce: the release of the windows version of TRIM doubled revenues from $1.5 million in 1995-96 to over $3 million in 1996-97. TOWER Software has also been able to move into export markets at a phenomenal rate going from virtually zero exports in 1994-95 to a projected $600,000 in 1996-97, or about 30 percent of the company’s turnover. TOWER currently exports to 30 different countries. TOWER Software's rapid growth to date and its uptake of opportunities in export markets are built around its use of electronic commerce, particularly the Internet. For instance, the company recently won an Internet-based tender to apply its product to Administaff in the USA in which over 30 other companies submitted a tender. Because tender results were advised over the Internet, TOWER Software now gets 3000 to 4000 visits to its web site per month amounting to around two actual qualified prospects per day. Electronic commerce is a major component of TOWER Software's business, and is set to become even more important if its strategic plans to expand export markets are realized. The company recently employed seven new staff, bringing total employees to 40 and intends to employ another ten staff within the next year (a 50 percent increase in one year). The company also plans to list on the Australian Stock Exchange within the next two years. POSBank, a statutory board, is also Singapore’s national savings bank. In line with its mission, POSBank’s accounts and services are designed to promote saving and to meet the banking needs of its customers by providing convenient and excellent service. Established as part of the postal service in 1877, POSBank became a statutory board in 1972. With over 5 million savings accounts and 600,000 Current accounts, almost every Singaporean has a POSBank account. As at end 1996, depositors’ balance totaled S$25, 814 million. Today, the Bank has a network of 130 branches and over 660 ATMs situated throughout Singapore. Its staff strength stands at about 1,800. Use of the Internet: POSBank introduced POSBnet in December 1997 to provide more convenient banking. Available from 7.00am to 11.00pm, the service provides the following: Account balance inquiries, Account statement inquiries and downloading of account statements, Transfer of funds to your own accounts, Payment of bills, GIRO applications, GIRO/Inter Bank GIRO linkage and transaction inquiries, GIRO/Inter Bank GIRO terminations, Cheque enquiries, Stop payment of cheques, Change of mailing address, Benefits: benefits that a bank can realize: Quick and convenient banking, Cost saving and productivity, Enhanced competitiveness and corporate image Cost Savings. With POSBnet, the Bank is able to reduce labor-intensive transactions. For example, customers need not issue cheques to make payment. POSBnet can be used to pay bills. Savings are also made in areas such as the use of stationery (forms, mailers, letters, etc.), postage, printing and filing materials (microfilms for transaction records). The cost of a POSBnet transaction is also much less than branches transactions and self-service transactions. Accessibility with POSBnet, customers need not visit the branch or any of the self-service facilities. With the convenience of banking from home, customers also benefit from banking outside office hours and from abroad. Customer Convenience and the Bank’s competitiveness the banking processes are very much reduced and simplified, making it easy and convenient for customers. For example, POSBnet users need not write to the Bank should they require a statement of account, apply or terminate GIRO, place a stop payment on a cheque or change their mailing address. The Future: After the acquisition of POSBank by DBS Bank, POSBnet will be integrated with DBS Bank’s Internet banking service. Thereafter, a larger variety of services for both customers and organizations will be offered. Asiabooks.com (www.asiabooks.com.my) is an on-line bookstore that currently offers recently published Malaysian titles as well as U.K. and U.S. titles stocked by Malaysian distributors. It will introduce magazines, CDs, and VCDs to its Internet inventory by stages. When fully operational by the end of 1998, Asiabooks.com will have most of the familiar functions of a conventional bookstore. In September 1997, Korea launched the E-Commerce Resource Center (ECRC) project which will assist Korean companies (SMEs in particular) to increase their uptake of electronic commerce by providing access to e-commerce technology, technical support, education, and information management assistance. Launched in January 1997, the Electropia project was developed to give Korean companies access to four different e-commerce-related services: An electronic tendering system, a technical information system, a customer services system, and an electronic shopping mall system for electronic marketing of goods. Established in 1981, Hearne Scientific Software Pty LTD is an Australian software development company with 15 employees. The company distributes software and provides support services worldwide and deals with customers throughout Australia, New Zealand, Asia, Europe and South America. It provides services and support primarily for customers in government, tertiary education, banking, insurance, financial services and consulting services. Hearn uses electronic commerce tools in daily business operations, including facsimile, electronic mail, the Internet and financial EDI, which has helped drive the firm's successful worldwide market expansion. Hearne also has a high quality website to facilitate online ordering, easy-to-use inquiry and technical support. Customers and prospective customers around the world have 24-hour access to information about the company's products and services and can download full versions of Hearne’s products from the Internet upon request. Hearne also places online orders to other companies to ensure prompt delivery of products. As Hearne has increased the volume of software exported to the rest of the world, the company's web site also has expanded and now has text in 15 different languages. The global expansion of the business, in turn, has enabled the firm to reduce its product prices, some by over 25 per cent. Like many SMEs, Hearne found the greatest benefits of electronic commerce came from using the web. This has created worldwide opportunities for sales of products and services, enabling Hearne to compete internationally. In addition, the website offers potential to reduce personnel as an electronic business structure is used to carry out daily business operations. One lesson Hearne learned from using electronic commerce is that it enables speedy business transactions and allows the company to provide real-time processing, which, in turn, enables Hearne to move speedily when opportunities present themselves. Switching to a heavily electronic commerce oriented business approach has helped Hearne's revenue grow by 20 per cent- per year, and Hearne has plans to become even more involved in electronic commerce. Amstan Logistics is a third-party logistics service based in Hamilton, Ohio. A division of American Standard, this medium-sized enterprise has annual revenues of $30 million and has been involved in EDI for three years. In the early 1990s, a large-volume shipper requested that Amstan become capable of handling electronic advance ship notices. In response, the company implemented a PC-based EDI program. They are satisfying a large retail customer and streamlining operations, which is attributed to EDI. The primary benefit of EDI is the opportunity it provides for heightening service levels to shippers. In addition, EDI is enabling the company to function more efficiently. They have been able to streamline operations thanks to EDI. By linking the information in their system to EDI, the need to re-key data is eliminated, saving a considerable amount of time and money. EDI is also helping the company fortify trading relationships. Through EDI and improved customer service, they are strengthening the business partnership with their customers. White Hat Tours offers set or self-organized tours of Melbourne’s well know landmarks to visitors. Tours are advertised in brochures and the Internet. It has a Melbourne city office and runs operations from a home office in Northern Melbourne. It is a small enterprise. The Internet allows White Hat Tours to market its service to international customers, without having a physical presence overseas. A staff member handles bookings and inquiries from overseas and provides confirmation using electronic mail, facsimile or post. This saves time and office space. About one-third of tour inquiries currently come through the Internet, and many of these inquiries turn into business. The existing booking service has potential to become a tourist information center. Reciprocal arrangements can link hotel accommodation web pages to White Hat Tours and vice versa. Alternatively, the White Hat Tours home page can be linked to the home page of a virtual tourist center or a hotel information kiosk. These links would provide multiple exposure to different customers. Customers of Siemens Components Inc. now can walk through the company’s vast inventory of components online. Pintarmedia (www.pintarmedia.com.my) sells its own interactive educational software aimed largely at secondary school students in physics, chemistry, biology, and math. COCI will launch a Secure Electronic Transaction (SET) based gateway this month. Absolute On-line (www.absolute.com.my (Malaysia) bills itself as Malaysia’s first online IT warehouse with an ordering and cataloging system displayed in a user friendly environment.
 
· CHESS DISCOUNT SALES (AUSTRALIA)
Established in the early 1970s, Chess Discount Sales of Australia is a two-person firm specializing in the sale of chess books, chess computers and other chess equipment. The chess market is seen as highly specialized and primarily catering to a small number of serious chess players. However, indications are strong that a major change is under way in the chess industry, fueled by the growth of the Internet. Chess Discount Sales is a good example of how the simplest form of electronic commerce - electronic mail - can still provide an effective sales interface for small and specialized enterprises. When the firm was initially set up, it communicated with its suppliers in Europe, Asia, and North America through the mail and over the telephone. However, this proved slow, costly for small orders, and occasionally unreliable. The firm then switched to facsimile but in the last five years, switched almost completely to electronic mail to place and complete import orders with its suppliers, most of whom also use electronic mail. Chess Discount Sales has found electronic mail generally to be faster, cheaper, more secure and more reliable than facsimile. While orders are received and transmitted electronically, the firm is still reluctant to provide credit card details on the Internet so payment continues to be made by overseas draft or a trade letter of credit. Chess Discount Sales also uses electronic mail to receive orders from customers, but currently, electronic mail facilitated sales form a relatively small part of its overall sales. Cheap, effective and easy to set up, electronic mail provides a natural starting point for small companies, like Chess Discount Sales, that import and export specialized products and information relating to hobbies and games. While Chess Discount Sales’ use of electronic commerce is currently restricted to electronic mail only, the firm is now looking at accessing new Internet-based markets. Generally, aficionados of hobbies and games are often very enthusiastic and extremely persistent in tracking down hard-to-find information or material, and find the resources and search facilities of the web perfect for identifying these needs. Thus, the firm is currently considering the benefits that would justify the investment needed to establish and maintain a home page for advertising purposes that would be the first step in seeking a higher profile in the chess product market. While it is recognized that this may well become a commercial necessity, the start-up costs are significant enough to require careful planning. The Mobil Corporation is one of the world’s preeminent companies, with energy and chemical operations in over 125 countries on six continents. Electronic commerce is vital to their worldwide operations, both for procurement and marketing. In October of 1995, the company began to reorganize and reengineer its procurement operations globally. Mobil’s goal was to streamline the procurement process and strengthen ties with their suppliers. With Mobil’s strong strategic-partner orientation, they wanted to bring suppliers into the process as strategic partners. Electronic commerce, including EC forms for smaller suppliers, was implemented as part of this overall streamlining effort. Mobil is using the Internet to strengthen partnerships with distributors around the world. At their web site, "Mobil.com", distributors can check product availability in addition to ordering products using an EDI purchase order. Royal Selangor International (RSI) is a Malaysian company that manufactures and sells pewter goods. Customers from around the world can access RSI’s secure website and electronically order RSI merchandise using their credit cards. One of the major benefits cited by RSI in using e-commerce is the ability to offer attracts repeat customers by. RSI is able to offer their on-line customers special services, such as customized designs and engravings through the use of a personalized ordering page that is accessed through the web site with a password. Some of the challenges cited by RSI in using electronic commerce included difficulty in advertising the existence of the website and instead having to rely upon *word of mouth* advertising. Other challenges cited included customer reluctance in using the web site due to concerns over security of transactions, inadequate server bandwidth, and difficulty in pricing products for international customers because of complicated currency conversion requirements. While RSI reports that only 10 percent of their orders are currently placed on-line, it predicts that this percentage will grow as more customers gain access to the Internet and become aware of the existence of the RSI website Beijing Chaoyang Foreign Trade Co. is a five employee enterprise in the Peoples* Republic of China that primarily engages in import and export transactions. Through the use of a website and e-mail, Beijing Chaoyang Foreign Trade Co. indicates that it has been able to successfully compete against much larger firms. Benefits cited included enhanced communication with trading partners streamlined trading processes, improved customer service, reduced overhead and decreased travel expenses. Challenges cited include high start-up costs, the need for more technical support, and home country infrastructure limitations. However, Beijing Chaoyang Foreign Trade Co. indicates that the benefits gained definitely outweigh the initial costs and the current challenges and now has plans to focus exclusively on Internet-based e-commerce. Established in Sydney in 1878, J. Blackwood & Son, Australia’s largest distributor of industrial and engineering products has over 80 outlets in Australia. With an annual turnover of more than $500 million, Blackwoods offer over 146,000 products for sale, and have more than 1,700 staff.

Blackwoods see many advantages to having both EDI capability and online access to their product catalogues. Customer service has improved, leading to shorter delivery times. This in turn has led to reductions in warehouse inventory, and increased customer responsiveness in determining where goods are held in stock prior to order. An EDI/Fax corporate gateway will eventually handle full automation of the procurement cycle, with expected savings for Blackwoods, once the system is fully operational, in the order of $1.5 million per year.

SISTIC is Singapore’s biggest and leading computerized ticketing agency. It provides ticketing services for events at the Singapore Indoor Stadium and other venues. SISTIC launched a ticketing website, a first for Singapore and the region as it offers real-time ticketing services. This allows customers to book and confirm seats on the spot. To cope with the general public’s unease of disclosing credit card information over the Net, SISTIC employs the Security Integration Toolkit (SIT) and the Commerce Toolkit (CT) - in consultation with the National Computer Board - to facilitate the electronic credit card payment. The real-time website complement SISTIC’s other ticketing channels. Further, it is able to offer customers a hassle-free, 24-hour booking service. Presently, about one-third of SISTIC’s ticket sales are made over the hotline. This has put tremendous cost pressures on staff training, increasing telephone lines and maintaining the standard of customer service. Going online would help ease such pressures and the hotline staff can focus on providing better services to ticket buyers. It also enables SISTIC to enlarge its customer reach, including overseas customers. Yet another benefit of going online is the ability to generate greater awareness and publicity for promoters’ events. The borderless world of Internet allows SISTIC to reach a wider audience, including those beyond the shores of Singapore, a target group previously possible only through tie-ups with promoters overseas and travel agencies. Currently, SISTIC still has the task of convincing its clients and partners of the benefits of investing in this new method of marketing. However, with the government’s active promotion of the benefits of this new infrastructure and the accompanying technologies, such investments should become a widely accepted practice in the near future. One of the biggest challenges of SISTIC would be to promote and encourage electronic commerce to SISTIC’s partners - the show promoters as well as the ticket buyers. SISTIC hopes to act as the catalyst to spice up the dynamism of the entertainment industry through convenient ticketing services and greater awareness of events. Jaring, Malaysia’s pioneer Internet service provider, has developed Mall of Malaysia (www.mom.com.my) as a showcase for thousands of products including apparel, pharmaceutical products, comics, novelties, and car audio accessories. Dionysus, based in Cheltenham, Victoria, is a subsidiary of Galileo Publishing Pty LTD, formed because the directors were interested in both the wine market and the Internet. The company is involved in retailing wines solely on the World Wide Web. Dionysus uses its home page to advertise its products, provide information about the vineyards supplying the wines, and sell wine with options covering delivery, payments and packaging. Dionysus is a niche supplier and concentrates on the exclusive end of the market, supplying premium wines mainly sourced from Victorian wineries and not normally found in wine stores. Advertising costs are kept low while the company establishes itself, and advertisements target niche markets. Dionysus first must let people know that it is possible to purchase wine over the Internet; it must gain access to the target market. Dionysus is a small enterprise and proves it is possible to establish a business on the web with a very low asset base. While Dionysus believes the web is a highly appropriate market for wine buffs, this novel method of wine distribution will have a fairly long period of awareness building. Like many small companies using the web to sell products and services, Dionysus has identified a niche market. Survival in such a market depends on many factors including: developing long term links with producers, so that supply can be guaranteed; having expert knowledge of the products understanding thoroughly specialist consumer markets; having great flexibility to cope with fluctuating demand and changing consumer preferences; and, being able to innovate and continue to offer lending edge services to consumers who see themselves as fashion leaders. Although Dionysus plans to-extend its use of electronic commerce to the supply side, it does not expect that EDI with suppliers will be a major area of growth in the near future, as most vineyards sourcing Dionysus are small to medium enterprises. At present, it plans to use EDI with both the Australian Customs Service and the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service for export clearances and, where possible, with suppliers. Beijing Chaoyang Foreign Trade Co. is a state-owned company, mainly engaged in import and export business. They are currently using the website and e-mail to enhance communication with trading partners. Through the use of website and email, Beijing Chaoyang Foreign Trade Co. has been able to make global deals, streamline its trading process and respond more rapidly and accurately to customer inquires and demands. Given that Beijing Chaoyang Foreign Trade Co. competes against much larger firms, this small enterprise now depends on the worldwide web and e-mail for the very survival of its business. E-commerce based communications have increased its import and export activities. Internet will prove to be a cost-effective marketing channel relative to traditional retail and direct marketing channel. In network, communication orders, inventory information and delivery status electronically reduces telephone calls and data entry costs. Because information is more timely and does not get passed through different hands, errors that cause network and delays are also reduced. Due to the outstanding results from using e-mail and the web, Beijing Chaoyang Foreign Trade Co. now focuses exclusively on Internet-based e-commerce. This will reduce overheads, avoid the need to rent shop space and save traveling time. Beijing Chaoyang Foreign Trade Co. is very interested in adopting EDI to speed up existing paper procedures. But it needs the development of related infrastructure in China. Also there are some technological problems which need more technical supports. Beijing Chaoyang Foreign Trade Co. uses e-commerce to show how an innovative small company can use e-commerce to gain a competitive edge over larger competitions. Although the initial investment for the technology can be costly in terms of paying for Internet service provider connections and developing a web page, the benefits gained definitely outweigh the initial costs. My Flowers (www.myflowers.com.my) is Malaysia’s first interned florist. Open since April 1998, the company advertises its services as a way to send flowers without the hassle of traffic jams or from abroad. Since the mid-1940s, Texas Bearings has been distributing bearings and power transmissions to customers such as Raytheon, Texas Instruments, and the DOD. As a supply chain member for a defense prime contractor, Texas Bearings continues to look for ways to continue fulfilling its mission: reducing customers’ cost of doing business, while providing them with the quality of service that exceeds their expectations. The company knows the challenges of embracing new technology; however, to fulfill its mission and compete in a global economy, it needed to aggressively pursue appropriate business technologies. As a small company, it could not afford to market worldwide. The Texas Bearings website includes product information for government procurement transactions and for attracting new customers in international trade. Now that its website is presenting Texas Bearings and its products to the world, the company wants to make sure its Mexican and South American markets are not ignored: the website will soon be translated into Spanish. The company will also create an online product catalog this year. As the principal IT solutions provider to the Singapore government, NCS handles the development and maintenance functions of the Civil Service Computerization Program (CSCP), the largest computerization project in Singapore. They also worked with various solutions partners together to offer a range of fulfillment services to merchants planning to effect online services. NCS has gained significant benefits as a service bureau: enlarged customer base, offering users as a one stop solution provider; enhanced competitiveness and corporate image; and, better knowledge of trends and customers needs. NCS Consumer Connect is one solution with numerous manifestations. Packaged in a seamless end-to-end e-commerce application, NCS solution is designed to save the client's time, giving this organization opportunities to focus on more important core competencies. Significantly, it will help to reduce up-front costs that are usually associated with the building of in-house electronic commerce. In short, with NCS Consumer Connect, the merchant who wishes to have his organization e-commerce enabled can do so with less bother. NCS provides the following infrastructure or packages that encompass the necessary hardware and e-commerce software to assist merchants: contacts and online connections with banks for payment capabilities; contacts with warehouses, distribution centers; courier companies for hard goods fulfillment; call center and help-desk facilities; and, an operations center to manage the day-to-day business operations of e-commerce. Genentech, Inc. – a leading pharmaceutical manufacturer and biotechnology research firm based in San Francisco – continually seeks faster, more economical, and more efficient ways to get its products into the hands of customers. Genentech’s sales and marketing department determined that improved customer service and reduced costs could be achieved by introducing EDI technologies into the sales order cycle. Today Genentech is reaping the many rewards of an integrated EC implementation that includes several custom-built EDI tools. Benefits include a marked reduction in data-entry errors, and faster product shipment to the manufacturer’s customers. The most noticeable benefit has been the reduction of time required to process orders. At the end of their first year of EDI purchase orders, their order department expects to realize savings equivalent to the salary of one full-time staff member. EC and EDI are helping Genentech to save money, while offering and exceptionally high level of service to their customers. Plaza Putra (www.plazaputra.com) bills itself as a virtual shopping mall. Merchants offer a wide range of products and services ranging from electrical appliances to personal computers to education and travel agent services Medex, headquarters in Dublin, Ohio, manufactures and supplies critical care products to hospitals, health care facilities and health care providers in more than 50 countries. Critical care product customers rely on Medex to help them maintain a safety stock level of inventory. To ensure accuracy and responsiveness, Medex decided on a vendor managed inventory (VMI) program. Carefully managing and planning their EC investment has helped Medex make a powerful impact on their business mission to make their customers a top priority. Through using a cost-effective, efficient, and reliable VMI system, Medex is able to better manage customer inventory. Yamato Transport Company, Ltd., or Kuroneko Yamato, is an express shipping company that serves both consumer and business customers throughout Japan and fifteen other countries. With over 100,000 phone calls a day to its customer service center, the company was looking for a new and more effective parcel tracking system that was also cost-efficient. To accomplish this, Kuroneko needed a solution that not only gathered trace information more quickly but also provided that information to the customers in a timelier manner. They linked to a Web Server linked to Kuroneko’s existing back end systems which enables their customers to track these parcel tracking systems by accessing an Internet site. The system provides Kuroneko’s customers direct access to tracking information for a total of 18 hours per day (5 a.m. to 11 p.m.) and this has already resulted in significant improvements in customer satisfaction. The system will also save the company money over time due to a decrease in operating costs; i.e. the ability to quickly track and provide shipping information to the customer. Reduced costs, improved responsiveness to customer requests, and increased customer satisfaction should improve Kuroneko Yamato’s ability to improve upon its already impressive customer base and hence create additional revenue. ShopNet is an industry-wide integrated information technology (IT) community developed jointly by Singapore Article Number Council, the Retail Promotion Centre and the National Computer Board for small retailers in housing estates. ShopNet enables small retailers in Singapore to conduct point-of-sales (POS) scanning, inventory control and EDI for procurement. Currently, there are 170 retailers and 38 major suppliers participating in the ShopNET project. Benefits cited by retailers participating in the project include: access to vital product information from suppliers; store specific product mix for better customer service; standardization of product code and symbols; electronic tracking of product movement at each store; improved cash flow through increase in stock turnover and reduction of inventory; and, daily electronic sales and profit reporting on a store by store basis. One of the challenges of cited is difficulty in changing the conventional SME business attitude of doing business through EC instead of using physical intermediaries. Cyberbank (www.cybank.net) provides a global secure e-commerce and e-payment service on the Internet. It allows merchants with websites to link to the Cybank shopping mall. Shoppers who register with Cybank pay an administrative fee of 5 percent. Client software is provided free of charge and multiple accounts are permitted. Customer accounts are portable and can be saved onto diskettes for security, and can be opened on and operated from any computer with Cybank software and Internet access. Cybank uses the latest encryption technology and provides comprehensive transaction trails. A secure relay proxy security feature prevents bookmarking of merchant’s delivery URL. Merchants do not have to pay credit card fees because all payments are made through Cybank. Cybank’s owner Dato’ Mohammad Kamal Bin Hussain is opening Internet banks in the U.S. Australia, as well as Malaysia. At Boston Edison, 3,400 employees have been using an intranet to access mostly internal information about the power company. Over the past year it has added an electronic commerce feature to the intranet allowing three of its vendors to post pricing, availability and delivery information on the network. Staples, for example, is able to offer Boston Edison next-day desktop delivery for all office supplies. Because of the electronic commerce capability of the intranet, the cost of writing a purchase order has dropped from $150 to $25 at Boston Edison. Four years ago, a farming family from the irrigation area of northern Victoria involved in a single commodity producing operation, found this enterprise increasingly unprofitable and set out to examine alternative agricultural enterprises on their land. The grower decided to produce and supply Asian vegetables, herbs and fresh fruit to meet top-end demand (restaurants and hotels with a regular demand for premium quality products), initially in Singapore. This farming operation is a small enterprise that has expanded from (on average) two to eight employees. The grower developed a model of electronic management that he seeks to further implement and refine. In the evening, an electronic mail order is received from the agent in Singapore, indicating the next day’s requirements. Similar-minded farming enterprises combine to fill the order. Before picking begins at 6 am, the grower informs the agent by electronic mail how much of the order will be filled. Then electronic mail is used to inform the transport company of that day’s freight movements to Melbourne and Singapore. Payment is made electronically, directly into the farmer’s account, at a pre-agreed and very consistent price. The key element of this model is that the whole process takes just 24 hours from receipt of order to delivery to market, and full payment is made within that timeframe. This enterprise, made easy through electronic communication and electronic funds transfer, has enabled a marginal producer (to quote the grower) to regain equity in his property, extend his farm and expand his workforce significantly. Founded in 1981 in Singapore, Creative Technology, Ltd. develops, manufactures and markets sound, video, software and multimedia products for personal computers. Creative Technology has developed a software product that creates a unique Internet Community for music, games and entertainment enthusiasts. Called "Creative Inspire", it broadcasts a mix of music, games and entertainment programs over the Internet. Creative Technology needed to establish a highly scaleable and reliable "virtual store" where customers using "Creative Inspire" could purchase the products to include in their own sites. Due to the high hit rate that was expected and the need to reduce frauds, online credit card verification was critical to the establishment of this "virtual store". The solution enables each customer to establish, install, customize and maintain their own site. Key to the entire implementation was the integration of an Electronic-Data-Capture Point-of-Sale (EDC-POS) device that dials into the bank’s credit card authorization system. This allows real-time verification, without human intervention, of a credit card number entered by the potential buyer through a secure channel on the Internet. The system also offers Secure Electronic Transaction (SET) Internet credit card payment via Citibank’s regional gateway system in Singapore. In entering the online market, Creative Technologies was able to build on its existing business strengths which are rooted in personal computer sound, video, software and multimedia products. Creative Inspire and the creation of the "virtual store" enables Creative Technologies to extend its business by serving as a distributor/retailer of music, games and entertainment programs. By going on line, marketing costs were greatly reduced through the use of Electronic-Data-Capture Point-of-Sale and Citibank’s SET Internet credit card payment system based in Singapore. At General Motor’s dealerships around the country, stacks of printed manuals are being replaced by a new intranet that provides dealer’s with the most up-to-date information about warranty claims, special incentives, and vehicle availability, in addition to any configuration that a car buyer wants. Such a multifaceted intranet is expected to become commonplace in corporate America. Instead of thumbing through printouts, manuals, or floppy disks that GM previously sent on a daily basis, dealers are logging onto the satellite-delivered intranet to communicate to the car maker via Lotus Notes. Or they can use the intranet called GM Access to checkout administrative tools to make their business more efficient. On the other hand, GM envisions the intranet will enable buyers to specify car configuration at a dealer showroom and receive their order in a few days. Or if the car owner is stranded, he or she could hit a button on the dashboard and send a signal to the satellite that relays the message to the nearest dealer, who then dispatches a representative to the scene. Kessler Industries Incorporated is a family-owned manufacturer of metal indoor and outdoor furniture. In the early 1990s, Kessler began doing business electronically with a major retailer, and as more customers became interested in EDI, the company sought to expand and integrate its electronic commerce program. In order to create a bridge to connect EDI with their manufacturing system, they use EDI translation and integration software to link EDI to its internal applications and to create custom templates for documents such as purchase orders, invoices, advance ship notices and price/sales catalogs. The benefits of Kessler’s integrated EDI system include improved customer service and customer satisfaction, labor savings and improved accuracy. CSX Transportation, a subsidiary of U.S. multinational transportation company CSX Corporation, launched it’s business-to-business commerce site, Transportation Workstation Net (TWSNet). Its 1997 sales through TWS Net totaled nearly $3 billion, two-thirds of the unit’s revenue. More than 15,000 transactions were completed daily and the company anticipates the site to handle over 40,000 transactions a day by the end of 1998. Reaching that goal would mean that more than 80 percent of the unit’s sales would be conducted electronically, translating into more than $4 billion in online sales. CSX Transportation has over 3,000 large customers that use the site to initiate work orders for train cars and containers, find pricing data, track their shipments to individual trains, dispute claims, send e-mail and check bulletin boards and directories. The site also provides supply chain management so that CSX can directly manage its customers’ logistics and supply chain management services. Garden Escape is an on-line retailer of gardening products, information and services based in Austin, Texas. Through its garden.com website, Garden Escape can offer gardeners around the world with a selection of over 12,000 gardening supplies, magazine content, professional advice, and garden design software. Garden Escape currently has 55 employees consisting of an editorial staff, a staff of gardening and landscape experts, website/Internet staff, and customer service representatives. According to its original founders, the key to Garden Escape’s success is its ability to leverage the unique advantages the Internet brings. In particular, use of the Internet provides benefits in dealing with Garden Escape’s 50 different suppliers. Growers tend to be small businesses without sophisticated ordering or production planning systems. By using an extranet system, Garden Escape can transmit orders to suppliers and growers, which gives them the ability to update Garden Escape with revised inventory levels and order shipments. Although the company has yet to turn a profit, Garden Escape is confident its business model has significant advantages compared to the traditional model of distribution in the gardening industry. Garden Escape’s revenue and website traffic has both been growing briskly at about 500 percent annual growth. If sales and technical integration continue at their current pace, the company anticipates it will reach these targets in about twelve to eighteen months. In Japan, 24-hour convenience stores (conbinis) are found on every street corner from Okinawa to Hokkaido. There are over 35,000 in the country. That’s one for every 3300 residents. However, by 1997 all of the best locations had been taken and sales were flat. Moreover, as Japan’s economic growth slowed, projected reductions in consumer spending meant that sales per outlet would decrease unless something was done. Faced with this business environment, Lawson, the second largest chain of convenience stores in Japan, installed online shopping terminals in each of its 6,700 outlets that cover all 47 prefectures in Japan. The terminals use touch-screen technology. They allow customers to sign on to online catalogues, browse and place an order for a wider range of products than are normally offered in a convenience store. Once a customer selects a product, they receive a paper receipt. This is taken to the cash register and payment is made either in cash or by a special Lawson card. Items that are not in stock are delivered to the store and the customer can pick them up at their convenience. Large items like computers or perishable goods like flowers are delivered to the customer’s home. Computer games and software can be downloaded on the spot from the terminals. If a customer wants to arrange a trip, the process is somewhat different. After inputting information about dates and destination, a Japan Travel Bureau agent instantly calls the telephone attached to the terminal. The travel agent confirms the travel details with the customer who then pays for the trip at the cash register. A few days later, the travel package is delivered to the customer’s home. The principal advantages that convenience stores have are their location near to a customer’s home or place of work and the fact they are always open. The introduction of online shopping terminals provides a way for them to build on these strengths while eliminating or reducing their disadvantages. Because they must change stocks quickly but have no space for warehousing, convenience stores adopted computerized continuous replenishment systems networked to their supply chains much faster than other retailers. The introduction of online store terminals does not require a change in business processes it simply extends existing ones by routing the orders placed on the terminal to the respective supplier. Because all sales are made online, the terminals overcome one of the barriers to growing convenience store sales—the lack of merchandising space and the cost of holding inventory. The increase in number and types of products has enabled Lawson to improve customer service and win business from not only rival convenience store chains but also from other retailers to include general retailers and department stores as well as specialist suppliers like travel agents and florists. The introduction of online terminals will boost sales by as much as 6% annually—a figure which many think is very conservative. By consolidating its business operations into similar groups supported by IT professionals familiar with their particular needs, Prudential Investments, a subsidiary of Prudential Insurance Cos., cut $14 million from its customer service operations by simplifying agent access to customers’ information. The consolidation cut the average response time to customer requests by 55 percent. Whereas under the old system, a customer with two or more investment plans, e.g., 401k and annuities, would be shuffled between different departments, the new system allows a service representative to access all of the information from a single screen. The $14 million represents labor costs savings. Gowings, an Australian retail clothing store was seeking to extend its customer base and tap into the global market without the costs associated with opening additional retail outlets. In going "global" they also wanted to avoid the cost of an international advertising campaign needed for brand recognition. A "virtual store" on the Internet seemed to be the perfect solution and they established an online ordering system that provides a customer a way to pay using a credit card. Features also included tracking the transaction through to fulfillment. Finally, a customer base was established to conduct targeted promotion programs in the future. Benefits. Extended Customer Base. Through its Web site, with orders now from New York to London and since they are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week their Australian as well as international customers can reach them at any time. New Sales Channel. Gowings was able to expand its sales without incurring the high costs associated with opening and staffing additional storefronts in urban areas. Ordering and Fulfillment. The integration of an online ordering system which includes credit card payments significantly shorted the ordering, payment and fulfillment system. It also improves inventory controls and reduces the requirement to stock products in multiple locations. These features lead to significant cost savings when compared to those incurred in traditional retail operations. Targeted Sales Promotions. By being able to collect customer specific information to include Internet addresses, Gowings World Store has the capability of conducting targeted sales promotions in the future. Requirements: Access. Because this is an on-line shopping application, affordable access to the Internet was a requirement for its implementation. Data Security and Encryption. Online credit card purchases require that customer information and specifically credit card numbers be protected from unauthorized access and use. Similarly, provisions for data integrity must be provided to protect both seller and buyer; e.g. changes in credit card charges or changes in shipping destinations, etc. Payment Gateway. A Secure Electronic Payment (SET) payment system is necessary for issuing of digital certificates to first-time users, authenticates credit card information and clears payment for on-line transactions. The Chrysler Corporation is targeting cost reductions approaching $2 billion with the second version of its Supplier Cost Reduction Effort (SCORE) application. The original SCORE focused on electronic submission of costs saving proposals by several suppliers. The newest version adds automated processes and e-mail functions that will reduce the amount of time it takes to process and approve submissions. SCORE will be available to Chrysler’s suppliers, which provide 70 percent of Chrysler’s car parts. Chrysler currently has over 400 suppliers online, up from 160 in 1997. The software application anticipates handling nearly 200 submissions per week, with a 78 percent approval rate. The next version of SCORE will provide Web-based access to the system, which the companies’ hopes will add suppliers to its existing system. Hong Kong Telecom IMS (Interactive Multimedia Services) provides video-on-demand as well as online shopping and banking to over 250,000 customers. The largest Internet Service Provider in Hong Kong, its on line shopping mall acts as a host for over 30 merchants that want to sell their wares over the Internet. In addition to providing IMS with a competitive edge the cyber mall also serves as an opportunity for small and medium businesses to grow their own e-business without investing in their own software and hardware. The Chinese Books Cyberstore (CBC) aims at selling quality Chinese books published in Mainland China, Chinese Taipei and Hong Kong to readers all over the world through the Internet It also seeks to them a reader’s community on the Internet. CBC has about 30 employees. There are 200,000 book titles now available on its web-site which systematically categorized. Customers can search for books by title, author, book categories and can pay for their purchases online by credit cards. Security of the payment transaction is ensured through using the Secure Socket layer technology.. The books ordered are delivered by post or courier. Benefits. CBC leverages on the global nature of the Internet to target the worldwide Chinese Community as its clientele. CBC is especially popular with overseas Chinese in places where Chinese books are not easily available for sale. CBC allows readers to build their own personalized book stores by selecting subjects, contents or authors according to their stated interest. CBC intents to use such services to attract visitors and to maintain customer loyalty. At present, CBC is receiving an average of 5000 visits to its web-site per day. Its sales grew by 300% in the last 12 months. In order to further expand its network and business CBC also invites other web-sites to join its alliance programs by linking them to the CBC web-site. For books sold by CBC through these connected websites, the web-sites concerned will earn a commission up to 7%. Problems and Challenges Ahead. CBC considers that the perceived security risk of making payments over the Internet is an obstacle to its cyber bookstore business as well as to the development of e-commerce in general. CBC wishes to see a change of public perception in favor of payment over the Internet, so that its business could benefit through more shopping online.. CBC is capable of: reaching the world-wide Chinese community by effectively exploiting the global nature of the Internet; customizing services to meet the needs of individual clients; low operating cost by eliminating the need of physical book shops; and market penetration can be enhanced by selling through other connected web-sites. Bank Papan started operations as a bank providing mortgages to the Indonesia market in innovative ways. Today the bank delivers its marketing messages through a number of media including "Pulsa-Papan" which is one of the busiest 24-hour call centers in the country. Bank Papan’s unique market position has come from a strong synergy between marketing and technology. The synergy is being expanded to new horizons with the current implementation of an Internet solution - proudly named IntraPapan within the bank. The system facilitates employees’ access to updates on competitors and clients as well as other information relevant to marketing activities. Competitive pressures and consumer frustrations are beginning to drive the tradition-bound, paper-choked health care industry to the Internet. This month rolled out a program that allows independent insurance brokers to qualify individuals and families for health coverage online. A second Blue Shield initiative will help physicians verify a patient’s eligibility for insurance over the Internet, eliminating time-consuming phone tag. At another Web site, corporate employees can sign up for Blue Shield insurance. Launched in April last year, AEON World is Asia-Pacific’s first fully functional real cyber mall. It brings a new era of 24-hour Internet shopping to Asia Pacific as every step of the shopping process - from entry to the web site through browsing for purchases to payment and delivery - is combined in a complete end-to-end solution. In other words, the whole shopping process will be completed on-line in real time, with the payment transaction automatically handled by the merchant and the bank. No further action on the customers’ part is required. CEMEX is the 3rd largest producer of cement in the world and the largest producer and supplier of cement in emerging markets. CEMEX is the number one trader of cement in the world CEMEX has headquarters in Monterey, Mexico, and produces cement in Mexico and 11 other countries. CEMEX uses electronic commerce to collect and consolidate supply requirements from all of its plants worldwide. With this electronically consolidated information, CEMEX creates single, company-wide purchase orders to its suppliers, which are communicated to suppliers in multiple countries using electronic commerce. CEMEX also uses electronic commerce applications to maintain constant, automated monitoring surveillance of the major manufacturing equipment at its plants around the world. The Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry is a non-stock, non-profit and non-governmental organization of small, medium, and large enterprises, local chambers and industry associations representing various sectors of business. They have committed themselves to working together to foster a healthy Philippine economy and to improve the viability of business. (PCCI) announced a strategic alliance with a Boston based U.S. firm to provide electronic commerce services for Philippine. The Alliance will enable Philippine companies to promote their products to the international marketplace, and generate sales online. This alliance will allow PCCI companies to embrace electronic commerce and develop new opportunities around the world with an affordable and robust system. Well know for clothing millions of rugby players and sporting enthusiasts around the world, Canterbury International has more than 600 retail stores throughout Australia and New Zealand. To streamline its sales process and improve the efficiency of its mobile sales force, Canterbury applied a solution which provided each sales representative the ability to access customer information, determine the availability of products and place orders from the customer’s location. The adoption of this system has greatly improved Canterbury’s sales process and its other business processes. Responsiveness. Each sales representative has the capability to immediately provide each customer with pricing and availability information and expected delivery dates. The establishment of this system also permits the customer to use e-mail to contact their sales representatives, request quotes and place orders. This simplifies and speeds the process and eliminates the need to fax information to the customer. Supply Chain Management. Since orders are immediately reflected in the central data base, inventory controls have been greatly improved. Previously, product availability was determined either by checking a printed report which could be a week out-of-date or calling the warehouse to check the number of garments in stock. Preparing for the Future. So successful has been this system that Canterbury is considering extending it to their other internal business processes to include billing and fulfillment systems. They are also looking at setting up an online ordering system which customers could access directly. Requirements Network/Infrastructure. To provide its sale force with remote access to customer data, stockage and pricing information, Canterbury had to extend its existing intranet. In addition, to enable customers to contact their sales representative, connections to the Internet were also required. Data Security and Encryption. To ensure the accuracy and protect the integrity of the data that was being provided to its sales force, it was necessary to establish "fire walls" between the Internet site and Canterbury’s existing, intranet which is used in its internal business applications. Once the system is extended to include remote ordering and linkages to billing and fulfillment system additional security measures will be required. FISC is a sole switching center in Taiwan linking approximately 400 financial institutions. It is planned to extend its current services, for example bill payment and inter-banking fund transfers, through the Internet to its member financial institutions and the general public. The system will also provide the means for payment of taxes. Implementation and testing has been completed and FISC is now awaiting formal approval. China Telecom and IBM have agreed to work together to build e-business solutions tailored for the unique requirements of China’s rapidly developing economy. IBM will provide managed network services through China Telecom, allowing international companies to more easily conduct business on-line by connecting their local offices in China to others around the world. This will also allow traveling workers to conveniently access network-based services in China with a local or domestic phone call. The strategic activities in the agreement also include e-business applications and infrastructures, e.g. a Certificate Authority and a secure payment gateway. New e-business pilot projects are also being established. These include an e-business system for Human Telecom, based on SET technology, which will eventually become an e-business network linking several cities. Another project is the first electronic shopping center and payment system for Guangdon Telecom, which has been installed. A payment gateway and Certificate Authority are under discussion. In addition, the China Huicui World Cup ’98 web site, developed by China Telecom, will be used to link Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong, Sichuan, and Hunan to provide inter-province Internet access and e-business services. Freddie Mac is a stockholder-owned corporation established by Congress in 1970 to create a continuous flow of funds to mortgage lenders. Freddie Mac’s goal was to use EC/EDI to give lenders online access to mortgage insurers, enabling lenders to receive a mortgage insurance decision within minutes. With electronic commerce implementation, Freddie Mac is bringing greater efficiencies to the mortgage market to reduce the time and cost of underwriting mortgage loans. It also allows lenders to receive approval status within minutes, provides sophisticated tracking and performance capabilities, and automates daily processes, freeing EDI management to focus on strategic plans. Freddie Mac was able to dramatically reduce the time associated with underwriting mortgage loans from several weeks, down to a few minutes. A recently established company, "Your Prosperity" provides fully integrated on-line investment management services. The choice of investment range from quality managed funds offered by Australian investment houses to more than 250 Australian Stock Exchange listed shares and property trusts. It gives investors the opportunity to deal directly with its on-line investment service 24 hours a day, seven days a week, including access to investment research from industry professionals, as well as updated daily portfolio and transaction reports. A customer’s buy and sell instructions are delivered via the Internet to a back-end system which processes the request and updates the customer’s database. (www.yourprosperity.com.au) The Tao-yuan Farmer’s Association is using IBM’s CommercePoint solutions to establish an Internet supermarket to sell special farm produce including organically grown vegetables. If an order is placed by 10 p.m., it will be delivered the next evening. Payments will be made monthly. For those not on the Internet, centrally located kiosks are planned. (http//www.ffnic.org.tw) ProcureNet.com, a web-based, front-end application system developed by Singapore Network Services Pte LTD (SNS), enables companies in the manufacturing/electronics sector to enjoy the benefits of business-to-business transactions. ProcureNet.com links all parties from suppliers to distributors and end-users to integrate all procurement activities for manufacturing supplies. The benefits of using ProcureNet.com include: reduced administration and costs, just in time (JIT) delivery, reduced lead time and inventory, improved customer service, stronger business bonding, and competitive advantage. ProcureNet.com is aimed at improving the competitiveness of local companies within Singapore’s electronics sector by removing the heavy start-up costs associated with traditional EDI solutions. It is also especially useful for companies whose volume or frequency of trade with their buyers is low or on an ad-hoc basis. With ProcureNet.com, suppliers need not purchase special software to access the system. All they need are an Internet access and an authorized user-ID. More importantly, as ProcureNet.com resides on the SNS web server, instead of the suppliers’ premises, there are no maintenance costs to be borne by users. By using this service, buyers and suppliers can carry out a host of transactions such as purchasing, delivery, invoicing and payment for goods electronically, thus speeding up procurement processes and facilitating Just-In-Time (JIT) delivery of goods. To date, there are about 60 suppliers who use their Internet account to link to SNS’ network to access ProcureNet.com. These suppliers comprise Small Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) such as Asia Plastic Manufacturing Co. Pte LTD, Delta Electronics (S) Pte LTD, Gul Technologies (S) Pte LTD, Omron Asia Pacific Pte LTD, Teck Wah Paper Products LTD and M-Flex Singapore Pte Ltd. .Currently, ProcureNet.com processes an average of 1,500 transactions per month between these suppliers and major buyers such as Hewlett Packard Singapore (Pte) LTD, and Aiwa Singapore Ltd.. Benefits of ProcureNet:: reduced administration and costs, with all stages of procurement automated and made totally paperless, data entry from paper documents and replication of data are eliminated. This, in turn, cuts down data entry errors and costs .JIT delivery ProcureNet.com allows goods to be delivered Just-In-Time (JIT) to supplement existing stock. As such, there is no need to hold high levels of inventory or worry about storage space or out-of-stock situations. Improved customer service. Besides more streamlined procurement processing, turnaround time between purchase orders and delivery has also been shortened. By meeting customers’ demands quickly and delivering supplies just in time, suppliers are thus able to improve their customer service. Stronger business bonding. With ProcureNet.com, both suppliers and manufacturers are now able to communicate over the Internet, regardless of varying interfaces. The common channel effectively facilitates communication and, at the same time, strengthens ties between both parties. Competitive advantage Suppliers can take advantage of the shorter lead-time when delivering supplies. By earning their customers’ confidence with a timely response, suppliers can meet demands in a shorter timeframe, thus gaining a competitive edge over other overseas suppliers and increasing productivity. Problems and Challenges ahead: Incorporation of security features. As the Internet is an open, global network that can be widely accessed by anyone who possesses an Internet account, users’ main concerns are usually associated with a lack of security, privacy, access control and authentication methods. As such, the main challenge that SNS faces is to convince these suppliers that ProcureNet.com addresses their concerns adequately with the incorporation of the security features such as Internet security firewall, Hypertext Transfer Protocol Security (https) servers and Secured Socket Layer (SSL) protocol. These security features ensure protected data transmission between client software and server database over the Internet. Besides preventing trespassing of the system, access to web pages is also restricted with user ID and password. In addition, data is encrypted before it is transmitted. ProcureNet.com has been available to suppliers for nearly two years. Suppliers who have accessed ProcureNet.com have recognized that the benefits of using an automated and electronic procurement process far outweigh any potential security threats. End-to-end supply chain solution Besides delivering ProcureNet.com to facilitate the electronic procurement process between buyers and suppliers, SNS has also recognized the importance of a complete and end-to-end supply chain solution to enable manufacturers to maintain a competitive edge in the emerging global marketplace. As such, its main challenge is to integrate ProcureNet.com with its back-end application systems and logistical and warehousing operations to provide a seamless link in the supply chain process for the manufacturing industry. Benefits of such an end-to-end supply chain solution include: the optimization of operational costs through the realization of JIT delivery of supplies, better management of global operations and the elimination of intermediaries. Linkage to global manufacturing network As the Internet increases in popularity around the world, business-to-business transactions, such as procurement over the Internet, will subsequently increase. This will give rise to opportunities for ProcureNet.com to be connected to the global manufacturing network, enabling businesses to source for best-in-class components worldwide. As such, linking ProcureNet.com to the worldwide manufacturing network is one of the main challenges facing SNS. More than one million people are expected to benefit from an on-line health system that was launched in June 1998. This offering is based on a Physician’s Desktop Application linked through a secure intranet to medical laboratories in Western Sydney. It provides doctors with on-line access to the pathology results of tests on their patients without leaving their offices. It ensures that these doctors can obtain the results of laboratory tests promptly and without the need for paper copies to be couriered to their offices. It was designed by an Australian general practitioner and developed in partnership with IBM Global Services Australia and the Institute of Clinical and Medical Research in Westmead Hospital. Taiko Electronics manufactures electronic components for the worldwide market, with the Southeast Asian headquarters in Singapore. Taiko introduced a system to enable their employees to communicate through e-mail, share information and work collaboratively within their company and within their company and with their customers through the Internet. In addition, Taiko linked this communications system with its business systems including its Manufacturing Process System and Purchase Requisition System. The first helps facilitate on-line inquiry on the status of Taiko’s products, anywhere, an time via the Internet. While the second has completely computerized the whole process of obtaining approval for purchases, resulting in improved efficiency and shorter process cycles. JB Marketing Technology Ltd. (JB) is a local start-up and was established in 1995 as a technology company in the business of developing Internet web-sites for clients. In 1996, JB’s owners began development of the JobAsia web-site on which employers could post job vacancies for searching and viewing by job seekers. JB has about 20 employees. Job advertisements placed on the web-site by JobAsia by employers are charged in terms of the number of words in the advertisements. The advertising time is fixed at a period of 2 weeks, after which the advertisements will be withdrawn from the web-site. Searching of job vacancies by job seekers is free of charge. Benefits. JobAsia allows JB to compete effectively with the conventional printed media, i.e. newspapers and magazines, in the job advertising market by capitalizing on the phenomenal growth in the use of the Internet. Advantages of advertising over the Internet Include the potential for employers to reach out to all potential Internet users, whether at work or at home, 24 hours a day and seven days a week, and the capability for job seekers to search for jobs and to submit applications electronically in a more efficient manner. Currently, visits to JobAsia web-site by job seekers stand at the average level of 3.5 million hits per week. This is more than double as compared with that in February 1998 and ten times of that a year ago. JobAsia’s ability to match job vacancies with the specific requirements of individual job seekers by means of its extensive searching capabilities, is another important factor in ensuring that the right candidates will be directed to the relevant jobs. Challenges Ahead. JB considers that the job advertising market on the Internet is still in its infancy stage of development. The market is growing and will undergo a lot of changes due to technological advancements as well as constant innovation on the part of market participants. The ability to respond to market and technological changes and to capitalize on them will be a challenge ahead. JB has so far invested over IIK$1 0 million in JobAsia and expects to recoup the investment in 3 years’ time. Looking ahead, JB aims to increase its membership to between 250,000 and 300,000 by the end of 1999. It also plans to expand JobAsia into the markets in the Mainland China and other parts of Asia.This case study example highlights the following benefits that a small or medium sized enterprise can realize when utilizing E-commerce; more efficient, direct and tailor-made customer service. greater client base and market potential. enhanced competitiveness for a newly start- up company vis-à-vis large and well established firms in the market by leveraging on the extensive reach and wide use of the Internet. Established in 1962, Hotel Okura prides itself on a tradition of excellent service with tremendous attention focused on the details of an individual customer’s preferences and needs. To ensure that their customers enjoy the same service in any of their 23 hotels, and extranet was established to share the information it has collected on its guests over the years. Information on everything from a customer’s preferred table locations in restaurants to favorite pillows and magazines is instantly accessible to any hotel employee or manager. The hotel chain also uses the extranet to link directly with the worldwide reservation system used by overseas travel agencies so that it can respond to reservations 24-hours-a -day without necessarily having a human operator on duty. Coles Myer is well down the track of implementing EDI to achieve greater retail effectiveness through the interaction of information between supplier and retailer in four stages: reference data transfer, purchasing, delivery and payment activities. All products are coded by Suppliers with the standardized EAN (Australian product number) bar-code. EDI documents exchanged include purchase orders, purchase order acknowledgments, purchase order variations, receipt of goods advices, remittance advices and payment instructions. The need for an invoice has been eliminated. Rather than using EDI as a faster postage stamp perpetuating the current processes, the retailer/supplier community has seized the opportunity to streamline and reengineer the processes between both parties. Funded by the Republic of Korea’s Ministry of Information and Communication (MIC) and lead by Dacom, Korea’s largest private telecommunication company, CommerceNET Korea is the first electronic commerce infrastructure project in Korea. It provides an end-to-end on-line payment system and digital certificate system in a SET environment. An e-commerce test bed of promising Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) have been also established and will put some 2,500 electronic catalogues on-line (www.shopfinder.net) Founded in the 1930’s, UOB is Singapore’s leading bank with a network of 81 bank branches in Singapore and 60 overseas offices. It is also the core company of a Group that has diverse interests and investments through its more than 100 subsidiaries and associated companies. In October 1997, UOB introduced Cyberbank, which uses Internet technology to ring their banking services securely, efficiently, and conveniently to customers in Singapore and around the world. Now, customers can make on-line account applications, current balance and check status inquiries, stop check payments, transfer funds, view margin trading portfolios, change passwords, pay bills to selected establishments, and host of other services anytime, anywhere via the Internet. California’s second-largest association of independent physicians is about to launch a service that enables doctors to log on to a Web site and file claims, make referrals, confirm patients’ eligibility and obtain authorization for treatment. A spokesman for Brown & Toland Medical Groups said he expects a 25 percent improvement in productivity when the group’s 2,000 doctors go online in a few weeks. Presently this information is taken over the phone and fax and the paper process that involves 300 employees. The sheer volume of paper generated by the health care industry makes it a natural candidate for automation. The Net’s universal standard also makes it the perfect antidote to the incompatible mishmash of computer systems used by insurance companies, doctors, hospitals and employers. Welcome to Cybermart, the virtual supermarket run by NTUC Fairprice. Instead of pushing a loaded trolley, jostling with fellow shoppers and dealing with long check-out lines, all you have to do to stock up on groceries in Singapore is to leisurely click a mouse in the comfort of your own home. Fairprice’s e-business project has allowed the company to differentiate themselves from the competition and at the same time reach out to a new generation of shoppers. From a chain of 62 stores, Singapore’s leading retailer now has an outlet in every home and office with Internet access. (http://cybermart.ntu-fairprice.org.sg) Office Connect SDN. BHD. (www.officeconnect.com.my) offers Internet marketing services and e-commerce solutions for businesses ready to utilize the Internet as a part of their overall business strategy. Benefits: By installing a virtual private network (VPN), Mazzio’s Corporation, a Midwest chain of 255 pizza restaurants, is able to connect its restaurants in remote regions to its corporate network. Mazzio’s uses a frame relay and ISDN network to connect many of its restaurants to a corporate intranet to handle the company’s most important application - the pizza order entry system. In addition to centralized ordering, the company benefited by providing professionally trained salespeople an avenue to better market the company’s products. The intranet also provides status information about orders so call centers can tell customers the status of their order. The VPN gives all the locations permanent connections to the corporate network to take advantage of centralized purchase orders. By using Internet connections for the VPN, Mazzio’s communications costs are a fraction of what a traditional wide area network (WAN) would cost. Mazzio’s added 17 remote-site companies to the VPN in 1998. Singapore-based Citibank Asia Pacific is able to make international electronic commerce possible with the completion of the bank’s first live end-to-end credit card transaction. Citibank Visa and Mastercard cardholders are able to make purchases via the Internet with SET-enabled merchants in Singapore, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. The system issues digital certificates to first-time users, authenticates credit card information and clears payment for on-line transactions and will be extended to 500,000 Citibank customers across Asia Pacific. Currently, Citibank showcases four merchant malls: (1) Creative Inspire which sells multimedia equipment and PC kits; (2) ClickDiz which showcases the latest in CD-ROM games and software; (3) Anne Klein, which sells clothes and fashion ware; and, (4) the BNN Shopping Mall which offers beauty products. This secure on-line payment system, developed to cover electronic transactions, is the first for Visa in the world and Citibank Singapore is the first branch to lead this initiative. Mookcakes.Com’s website (www.mooncakes.com.my) offers 12 varieties of Chinese pastries called mooncakes which can be ordered on-line using a visa or mastercard. Once the credit card number is verified, the pastries are delivered locally within 5-7 days and internationally to international courier standards. SQ is a chemical product manufacturer located in Jinan, capital of Shandong Province, China. IT has about 700 employees and enjoys a leading position in foundry field and in export of no-bake fliran resin for casting in China. Its export value reached 7 million in 1997. )In 1997, SQ connected to CIETNet (China International Electronic Trade Network, a special network connected to Internet set up by Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic cooperation). Since then there has been a great improvement to the company’s business, either domestic sales or marketing abroad. Benefits: Great development of international market; SQ built business relationship with over 30 customers abroad through CIETNet, and 1/3 among these. customers has been contacted in regular form. More than USD 3 million of export value has been added up to now. Benefit from abundant information resource. Phenol, as a kind of raw material, is regularly demanded by SQ. The company found from CIETNet that a provider’s price was RMB 1500/mt, lower than former providers. After many contacts with the provider, a contract was signed and more than one million RMB was saved annually. More information such as maritime transport, trade regulations of many economies and foreign currency exchange rates is obtained every day. Reduction of expenses and cost in business operation. A lot of telecommunication expenses, such as telephone and fax charges, have to be paid by SQ due to large amount of business. At present, SQ can contact customers by e-mail or fax in the network and 60% of expenses is saved. Improvement of work efficiency. Work efficiency has been improved by utilization of e-mail or other new communication ways. For example, a joint venture was built in 1997. Many pictures for the project design provided from UK have been faxed via Internet and after amendment by the engineers of SQ, a new design with high clearance was faxed back to UK and all processes were operated in the network and finalized in a short time. Problems and Challenges: Just like many export enterprises, the export of SQ products meets many difficulties in 1998 due to the influence of financial crisis, but SQ is confident to make a progress by using CIETNet. There are some problems now during the utilization of the network, such as difficulty in connection and low speed in data transfer. Meanwhile, SQ could not make electronic transactions with customers through the network. Founded in 1981 in Singapore, Creative Technology Ltd. develops, manufactures, and markets a family of sound, video, software, and telephony multimedia products for PCs. With a worldwide user base of over 20 million, Creative Technology has a global staff strength of 4,400 with over 400 R&D personnel. Supported by a network of 20 subsidiaries, their products are marketed through 175 distributors in 77 countries and in the U.S. alone are sold in over 30,000 retail outlets.As part of Creative Technology’s electronic commerce strategy, the company developed "Creative Inspire," which provides on-lone Internet access to music, games, and entertainment events and programs. Due to anticipated high hit rates, there was a requirement for a highly scaleable and reliable network and, in order to reduce frauds, there is a critical need for on-line credit card verification before products are down loaded from the Internet. Users must also have the capability to install, customize an maintain the software interface on their own personal computer. The key to the product’s success was the integration of an Electronic-Data-Capture Point-of-Sale (EDC-POS) devise that dials into the bank’s credit card authorization system. This allows for real-time verification without human intervention. The system also offers SET Secure Electronic Transaction Internet credit card payment via Citibank’s regional gateway system. Fashion Music Station is using e-commerce to link 70 different record publishing companies to a central database where product information can be stored and then accessed by customers throughout the country. Customers use the Fashion Music Station website to quickly get information on the newest releases (as well as older titles) and then electronically order the CDs they want. The benefits for the customer is the ease and convenience of using the website as opposed to physically shopping for the product, and record publishing companies are able to increase their product circulation and decrease their product returns. AUCNET, Inc. operates a nationwide electronic used-car auction house that handles about 300,000 used-car sales per year. Using a communications satellite link, AUCNET transmits data, including pictures, on each used car to registered AUCNET subscribers who then bid electronically on the vehicle. AUCNET is an example of a successful e-commerce application that makes possible huge savings in labor and distribution costs since vehicles and bidders do not have to be in one single location at the time of auction. MyFlowers.com: Malaysia's first Internet florist, MyFlowers.com sells flowers and gifts from its electronic storefront. The MyFlowers.com website uses SSL (secure socket layer) technology and customer information, such as credit card numbers and other and personal information, is encrypted to ensure security and confidentiality. MyFlowers.com cites expanded markets and cost savings as the two biggest advantages of using e-commerce, while high start-up costs and reluctance of banks to process credit card transactions were cited as the biggest challenges to overcome. Nevertheless, MyFlowers.com has plans to offer on-line customers even more services, such as personalized pages for repeat customers.
 
 

GOVERNMENT LEADERSHIP

As part of an extensive strategic implementation program, the Inland Revenue Department of New Zealand has integrated electronic commerce into its overall business operations. Examples include the use of electronically filed tax returns by tax practitioners, Internet and Intranet websites, and electronic payments systems. A major initiative presently being implemented, as part of the overall tax simplification program, is the new electronic filing system for PAYE (Pay As You Earn) details and collection. From April 1 1999, employers with annual PAYE deductions amounting to more than NZ$100,000 are legislatively required to file PAYE information to the IRD electronically; approximately 9,000 employers will fall into this category. Over 50,000 employers are expected to use the system within three years. The system to be used is a highly secure Internet-based system that will allow employers to provide their employer monthly schedules electronically. The use of both encryption and digital signatures will be integral to this process and is a first for New Zealand Government agencies. The new system will not only save employer’s time in dealing with paperwork but also more importantly reduce overall compliance costs. In addition, most employees will no longer have to fill out individual tax forms at the end of each financial year. The SSA is committed to building greater public confidence, extending accurate and efficient world-class service to the public and nurturing its 65,000 employees. The SSA determined it would streamline, reengineer and automate its business processes in order to carry out this resolution. Over 250,000 files are transmitted nationwide each month between state and federal agencies. These requests took two weeks or more to process and now they take two minutes, resulting in cost savings of $19 million each year for the SSA. Advanced error handling, notification and recovery features provide the level of reliability the SSA mandates to keep the flow of data constant and its records current. Flexible security options allow the SSA to control access to its data, network and resources by individual users or classifications of users. Security violations are tracked and sources identified through audit trails and statistics. Automated communications have helped to eliminate an immense amount of the manual operations and the erroneous overpayment situations caused by human error. Data confidentiality has been greatly heightened and responses to the SSA’s customers are delivered efficiently and effectively. Administrative costs and walk-in traffic at SSA field offices have been significantly reduced. The Electronic Visa Information System (ELVIS) is a project which allows electronic transmission of visa information for textile products exported by a country to the United States. Singapore was the first pilot user of ELVIS started in 1992. Other pilot users are South Korea, China, Thailand, Taiwan, the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia, all of which are in various stages of test run. Under the ELVIS project between the Governments of Singapore and the United States, a decision has been made to cut over to the paperless textile visa arrangement with effect from 1 January 1998. Both the United States and Singapore had been satisfied with the results of the parallel test run of the ELVIS and paper visa system. Singapore is the first exporting country to go fully paperless. Exporters to the United States go through the Singapore Trade Development Board(STDB) to apply for the Export Permits, Textile Visas and Certificates of Origin. Singapore exporters will receive from STDB an electronically approved visa message on the commercial invoice, which they can present to the banks or their buyers, if required. ELVIS provides a simple standardized format for the electronic transmission of the visa data. In the past, the preparation and handling of the traditional paper visa documents slows the clearance processes in both the US and Singapore. ELVIS is a faster and more efficient means of transferring information over long distances. It also overcomes the issue of misplaced or missing documents, a problem which is magnified when it involves long distance travel. The arrangement will also help to prevent any potential Textile Visa fraud for illegal transshipment as visa information is now electronically transmitted directly from the STDB to the USCS. The visa data are protected with ELVIS because the electronic data transmission have built-in security and data validation safeguards. ELVIS is a significant breakthrough for the trade in textiles between the two countries. ELVIS demonstrates an effective and efficient means of communicating time-critical and sensitive information between government departments. An electronic data transmission system like ELVIS will increase the efficiency, accuracy and security of information exchange and will drastically reduce the expense and delays inherent in the handling and safeguarding of sensitive paper documents. The USDA is developing an EDI solution to manage the flow of nine transaction sets between the national computer center, regional offices and state distribution agencies. Through the implementation of EDI, the USDA is able to improve efficiency. The task of collecting, validating and distributing information quickly and cost-effectively was becoming more labor-intensive, time-consuming and inefficient for the USDA Food and Consumer Service (FCS). To resolve these inefficiencies, the FCS developed an EDI solution that involved the efforts of national and state governments, and private industry. This new system manages the flow of nine transaction sets between the national computer center, Regional Offices and State Distribution Agencies. Benefits include reduction in errors and need for manual intervention, increased response time for recipients, and improved distribution of information among regional, state and federal agencies’ systems. REI is coordinating a national rural outreach program that utilizes state of the art technology to provide export assistance to traditionally under served rural manufactures. In August 1993, the Department of Justice launched its EDI pilot for electronic submissions of case initiation documents within the Civil Magistrate’s jurisdiction, with the aim of improving the efficiency of courts’ administration. EDI was introduced to cut down on the need to rekey case data and to dramatically reduce the turnaround time of cases lodged with the Department from several days to one day. The Courts and Tribunals Services Division was the Category B winner (medium size organizations) in the 1994 AIIA National Awards for excellence through Information technology for its Courts EDI Service. E-Post services aims to handle the whole process of printing, enveloping and posting of-mail for business customers electronically. With this service, messages generated by computers of business customers such as bills invoices can be sent to the E-Post center either through dateline or in the form of computer diskettes. At the center, the electronic messages will be turned into physical paper mail by high speed laser printers and inserting systems. These mail items will then be slotted into the mail 1 delivery stream for dispatch to their destinations. This is a total mail solution which allows the customers to concentrate on their business. The Singapore Government Shopfront consists of, at present, 11 government agencies delivering various types of goods and services. They are as follows: Community Chest, Ministry of Community Development Singapore Department of Statistics, Ministry of Trade and Industry, Land Transport Authority, Ministry of Manpower, Maritime & Port Authority of Singapore, National Health Education Department, Ministry of Health, Singapore Science Centre, Singapore Tourism Board, Traffic Police, Ministry of Home Affairs, Trade Development Board, The Singapore Government Shopfront was launched on 23 September 1998.Use of the Internet: All agencies on the Shopfront have been using the Internet for years for information gathering, publicity and communications. Most agencies are on the Singapore Government Network (SGNet) using Lotus Notes as messaging and productivity tool. For members of the public, one of the main benefits is that they are now able to enjoy faster access to government products and services without leaving the comfort of their homes. As for the government agencies, since purchase orders are now captured electronically, they no longer need to do data entry into their backend systems. One major challenge that the Singapore Government Shopfront is encountering is related to the mode of payment. At present, only CashCard issued by the Network for Electronic Transfers (Singapore) Pte Ltd. (NETS) is accepted. In order to use the CashCard for Internet payment, users need to purchase a SmartCard reader retailed at between S$40 and S$60 which currently has not been widely adopted yet. The Government Shopfront also aims to target buyers outside of the local market. In order to do this; the Government Shopfront must also accept other modes of payment, such as credit card and international debit cards. It is also a challenge to all government agencies to provide timely, useful, relevant and innovative goods and services to their target buyers, local or international. The ELS, developed by the ATO, allows tax agents to electronically transmit their clients’ individual tax returns via modem or disk. Approximately 9 million individual returns and 1.5 million partnerships, trusts and company returns are processed annually by the ELS. Before the establishment of the ELS, paper based tax returns took an average of 10 weeks to process. Today it takes two weeks. The successful implementation of ELS involved more than 3,000 tax agents, 24 software developers, two public sector unions, Telecom’s Auspac, and managers and their staff in 16 ATO branch offices around Australia. Tax agents using the ELS have the option of not lodging a paper tax return. However such returns must be held at the tax agent’s office and must be able to be produced for the ATO on notice. A signed paper copy of returns must be retained in order to satisfy evidentiary legislation. After the first year of national operation, just over 3 million or 50% of total tax agent lodgments were received and processed electronically from 3,800 tax agents. Benefits have been realized by all parties using the ELS. Small firms interested in increasing export sales will soon receive trade leads or notices of international procurement opportunities through Tradenet/Export Advisor, an interactive, international trade "tool kit" on the Internet. Tradenet is a multi-agency intergovernmental, export assistance online service. To keep Hong Kong in the forefront of world IT development and to further promote the development of electronic commerce in the territory, Hong Kong will further strengthen its program in public sector use of electronic commerce by introducing a comprehensive plan to provide Government services online, i.e. the launching of the Electronic Services Delivery scheme. Under this scheme, Hong Kong will establish an information-infrastructure with an open, common interface, through which the public can transact business with Government electronically, 24 hours a day a seven days a week. The public may access public services on seamless basis through touch screen information kiosks installed convenient public locations like libraries, community centers, district offices, etc., personal computers at home or in the office, telephone via interactive voice response system, interactive television, or other possible electronic devices. We anticipate that the scheme will substantially improve the quality and efficiency in the delivery of public sector services. It will also act as a catalyst to stimulate the development electronic commerce and Hong Kong expects that the information infrastructure developed for the scheme will also be used by the private sector for conduct of electronic commerce at a later stage. This company has the mission to enhance the productivity and competitiveness of Hong Kong’s import & export trading community by making available a wide range of value-added electronic commerce services, with an initial focus on automating common trade transactions involving the Government. The shareholders of Tradelink are all key players in the field of international trade in Hong Kong and the HKSAR Government is the largest shareholder. Tradelink now provides electronic submission facilities which allow textiles and garment companies to apply for quota licenses and lodge trade declarations online. All the relevant fees are collected electronically. No more queuing at Government counters or cash payment is necessary. Companies connected to such facilities can also receive up-to-date information on trade and their quota balance. With the availability of these facilities, Hong Kong plans to phase out all paper lodging of trade declarations by the end of March 2000. This would mean that some 70,000 Hong Kong trading companies, of which more than 98 % are small-to-medium sized enterprises, would migrate to electronic commerce within the next two years. When the migration completed, Hong Kong will have one of the world’s largest bases of electronic commerce users. The U.S. Export Assistance Centers will conduct electronic commerce seminars designed to educate the exporting community on the Internet-based marketing and technology tools available today. The company prints checks, security documents, pin mailers, multifunction mailers, and envelopes. Its target market industries include banking, finance, securities, manufacturing, and telecommunications. HHP needed a set of products and services that would help it to quickly and easily create secure, interactive business solutions for the Internet and the HHP intranet. HHP was able to put in place an effective network and infrastructure that provides its employees with a secure environment and easy access to its business applications and processes, an easy-to-use, yet powerful messaging system for the company, collaborative support, web integration, ease of scalability and a short development cycle. In October 1990, the New South Wales (NSW) Government introduced the first large-scale whole-of-government electronic commerce system comprising an electronic database and EDI software called SUPPLYLINE. NSW Government agencies and departments access an electronic catalogue containing details of over 100,000 common-use contract items and place electronic orders on suppliers using SUPPLYLINE, be that by deploying centralized on-line access, PC-based standalone software, or software integrated to mainframe applications. With $4 billion worth of government purchases per annum, 3,000 suppliers and 12,000 government purchasing sites, a conservative estimate in savings through the greater use of period contracts was around $100,000 million per year. The efficiencies of EDI such as speed and administrative cost reductions, inventory savings and greater access to government trading partners were seen to be the major contributors. The Malaysian Associated Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (MAICCI) plans to set up an electronic commerce exchange to provide greater access to the world market to Malaysian business. Although the exchange is expected to be ready in December 1998, when the organization works out further details for the exchange. TradeNet, the nation-wide Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) network, processes trade declarations electronically with government agencies and local, as well as overseas trading partners. Operated by Singapore Network Services Pte Ltd. (SNS), it streamlines trade documentation, eliminates preparation of multiple forms, and simplifies application of Certificates of Origin. The benefits of TradeNet are faster transactions, increased productivity, savings in paperwork, manpower and costs, better management of cargo, and no restriction in operational hours SNS was incorporated in 1988 to develop and operate a wide range of value-added Network (VAN) services.. To date, over 23,000 users from the trading, manufacturing, distribution, retail, real estate, construction, healthcare, financial, legal and travel sectors are connected to the SNS network for EDI, Internet and other network services. The successful implementation of network services and extensive networking expertise has put SNS in a good stead in its trust toward regionalisation. Today, SNS has joint ventures in Canada, China, India, Malaysia, Mauritius, the Philippines, and South Africa. Since the incorporation of SNS in 1988, the number of its employees has increased steadily – from a modest number of six staff members to the present strength of 331 employees. These employees work within the various divisions of SNS: Operations, Technology, Finance, Enterprise Solutions and Business Development.T radeNet service was implemented on 1 January 1989 by Singapore Trade Development Board (TDB), developed together with SNS. The driving force behind this nation-wide EDI network known as TradeNet was a national objective which made it possible for the trading community comprising the traders, cargo agents, shipping agents and freight forwarders to work with approximately 20 Government agencies to design and put in place an integrated multi-agency system to hasten the clearance of goods in and out of Singapore. Benefits are: faster transactions, increased productivity.. Savings in paperwork, manpower and costs and no restriction in operational hours. Problems and Challenges Ahead :Constant upgrading of technology TradeNet will offer even faster processing of trade declarations to 1-5 minutes from the existing 15-30 minutes. Upgrading of user systems and continuing education/training When fully implemented, the increased efficiency in trade transactions is expected to generate annual savings of some S$2.8 billion. TradeNet Plus will allow Singapore to be positioned as an international trade facilitator for the region by providing an efficient infrastructure for international trade. By leveraging on the TradeNet Plus infrastructure, Singapore will be in a better position to link to other international electronic commerce initiatives.

COOPERATION AND PARTNERSHIPS

Benefits: More than 100 college and university campuses worldwide have joined the Oracle Academic Initiative (OAI), a $50 million effort to address the worldwide IT labor shortage. OAI is designed to help universities attract and graduate skilled IT professionals. OAI provides academic institutions with software, support, curriculum, instructor education and certification to develop cutting edge technology education courses and programs. In the three months since the launch of OAI, over 100 campuses are able to participate, including San Francisco State University, Arizona State University, and the University of Kentucky and Community College System. Certified IT professionals are going to be a requirement for conducting business in the 21st century At the Asia Pacific Information Technology Summit, President Fidel V. Ramos of the Philippines witnessed the signing of an MOU between Oracle Corp. and the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Foundation of the Philippines. Philippines becomes the first international participant in the $50 million OAI. The Edupact initiative directly contributes to APEC’s efforts to assist SMEs in their attempts to utilize electronic commerce practices as it will expand the IT literacy and skills levels of potential entrepreneurs and SME managers in the region. EDUPACT Objectives are to: address the APEC leaders call for the promotion of electronic commerce by equipping the regions citizens with state of the art education and training so they may better access and develop the business and social skills needed in the information age, bring attention to, leverage, and facilitate the work of companies, academic institutions, and government offices in the region to develop an IT literate society in the Asia-Pacific Region, build upon the APEC leader’s call for establishment of an Asia-Pacific Information Society by the year 2001 by creating an international network of companies and institutions to share data, experience, information and advice in the use of information technologies in learning institutions, support the growth of an accessible, affordable regional communications and information network for the benefit of all the major learning institutions of APEC. To encourage and facilitate projects which promote development of useful, innovative information infrastructures within and among APEC educational institutions. EDUPACT Work Program. Stage I: Stock-take of existing public, private, regional, and global initiatives in CALS and skills training taking place in the Asia-Pacific Region. Document. Stage II: Mapping of Initiatives and Review, through APEC, PECC, IW joint consultation process, of gaps in regional provision of appropriate training and education systems that need to be addressed. Stage Ill: Support for the development of initiatives, both public and private, to address these gaps through test-bed projects, government-industry joint ventures, or purely private sector lead initiatives. EDUPACT Outcomes. A virtual network of firms, academic institutions and government agencies sharing information and pooling resources to expand the IT literacy and E-commerce readiness of the region’s population. A number of public-private sector initiatives to expand CAL, develop curriculums appropriate to the information society, support innovative training initiatives, and further skills development. A Casebook of successful efforts, and report on progress made to date on the E-commerce and APIS initiatives, as they relate to skills training and education, for review by the APEC Educating Ministers and Economic leaders in 2000.
  AIM is the region’s leading school of business management (appropriately called the Harvard Business School of Asia), with its main facility in Manila and a second in Kuala Lumpur. AIM’s students come from all over the region, and include graduate students and executives at all levels. Recognizing that its curriculum included too little on the subject business use of technology, AIM has this year substantially increased its IT infrastructure in collaboration with several major IT vendors. AIM’s objective is to expose students at all levels to the business uses of computer and communications technologies. This objective will be achieved through hands-on learning, by the development of case studies, and by student "live" case studies involving the adaptation of existing business applications to specific business circumstances. Having upgraded the IT infrastructure, AIM and its faculty are currently engaged in an intensive process of developing a new curriculum to embracing IT and focusing on electronic commerce and several other priority business uses. The principal hurdle is funding. Beijing-based PC maker Legend Group has signed an agreement with the Computing Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) to hire researchers. Providing "education on demand," this is a virtual university project which involves distance learning and provides video and audio instruction as well as digital library for students throughout the country. (www.knou.ac.kr) The Centre for Electronic Commerce (CEC) is an integral part of the Monash University School of Business and Electronic Commerce, established as a national and international nucleus for expertise and education in the field of electronic commerce. The CEC assists industry and government through the provision of a range of independent consulting, education/awareness and research service. The Centre is a unique electronic commerce services organization in that it combines the strength of industry professionals with the academic infrastructure of a top band university. The Center's purposes are to educate business people on the benefits to be obtained through the use of Electronic Commerce (EC) and the value of having a widespread capability of doing business electronically, and to undertake projects that have both research value to the University and/or practical value to collaborating companies and/or governmental bodies. In conjunction with the National Computer Board (NCB), Andersen Consulting (AC) developed a senior executive workshop on EC. The workshop was part of the educational and promotional initiatives under the NCB's Electronic Commerce Hotbed Program. Called "eVision for Commerce",. It was meant to provide senior executives with a clear understanding of EC fundamentals, a vision of how businesses will transform, and a strategy for EC implementation. Group sizes were limited to 10 to 15 participants per workshop. The workshops have proved to be very successful, especially the government series which produced many opportunities to implement EC across government. In total, there were about 10 "eVision for Government" workshops and there were about 123 participants altogether. Participants were taken through an overview of EC. Emphasis would be placed on the fact that EC is more than just virtual transactions. There were discussions on how this new business paradigm would go beyond time, place and form. The workshop format was as follows: Presentation of EC fundamentals and trends, Presentation on how business will transform, Government initiatives that support EC, Guided hand-on to some relevant Internet sites, Use of EC planning framework to identify EC opportunities, Prioritize identified EC opportunities. Andersen Consulting is still continuing the eVision Workshop and to date, they have completed about 30 workshops across various industries. ECRC is driven by the Department of Defense (DoD). The mission of the ECRC Program is to promote awareness and implementation of Electronic Commerce and related technologies in the U.S. and integrate it with the civil-military industrial base. This will help manufacturers improve their competitive posture global markets and strengthen the U.S. integrated civil-military industrial base. The FCRC Program consists of the ECRC Technology Hub, ECRC Team Integrators, and Regional ECRCs. Each Regional ECRC conducts: Outreach, Education & Training Consultation; and Technical Support activities The ECRC Technology Hub focuses on: Collaborative Partnering STEP Activities (the Standard for the Exchange of Product Model Data - ISO 10303). The goal is to provide a common, vendor-neutral representation for exchange and archiving all aspects of product data for the entire product life cycle Instructional Technical Development Activities Electronic Commerce Testbed Activities to help develop, demonstrate, and transfer technology solutions to industry-identified problems Other ECRC Technical Activities. Canadian and Malaysian Women’s Organizations, in conjunction with the American firms Global Enterprise Group, IBM, and Lucent Technologies, created a virtual trade mission (VTM) website which used video-conferencing, secure virtual boardrooms, and other Internet technology applications to promote business-matching among women entrepreneurs in Canada and Malaysia. Ten business matches were finalized in memos of understanding on September 4th, 1998 in Kuala Lumpur. In line with the National Computer Board's (NCB) goal to promote an IT fluent society, the NCB organized a five-day mass Internet training event - Surf @ Stadium - from 25 to 29 September 1998. This event took place at the Singapore Indoor Stadium, and is the first-of-its-kind in Singapore. Surf @ Stadium was initiated by the NCB and co-organised with the Association of Muslim Professionals, Chinese Business Network, Construction Industry Development Board, People's Association and the Singapore Confederation of Industries. Surf @ Stadium aims to encourage IT literacy amongst Singaporeans, by providing hands-on experience. Using the Internet as one way of promoting IT literacy, this event enabled thousands of people to go online and see for themselves how useful the Internet can be. Electronic commerce applications were included as one of the main modules of the curriculum. The audience was briefly informed about the e-commerce agencies such as certificate authorities, banks, merchants, customers, business partners, government (legal framework). In addition, they were told how they could benefit from participating in e-commerce and tips in setting up an e-commerce store. Three training sessions were conducted daily with 250 participants in each of the three-hour session. Two trainers led each session, and 50 facilitators were present to guide the participants. The target was to train a total of 3,750 participants by the end of the five-day event. The training was conducted in either English or Mandarin. The content of each session was specially customized for the participants. These include businessmen, professionals and workers from the manufacturing and the construction industry, office administrators, housewives and retirees. In conjunction with the pre-registered Internet training sessions, an exhibition for the public was also held at the Singapore Indoor Stadium from 25 to 29 September 1998, 10am to 9pm daily. Admission was free and visitors to the exhibition could again experience hands-on surfing of the Internet, and enjoy special deals for computers, software and peripherals, and Internet subscriptions.

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