Public sector cashes in on Internet

There is much media buzz these days about electronic commerce on the Internet and how it is about to fundamentally change the way business is conducted.

Certainly the predicted numbers, and the case for adopting an e-commerce solution are compelling.

E-commerce breaks into two broad categories: business-to-consumer and business-to-business. The New Yorkbased eMarketer report shows the business-to-consumer market segment increasing 14 times, from US$1.9 billion in 1997 to US$26 billion by 2002. The same report shows the businessto-business segment increasing to $US268 billion by the year 2002, from $USS.6 billion in 1997 and $US16 billion in 1998.

The Government of Canada now has a policy of adopting electronic commerce as the preferred method of doing business and is fast becoming a role model for the private sector.

In the business-to-consumer segment StatsCanada has made on-line statistics and publications available. Users select what they wish to purchase, give their credit card number over a secure link and then download the desired document. It's easy, instant, available 24 hours a day and light years ahead of using Canada Post or lining up at a federal office.

In the business-to-business realm, the Government of Canada launched MERX in October of 1997.

MERX is an electronic tendering service designed to increase competition and provide a level playing field for businesses competing for procurement opportunities within the federal and provincial governments of Canada.

It allows public sector organizations to post and advertise their procurement opportunities to the 30,000-plus suppliers registered on the service.

The supplier community also accesses MERX's Web site to search and order the relevant documents for the opportunities as well as registering to automatically receive notification of new bids.

An important task for governments is creating the legal framework to provide reliability and security for e-commerce.

In April, the Monetary Authority of Singapore announced proposals for an Electronic Transactions law (to be approved this year) that would include a commercial code for electronic transactions and cover regulatory and enforcement issues, such as how a contract can be formed electronically.

The Canadian government is not only assessing the same needs, but is actively involved in working with other governments through the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) and other agencies to ensure that Canada is in step with what the rest of the world is adopting.

This October, Canada will host the OECD's conference A Borderless World: Realizing the Potential of Electronic Commerce in Ottawa.

In these times of large government cutbacks, the adoption of electronic commerce means that more can be done with less.

This results in freeing up workers' time to focus on other essential aspects of running the country.

By Robert Story

The author is senior consultant of electronic commerce at Toronto-based UUNET Canada.

Copyright Plesman Publications Ltd. Aug 1998
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