Electronic Commerce Centres

This page identifies Centres which provide some form of assistance in relation to Electronic Commerce. The concept of a 'Centre' is intended to refer to organisations that provide services, resources and/or co-ordination in an at least partly community-service and collaborative manner rather than on an entirely profit-motivated and competitive basis. To avoid omitting organisations of relevance, however, this working definition has been interpreted liberally.

There are many ways in which EC Centres can be classified. One that is particularly useful is according to the nature of the organisation driving the operation. Many Centres actually involve multiple organisations, and hence the classification scheme used below is imperfect:

• Centres with a Government as Driver, including as a special case, Centres by Government for Government
• Centres with an Industry Association or Consortium as Driver
• Centres with a University as Driver
• Centres with a For-Profit Corporation as Driver

Particularly important Centres are marked with three asterisks: '***'

Centres with a Government as Driver

• *** The U.S. Electronic Commerce Resource Center Program (ECRC). "ECRC is driven by the Department of Defence (DoD). The mission of the ECRC Program is to promote awareness and implementation of Electronic Commerce and related technologies into the U.S. integrated civil-military industrial base. This will help manufacturers improve their competitive posture in global markets and strengthen the U.S. integrated civil-military industrial base. The ECRC 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 exchanging 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"
• US Government Federal EDI Home Page. "This site contains their architecture document, vendor registration, Federal IC's for comment and IC's already completed, an Acrobat reader, and an ability to contact NIST"
• US Small Business Administration Electronic Commerce/Electronic Data Interchange Pages. "Looks at EDI/EC information and fact sheets, a guide to EDI translation software, and a guide to other EDI/EC resources on the Internet"
• *** UNCTAD TradePoints. "Trade Points are designed to support and foster efforts made in many sectors (government, enterprise) to stimulate the trade competitiveness and trade efficiency of national economies ... Interconnection of Trade Points constitutes the core objective of the second phase of the Trade Point Programme. Such interconnection will allow Trade Points and their users (especially small and medium-sized enterprises) to access competitive trade-related information services worldwide, and to enhance the efficiency with which they trade with each other. A Trade Point is the result of the combination of three elements, namely:
  • A centre for facilitating trade, where services and/or advice are given by participants in foreign trade transactions (e.g. Customs, foreign trade institutes, Chambers of Commerce, freight forwarders, transport companies, banks, insurance companies, etc.). These participants are grouped together under one roof or linked virtually (via telecommunications).
  • A source of pre-transaction trade-related information which provides actual and potential traders with data about business and market opportunities, potential clients and suppliers, trade regulations and requirements, etc.
  • A gateway to global networking. All trade points will be interconnected in a worldwide electronic network, and equipped with efficient telecommunication tools to link up with other global networks".
• UNCTAD TradePoint activities comprise:
  • Creation of Trade Points
  • Creation of the TP information base
  • GTPNet backbone interconnection
  • Last mile connection
  • Ultimate link
• a U.K. initiative originally dubbed the Information Society Initiative (ISI) is now called UK online for business, and designed "to help UK small businesses exploit the business benefits of Information Communication Technologies (ICT) - a major driver of competitiveness"
• The EDI Awareness Centre for Wales. "The Centre was established to provide information, advice and assistance to the Welsh business community to make adopting EDI and Electronic Commerce as smooth, cost effective and advantageous as possible". Its functions are:
  • publication of the quarterly 'EDI Aware' magazine
  • awareness seminars
  • industry seminars, designed to provide a more detailed insight into the impact of EDI and electronic Commerce in your particular sector
  • company workshops and implementation support
  • information service, including a specialist library
• Australian Government Electronic Marketplace Service (GEMS). "GEMS provides information for suppliers and buyers about business opportunities and guidance on how to do business with Government"
• The Victorian Government's Multimedia Centre (eMerge) at The Tea House in Melbourne

Centres by Government for Government

• The US DoD Electronic Commerce Office Home Page. "A large amount of information about EDI and EC, with pointers to many other pages"
• Department of Defense (DOD) Electronic Commerce/Electronic Data Interchange (EC/EDI) Standards. "The Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) is responsible for maintaining Department of Defense (DOD) information technology standards and conventions. Within DISA, the Center for Standards, part of the Joint Interoperability and Engineering Organization, is the designated configuration manager for DoD Electronic Commerce/Electronic Data Interchange (EC/EDI) standards"
• Australian Defence Force CALS Information Server. "The Australian Defence Force CALS Information Server, which has been established to provide a service to those involved in the Defence Materiel acquisition process, both within the ADF organisation and industry. The aim is to provide a focal point for information dissemination and sharing for the CALS philosophy"
• Purchasing Australia's Electronic Commerce Office. "ECO is facilitating the implementation of electronic commerce in Australian Commonwealth Government purchasing".

Centres with an Industry Association or Consortium as Driver

• Electronic Commerce World Institute. "A consolidated international source of information and resources on electronic data interchange and electronic commerce, including: publications, case studies, news, events, products and services, Internet resources, a 'virtual exhibition hall', and directories of EDI/EC organizations around the world. There is a beginner's corner with a Road Map to EDI as well as information on the Electronic Commerce World Institute and its members"
• *** Commercenet. "CommerceNet is the leading industry consortium, dedicated to accelerating the growth of Internet commerce and creating business opportunities for our members. CommerceNet pioneered Internet Commerce by legitimizing the Internet as a place for business, developing key elements of the infrastructure such as security and payment, and fielding pilot demonstrations". Its functions are:
  • Advocacy - promoting a legal and regulatory environment that fosters global commerce, by engaging businesses and governments in a constructive dialog on issues such as trade, tariffs, taxation, privacy, and copyrights etc.
  • Business Outreach - providing business decision makers with real-time knowledge to assist them in developing their Internet Commerce strategies, through executive briefings, seminars, conferences and consulting services
  • Vertical Industry Solutions - jump-starting key IMarkets by linking communities of interest involved in vertical market segments such as, financial or health care services, manufacturing supply chains, or retail inventory management
  • Ecommerce Infrastructure - (Ecosystem) - defining an open architecture and populating it with interoperable network and Ecommerce services from multiple vendors that enhance the basic reliability, performance and security of the net, and provide essential services such as payments, directories, EDI
• This translates into the following CommerceNet activities:
  • Market Development ("Influence the future and make your piece count"):
    • Industry pilots
    • Advocacy and Public Policy Committee
    • Technology/Solution showcases, in particular the Secure Electronic Commerce Technology Showcase (SECTS)
  • Business Development ("Plug into a highly targeted network of potential customers and partners"):
    • CommerceNet members
    • Global Affiliates and Chapters
  • Market Intelligence ("Develop and validate your Internet Commerce strategies"):
    • Executive Briefings
    • Market Research reports
  • Co-marketing ("Leverage the CommerceNet global brand as part of your marketing activities"):
    • Press Releases
    • Trade-shows
    • Mailing lists
    • Co-branding/ advertising
  • Education ("Bring real-time, Internet commerce knowledge to your company"):
    • Special Interest Group Forums
    • White papers/ Pilot studies (abstracts-only are 'free-to-air)
    • Conference, seminars and workshops, incl. CommerceNet'96 (15-17 October 1996), which accepts non-member registrations
• The primary activities of CommerceNet Japan are:
  • "To hold the joint workshops with CommerceNet, exchanging the latest information on electronic commerce, providing opportunities to promote the electronic commerce activities in Japan and the U.S., participating in exhibitions and/or holding symposia jointly with CommerceNet, and making joint announcements and/or proposals of the investigation results;
  • "To create the international positive experiments and/or investigation projects, advancing the partnership among electronic commerce groups in Japan and the U.S., advancing the partnership among companies conducting electronic commerce businesses in Japan and the U.S., solving the common problems to advance electronic commerce in Japan, promoting collaboration for positive experiments and/or investigation projects between Japan and the U.S., and establishing a common platform for advancing electronic commerce in Japan and the U.S.; and
  • "To provide the information by WWW servers on Internet, providing the output information of CommerceNet, the output information of CommerceNet Japan, the opportunities for information exchange to the members, publishing the news letters, and providing information to the public.
• *** World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). "The W3C is an industry consortium which seeks to promote standards for the evolution of the Web and interoperability between WWW products by producing specifications and reference software. Although W3C is funded by industrial members, it is vendor-neutral, and its products are freely available to all"
• "CommerceNet and the W3 Consortium jointly initiated in December 1995 a multi-industry project to develop an Internet payment negotiation protocol [which is to work directly between browser and server, without the direct involvement of any third party such as a bank]. The project will deliver a working demonstration of payment method selection (e.g. credit or debit card, electronic check, or micropayment) in the Internet transaction environment"
• Center for Electronic Commerce - (CEC). "Solutions for Business Partners to improve supply chain integration from the Industrial Technology Institute, Ann Arbor, Michigan. The CEC develops, tests and pilots integration methods and tools for best practice in order to assure successful integration of supply chains"
• International Standards Organisation. "The mission of ISO is to promote the development of standardization and related activities in the world with a view to facilitating the international exchange of goods and services, and to developing cooperation in the spheres of intellectual, scientific, technological and economic activity.". Of particular relevance is its Strategies for the integration and development of standards for the Global Information Infrastructure (GII)
• American National Standards Institute. "This site has been designed to provide the Institute's members and customers with convenient access to information on the ANSI Federation and the latest national and international standards-related activities. ANSI Online also offers links to a number of our member's web sites and to other key national and international organizations". Of particular relevance is the Information Infrastructure Standards Panel
• EAN International. "EAN International standards are a global tool for improving Business Efficiency whatever the country, sector or size of the company concerned. They comprise:
  • a system for the identification of products, services, utilities, transport units and locations;
  • standard bar codes to represent information which can be easily read by scanners;
  • a system for representing supplementary information (batch number, date, measurement, etc.);
  • a set of messages for Electronic Data Interchange transactions (EDI)".
• The Electronic Commerce Association (ECA - UK). The Association "aims to encourage improvements in industrial, commercial and governmental efficiency by offering guidance and practical solutions to enable organisations make the most effective use of Electronic Commerce". Its functions are:
  • Influence
  • Representation
  • Facilitation
  • Support
  • Promotion
• The EDI Institute of Quebec. "The EDI Institute's mission is to promote and accelerate the use of electronic data interchange in Quebec". It offers:
  • an awareness program;
  • a training program;
  • an implementation assistance program;
  • a concertation and research program;
  • an anlalysis and research program;
  • a reference and information service.
• Electronic Commerce Australia. "ECA is Australia's recognized leader for the promotion and coordination of electronic commerce with over 500 members". Its function are:
  • Information, Advice and Training on all aspects of Electronic Commerce through newsletters, journals, publications, seminars conferences and consulting services
  • Provision of opportunities for members to Network with practitioners of Electronic Commerce in discussion groups
  • The bringing together of business partners and suppliers, to achieve the most efficient Electronic Commerce implementation
  • Advocacy to government to ensure legislation does not inhibit efficient business practices through Electronic Commerce
• EAN Australia. "EAN Australia (formally known as the Australia Product Number Association) is a not-for-profit trade association established by industry to administer the EAN numbering and barcoding system of item identification in Australia". Its functions are:
  • Technical Support
  • Introductory Workshops
  • External Advisory Service
  • Bar Code Symbol Testing
  • The EANWORKS Supply Chain Model, "a permanent educational display demonstrating the benefits of the three key enabling technologies which support management of the supply chain, from raw materials to the consumer", located in Melbourne
  • Product Catalogue
  • Product Dimensions Measuring
  • Scanstore Register
  • Information Videos and Brochures
  • Product Imaging

Centres with a University as Driver

• The BT Electronic Commerce Innovation Centre (in the Department of Maritime Studies and International Transport at the University of Wales, Cardiff). "They conduct research and development based activities in EDI, Electronic Commerce and the Internet. In addition to message design activities, the Centre has been involved in the development of standards relating to interactive EDI and X.435 Message Handling Systems, multi-sectorial EDI strategy and implementation studies in addition to the management of several projects in the transport sector". The Centre's functions are to:
  • support and encourage all sectors in their use of Electronic Commerce as well as new and existing users of Electronic Data Interchange (EDI).
  • help the business community adopt and become more aware of modern electronic trading practices. It offers Short Courses both in the UK and overseas as well as Consultancy Services and EDI Clinics for small businesses in South Wales.
  • explain the benefits of EDI and Electronic Commerce through projects such as the Cost Benefit Analysis for EDI in the Shipping Industry
  • encourage students to research, understand and use EDI and Electronic Commerce. It has established an Electronic Commerce Bursary and it undertaking a project to raise the awareness level of the new generation of business professionals leaving Universities;
  • provide access to interesting papers and invited articles
• Competence Center Electronic Markets (CC EM), St Gallen, Switzerland. "CC EM is a research project that was established to study the development of new forms of electronic coordination and in particular the impact electronic markets would have on the strategic positioning of firms and the interorganizational process and network redesign"
• Models for Open Electronic Commerce (Moneco), at Erasmus University in Rotterdam. "The Moneco research area studies Models for Open Electronic Commerce, comprising electronic shopping, electronic markets, and electronic contracting. The scope of applications includes opportunity finding (matching potential buyers and sellers), support of contract negotiation, and monitoring and control of contract execution. The practical objectives of this research are the reduction of red tape and other transaction costs, while providing contracting parties with the ability to apply effective controls on contract performance".
• Monash University Centre for Electronic Commerce. "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 services. The Centre is a unique electronic commerce services organisation in that it combines the strengths of industry professionals with the academic infrastructure of a top band university"
• Center for the Study of Electronic Commerce, at the University of Denver. 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 practical value to collaborating companies and/or governmental bodies".
• Vanderbilt's Research Program in Marketing in Computer-Mediated Environments. "Project 2000 is a five-year sponsored research effort devoted to the scholarly and rigorous investigation of the marketing implications of commercializing hypermedia computer-mediated environments (CMEs) like the World Wide Web and other emerging electronic environments. Project 2000 research objectives are to enrich and stimulate the knowledge base on the role of marketing in new media environments, provide a principal point for the discussion and exchange of these ideas, and impact business practice in this emerging area. Current Research Projects include modeling consumer response to advertising in advertiser-supported content environments, modeling consumer search and purchase behavior in online storefronts, categorizing commercial scenarios on the Web, developing standardized measurement methodologies that relate Web site "hits" to consumer response, survey research (supported by CommerceNet) that measures who and how many use the Internet and why"
• Centre for International Research on Communication and Information Technologies (CIRCIT). CIRCIT is "an independent research centre established to examine the implications of widespread applications of information and communications technologies for the contemporary economy and society".
• The La Trobe University Online Media Program (TelOZ). TelOZ "provides information about Australian social and policy research in the area of telecommunications"

Centres with a For-Profit Corporation as Driver

• *** The Premenos Electronic Commerce Resource Guide. "Discover the events, people, organizations, publications and other resources that exist to support EDI users. Premenos software is setting the electronic commerce agenda worldwide. These pages describe the company, its products, services, and financial information"
• Year X Electronic Commerce Information Resource. "Contains news, association news, case studies, views, events, new products and demonstration software, and a directory"
• IndustryNET. "IndustryNET was established in 1991 to provide electronic methods to automate the buying and selling process for industry. IndustryNet has several products and services including: 1. IndustryNet Report, 2. The IndustryNet On-line Marketplace, 3. The IndustryNet Regional Buying Guide (A computer-based industrial buying guide), and 4. The IndustryNet Continuing Education Group"
• Andersen Consuting's Da Vinci displays for the retail trade

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Created: 11 September 1996

Last Amended: 27 November 1996, modification to ISI on 30 January 2001

These community service pages are a joint offering of the Australian National University (which provides the infrastructure), and Roger Clarke (who provides the content).