Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
Australian Report On Progress Towards the Paperless Trading GoalsIn APEC¡¦s Blueprint for Action on Electronic Commerce
a paradigm shift from a voice circuit switched based technology to data IP based technology, which is changing the economics of communications services.
The discussion paper and other documentation may be obtained from the What's New section of the Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts Website www.dcita.gov.au .
User Confidence
One of the main barriers to paperless trading is user confidence reflected mainly in concerns surrounding the security and authenticity of online transactions. While these issues are being addressed, there are concerns that solutions to security and authentication issues developed in different jurisdictions and industry sectors may result in obstacles to e-commerce in general and paperless trading in particular. While the administrative environment in Australia is being developed with this in mind, there are concerns about interoperability when trading with other economies.
Financial and Banking environment
Electronic payment systems
Difficulties are still being experienced in developing an EDI payment system that will be taken up by all banks. Banks still rely on paper documents and unless there are electronic letter of credit facilities commercial transactions will continue to be impaired. The electronic payment system requires a global solution in order to assist local banks in making decisions as most are dependent on overseas banks or their headquarters. Australian industry is currently monitoring commercial initiatives such as the CCEWEB (www.ccex.org ) which is owned by a Canadian company. CCEWEB has developed an international secure payment and trade management system with products such as Letter of Credit Card, Documentary Clearance Centre and Electronic Bank Reference Form. The CCEWEB has been successful in Canada and the US and has the potential to be a global solution.
Business uptake
Cost of implementing E-Commerce
Cost has frequently been quoted (mainly by SMEs) as a major obstacle to the take up of e-commerce. This factor appears to relate mainly to the cost of traditional electronic data interchange (EDI) using Value Added Networks. However, the move to open standards and systems based on the internet has led to simpler and cheaper forms of EDI. This reinforces the importance of governments encouraging the use of open standards and systems in preference to proprietary systems.
Also, there are now facilities that can link EDI users with parties wishing to use less costly Internet web type solutions. Making potential users aware of these facilities is one of the major challenges to be addressed.
Understanding of E-Commerce
The biggest barrier to e-commerce applications is understanding what it means and what benefits it can create. Any initiatives need to focus on this aspect. Seminars on e-commerce have frequently been found to be too technical and too long for the smaller operators in the trade and transport sector. It is important that presentations focus on the benefits that can be gained through e-commerce and be designed for the particular audience in mind. It will also be important to determine strategic alliances amongst players in industry and foster proactive development of common systems for e-commerce.
Time
Time to implement e-commerce has been quoted as a barrier by small enterprises. It is therefore important to [next page]