E-competency = Mindset change
"E-competency is... a problem of a change in mentality, a change
in policies. I would say even a cultural change. It is not
something that you can import, that you can buy and get installed.
It involves many different elements in the way not only the private
sector but also the public sector does business."
Rubens Ricupero, Secretary-General, UNCTAD, Geneva
A business strategist's view: It's not about
technology
"We are moving from a networked society, which we have in many
places, to a global electronic marketplace. This transition will be
driven by technology, and our societies will need to adapt our
institutions to this speed.
"The problem is one of knowledge, of understanding, and only
then of lack of finance and public-private partnership, whatever
that partnership should be. The first thing we have to do is
convince governments - persuade them, train them, scare them
perhaps - that it is in their interest to do something to catch up
with this world.
"You need to sit down and examine what you are good at - what
your core competencies are, where you can leverage your skills. In
business or in government, you start with leadership and vision,
then move into your core competencies. Then you take up governance
issues: who is in charge of the process? You next look at
technology. Afterwards you get back to basics and concentrate on
your e-commerce strategy, web site and online strategies. But only
once you have answered the other questions.
"I truly believe that anyone can participate in the new digital
economy - so long as they understand that the most important skill
and the most important environment is one that promotes creativity,
entepreneurship, imagination and awareness of where the world is
going. It is not about technology tools."
Vadim Levitin, Chief Operating Officer, e-Commerce
Institute, San Diego, California (interview summary)
E-trade law
"E-trade strikingly reflects one of the great paradoxes of our
times. It is essentially 'borderless', but there is no borderless
commercial law; it is essentially international, but international
trade law, strictly speaking, does not exist. Therefore, law-makers
in each country are bound to contribute to framing a mosaic
consisting of some 167 different national laws for one global
phenomenon."
Jean-François Bourque, ITC, Geneva
"Because of the speed of technological change and the
essentially international scope of the subject, e-trade in various
ways defies governance by any single national entity. Therefore, a
body of laws promulgated by countries insisting on working in
isolation will very likely be incoherent."
Toby C. Monsod, Assistant Secretary, Department of Trade and
Industry, Manila, Philippines
Civil society
"For me, the most important thing is for the government to bring
in civil society to achieve consensus on how to introduce
e-competency into society. If not, any education, any
infrastructure - anything we do - is not going to work. Priority
must be given to establishing a national market for e-health,
e-education, e-commerce. Only once we have a national market, can
we talk about e-trade."
José Soriano, CEO, Red Científica Peruana, San Isidro,
Peru
Access in Nepal
"In comparison to snail-pace development in most sectors, Nepal
has developed remarkably within a very short span of time in the
field of information technology. Nine ISPs are already operational.
This has resulted in cut-throat competition and a drastic fall in
the price of the Internet. The Internet has now become accessible
to the general populace which has opened the market for
e-commerce."
Vikrant Bhusal, Assistant Manager, Worldlink Communications,
Kathmandu, Nepal
"E" is a "means to an end" business
"E-commerce is first about 'commerce'. This is the end. The 'e'
is simply the means. Success will be determined by how well the
firm applies the potential efficiencies of 'e' to its commercial
operations."
Carlos Vera Quintana, Executive President, Corporación
Ecuatoriana de Comercio Electrónico, Quito, Ecuador
E-commerce (or lack thereof) in Zambia
"We face an uphill battle in getting the message across to the
key decision-makers who have not yet grasped that information
technology and e-commerce are economic enablers that will provide
the business advantage and capability for local companies to
compete - or even just survive - in the global marketplace."
Daniel Mpolokoso (daniel@zamnet.zm), Managing
Director, ZAMNET Communication System, Ltd, Zambia
Brain drain as an export service
"We are very worried in Nigeria about what we call the brain
drain. So far as I am concerned, the brain drain is nothing more
than a service export. We should be looking for what I think ITC
can do for us - help reorient our thoughts, to learn to accept that
Nigeria has a high services export potential that she is wrongly
calling a brain drain, so that we can help redirect the thinking of
policy-makers."
Femi Boyede, CEO, Koinonia Ventures Ltd, Lagos,
Nigeria
"We consider the brain drain that took place from India as
actually a "brain gain" - the software engineers who went out to
the United States or Europe were the contact points for getting
business, they are the people who came back and set up the
companies and created the US$ 6 billion software export
business."
Alwyn Didar Singh, e-commerce specialist, Chandigarh,
India
Meet customers "where they are", even if it is not at
the cutting edge
"While studying Brazilian e-commerce last year, I found a
serious mismatch between web site design and end-user capabilities.
While many promotional and direct sales sites were beautifully and
elaborately designed, most end-users in Brazil (even in the
ultra-connected United States, for that matter) were unlikely to
possess the connections needed to download the pages in a
reasonable amount of time.
"The gap between the skills/technology available to web site
designers and those available to end-users highlights a frequently
neglected area of e-commerce: meeting potential customers where
they are, even if that is not on the cutting edge."
John Dunn Smith, Inter-American Development Bank