Preface

This book follows from many contacts we had with those operating in the frontiers of new Internet technologies for the Information Society. We invited them to describe their work and explain its significance. We hoped that their ideas, aims, progress and experience would inspire others to take on the new technologies in order to improve their business or to initiate their own researches in this area. We believe that managers of businesses and organisations would benefit from learning about the coming technologies and the attitudes of those that are uncovering them. It may not be enough to determine what the Internet revolution means for the business but to ask if there are any opportunities to offer services and products in this area.

 

We have selected over 170 contributions that provide a cross section of objectives and experiences. For the convenience of the reader, the papers are categorised into nineteen sections; not easy as many of the papers could qualify for more than one section. The large response required two volumes; the main distinction being that the first deals more with the human factors and those affecting people and organisations: management, work, learning, legal issues and trust. The second volume covers the more impersonal aspects by looking at the business factors of the supply chain, the emerging technologies such as mobility and knowledge management and the increasing number of industrial applications.

 

In addition, we sought strategic wisdom from some leading companies that are making money out of the new technologies. We are grateful that Cisco, Canon, Telecom Italia, IBM and Buyonet responded to our challenge along with a Professor from the USA and a Director, of the European Commission. Their contributions open this book.

 

In this first section, both Robert Lloyd of Cisco and Roberto Saracco of Telecom Italia acknowledge that Internet has suffered from the recent bursting of the dotcom bubble but are confident that this was only a temporary set back. Robert Lloyd describes five stages that an organisation should go through in making e-Business progress and Roberto Saracco's penetrating and light-hearted commentary eventually forecasts success for those that take the right approach. Three examples of the right way to succeed confirm the reader's confidence. Stefan Pillotti claims that Canon could not be achieving a successful corporate change without using e-business as the driver, which has given them many extra benefits. Simon Dyson tells how IBM is applying mobility for its own employees to provide constant access and improved services. Buyonet is an example of a successful and lasting dotcom and Freddy Tengberg's paper has some important lessons from its recognition and positive attitude to the problems of selling on line. Thomas Gulledge of George Mason University has a first hand example of international cooperation in transferring complex e-Business technologies to Asia through the setting up of a Demonstration Laboratory in Taiwan. Rosalie Zobel tells how the European Commission is supporting research projects and formulating its plans for future help.

 

Once again we thank the European Commission for its help, support and encouragement in compiling this book. We are particularly grateful to Key Action 2: New Working Methods and Electronic Commerce.

Brian Stanford-Smith
Enrica Chiozza