Trials in the Domain of Electronic Commerce
Main Objective
The emergence and integration of multimedia, security and advanced communication technologies means that practically all of the "enabling services" of open Electronic Commerce (EC) are becoming available. To demonstrate this trend, TRADE aims to:
- integrate, test and operate secure multimedia EC platforms for residential and business users by means of trials over broad band extensions of the Internet. These will use, as far as possible, existing or emerging technologies and products based on open standards;
- experiment with and provide security mechanisms suited for access to EC services, which offer secure processing of electronic payment transactions based on consolidated and emerging standards;
- create awareness on the project and its trials, and to promote a wider uptake of EC in Europe.
Technical Approach
TRADE is strongly oriented towards field trials focused on the business-to-business (B-B) and business-to-consumer (B-C) EC scenarios. Medium scale user trials are planned, using trial islands in Italy and Spain. TRADE will:
- develop/integrate fully functional, Internet-based EC service platforms (PC- and Set Top Box-based) for B-B and B-C applications;
- develop and operate real public trials of EC applications in the market sectors of entertainment, fashion, and administrative and legal consulting services. The applications will address the B-C and B-B value-chains and close the loop with business intermediaries (banking and credit organisations);
- integrate, within the EC platforms, broadband multimedia capabilities such as real-time high-quality WEB-based video-telephony and video-conferencing;
- integrate, within a broadband Internet platform, heterogeneous access technologies, such as BRI and PRI N-ISDN, to provide a suitable networking test-bed for demonstrating the feasibility of seamless evolution of EC applications from POTS to ATM (STM1- or ADSL-based) accesses;
- investigate, integrate and evaluate major security components enabling confident transactions. These include authentication and access control through Trusted Third Parties, tunnelling of private traffic over the Internet, inter-operation with secure processing of payment transactions and alternative payment approaches tailored to the peculiarities of European consumers;
- assess the validity of the technical solutions and measure users' satisfaction by field trials involving all the relevant EC actors;
- promote awareness of the project's results by means of workshops in different countries to accelerate the acceptance of EC by European SMEs;
- analyse the main legal constraints to EC in Europe and outline guidelines for the harmonisation of EC legislation;
- provide feedback to standardisation bodies.
Summary of Trial
TRADE will operate two trials in Italy and Spain with multiple EC applications in the following market sectors:
- reservation and sales of tickets for entertainment events (B-C and B-B),
- co-operative working in the fashion sector (B-B),
- provision of legal and administrative services (B-C and B-B).
The trials in Italy and Spain use the facilities of the respective National Hosts. These will be interconnected through the Pan European ATM Network, if available.
Based on the initial trial results, TRADE will assess the technical solutions and user acceptance to guide the planning of the subsequent trials.
Key Issues
- integration of EC platforms with broadband multimedia capabilities to support more effective user interfaces;
- ADSL- and ISDN-based access to broadband extensions of the Internet;
- extensive involvement of users in all design, deployment and operations phases of the project (user requirement specifications, EC applications trials, assessment of system and service acceptance);
- customer-transparent, interoperable security solutions for electronic trading and payment, protection of consumers' interests (anonymity), secure business-to-business deployment (tunnelling);
- dissemination of information and guidance to users and businesses (SMEs especially) on the use and deployment of EC;
- analysis of the legal and regulatory aspects for EC introduction.
Expected Achievements
By operating real trials in different market sectors, TRADE will collect evidence on appropriate technological solutions for Electronic Commerce and on users' requirements and acceptance. These results will be publicised through technical solution descriptions, organisation of workshops and participation in international conferences. This will contribute to:
- the dissemination and uptake of EC applications in Europe,
- the development of best practices for EC in the addressed market sectors,
- the stimulation of a European demand for broad-band networking services to support multimedia EC applications.
In addition, many of the TRADE partners expect to exploit project results in commercial EC projects.
Expected Impact
European small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in specialised manufacturing sectors and service companies are suffering from a global economy that is increasingly competitive and dominated by large firms.
Electronic Commerce and the new multimedia, communication and information technologies offer SMEs powerful tools for running their businesses more competitively. These allow them to overcome their limited geographical coverage and language limitations and to eliminate several steps of their value chain, thereby cutting costs and enhancing efficiency.
TRADE's trial-oriented approach and focus on advanced EC services and technologies targeted specifically at SMEs should increase awareness of the potential of EC services in Europe. It should also act as a catalyst for advanced EC application in selected market segments.
| I |
COSI |
| I |
Biglietto Elettronico |
| E |
Bufete Jaime Delgado Fernandez |
| I |
CARIDATA |
| I |
Forum per la Tecnologia dell'Informazione |
| E |
Institut de Suport a l'Empresa |
| I |
ITALTEL |
| E |
Logic Control |
| I |
McCann Erickson Italiana |
| DK |
NCR Danmark |
| F |
Thomson CSF Communications |
| E |
Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya |
| B |
Université Catholique de Louvain |
Ettore Paolillo
COSI srl
Bastioni di Porta Volta, 13
I-20121 Milano
Italy
Tel: +39 02 655 1036
Fax: +39 02 655 1259
E-mail: paolillo@cosi.it
