Accelerating electronic commerce in Europe
A publication describing the project groups in the field of electronic commerce, funded within the EU's Fourth RTD Framework Programme, has recently been published. This is in order to accelerate the application of the results of the various projects undertaken and to help the participants and end-users benefit from the research. The publication will also provide valuable input into future electronic commerce research undertaken within the next RTD Framework Programme. The introduction to the publication provides information on the impact of electronic commerce and the aims, methods and objectives of RTD in this field. An overview of the new approach adopted within the Fifth Framework Programme under the Information Societies programme, and in particular the key action "New methods of work and electronic commerce", is also provided. This action builds upon the assets of the projects described in the publication and is proposed to address issues such as information security, management systems for suppliers and consumers, as well as flexible, mobile and remote working methods and tools. The publication contains the following sections: - Overview of electronic commerce projects by industry sector: retail, textiles and tourism; - Electronic commerce in business process management: virtual organisations, collaboration platforms and trading systems, transaction management, negotiation and brokerage; - Components of electronic commerce: financial systems, trust and confidence, intelligent agents and intellectual property rights; - Techno-legal issues in electronic commerce; - Awareness issues in electronic commerce; - Other projects.