Objective
Main Objective
The emergence and integration of multimedia, security and advanced communication technologies means that practically all of the "enabling services" of open Elec tronic Commerce (EC) are becoming available. To demonstrate this trend, TRADE ai ms to:
-integrate, test and operate secure multimedia EC platforms for residential and business users by means of trials over broad band extensions of the Interne t. These will use, as far as possible, existing or emerging technologies and pro ducts based on open standards;
-experiment with and provide security mechanisms suited for access to EC se rvices, which offer secure processing of electronic payment transactions based o n consolidated and emerging standards;
-create awareness on the project and its trials, and to promote a wider upt ake of EC in Europe.
Technical Approach
TRADE is strongly oriented towards field trials focused on the business-to-busin ess (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 (P C- and Set Top Box-based) for B-B and B-C applications;
-develop and operate real public trials of EC applications in the market se ctors of entertainment, fashion, and administrative and legal consulting service s. 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 tech nologies, 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 con fident transactions. These include authentication and access control through Tru sted Third Parties, tunnelling of private traffic over the Internet, inter-opera tion with secure processing of payment transactions and alternative payment appr oaches tailored to the peculiarities of European consumers;
-assess the validity of the technical solutions and measure users' satisfac tion by field trials involving all the relevant EC actors;
-promote awareness of the project's results by means of workshops in differ ent 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 i n 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 Host s. These will be interconnected through the Pan European ATM Network, if availab le. Based on the initial trial results, TRADE will assess the technical solutions an d user acceptance to guide the planning of the subsequent trials.
Expected Achievements
By operating real trials in different market sectors, TRADE will collect evidenc e on appropriate technological solutions for Electronic Commerce and on users' r equirements and acceptance. These results will be publicised through technical s olution descriptions, organisation of workshops and participation in internation al 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 com mercial 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 increa singly competitive and dominated by large firms. Electronic Commerce and the new multimedia, communication and information techno logies 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 technologi es targeted specifically at SMEs should increase awareness of the potential of E C services in Europe. It should also act as a catalyst for advanced EC applicati on in selected market segments.
Main contributions to the programme objectives:
Main deliverables
System allowing handling and management of a completely automatic service for the sales of tickets for entertainment events over conventional and broadband extensions of the Internet. The system supports all front-office functions as well as all back-office functions.
Contribution to the programme
The system developed in the TRADE project allows an efficient and effective approach to sales. It contributes to the introduction of e-commerce services for the citizen.
Key Issues
-integration of EC platforms with broadband multimedia capabilities to supp ort 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 ph ases of the project (user requirement specifications, EC applications trials, as sessment of system and service acceptance);
-customer-transparent, interoperable security solutions for electronic trad ing and payment, protection of consumers' interests (anonymity), secure business -to-business deployment (tunnelling);
-dissemination of information and guidance to users and businesses (SMEs es pecially) on the use and deployment of EC;
-analysis of the legal and regulatory aspects for EC introduction.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques.
- natural sciencescomputer and information sciencescomputer securityaccess control
- natural sciencescomputer and information sciencesinternet
- social scienceseconomics and businessbusiness and managementcommercee-commerce
- natural scienceschemical sciencescatalysis
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Topic(s)
Call for proposal
Data not availableFunding Scheme
CSC - Cost-sharing contractsCoordinator
I-20121 Milanoo
Italy