Week 1 questions - Introduction to Ebusiness

1) Internet risks – give examples of four things that can go wrong with a transactional site?

• Security - Without the proper security software, it can be easy for a third party to access the account details of a person making a transaction using there credit card over the internet.
• Accessibility - Although not as common today, there are still large proportions of the community who do not have access to the internet or do not feel safe when using the internet to make a purchase. These people still prefer face to face shopping.
• Down time - Relative to the size of the website very minute the site is down it can be loosing enormous amounts of money. This can lead to costumers using competitor sites to make there purchase or not using other means like retail. For smaller sites most people are not regular visitors, so this can be very costly to the business.
• Marketing/advertising – Due to the over whelming number of transactional sites on the internet today, it can be very hard to reach your intended market. Without the right marketing and advertising the business will see next to no success. Many companies today use there entire advertising budget on the internet. This is due to the internet having such a large number of users Worldwide.

2) Write down a definition for each:

a) E-commerce: is when buying and selling items electronically. Any business done over the internet.
b) E-business: is business that is done over the internet. It involves at least two people in electronic trading.
3) What is the difference between buy side and sell side eCommerce?
Buy side eCommerce is transactions made from an organization to its suppliers. Sell side is an organization selling products to its customers
4) Describe the different types of eBusiness
B2B (business to business): Business communications with other businesses such as the placement of purchase orders with your supplier.
B2C (business to consumer: Business communications with your consumers such as a regular newsletter or sale completed via your website.
B2G (business to government): Business communications with Government departments such as online taxation lodgement.

5) Which digital technology has the highest penetration rate? Explain and source your answer.

By the end of last year there were an estimated 4.1 billion subscriptions globally, compared with about 1 billion in 2002, the International Telecommunication Union said. Internet use more than doubled. An estimated 23 percent of people on the planet used the Internet last year, up from 11 percent in 2002.
http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-technology/worlds-poor-drive-growth-in-global-cell-phone-use-20090302-8mcd.html

6) List: Four drivers to adoption of sell-side e-commerce by business.
- Increasing speed with which supplies can be obtained.
- Increasing speed in which goods can be dispatched.
- Reduced sales and purchasing costs.
- Reduced operating costs
Topic 1 Introduction to eBusiness

7) Four barriers to adoption of sell-side e-commerce by business.
- Set-up costs
- Running costs
- Lack of time/resources
- Lack of skills (staff)
Topic 1 Introduction to eBusiness

8) How might a restaurant in Sturt Street Ballarat benefit from an online presence?
- Gives the customer contact information, E.g. telephone, email, business address.
- Ability to show the customer your menu, ‘special’ nights, up coming events, or just the type of restaurant you are and the atmosphere you offer.
- If a customer wants to find somewhere new to dine at in Ballarat, your restaurant would then come up in a search engine.


9) What are some examples of Digital information??
Mobile phones, compact disc, digital video, digital television, e-book, internet.

10) What is the semantic web? Are we there yet?

The Semantic Web provides a common framework that allows data to be shared and reused across application, enterprise, and community boundaries. It is a collaborative effort led by W3C with participation from a large number of researchers and industrial partners. It is based on the Resource Description Framework (RDF), which integrates a variety of applications using XML for syntax and URIs for naming. A concept proposed by World Wide Web inventor Tim Berners-Lee. http://www.uen.org/core/edtech/glossary.shtml#S

The Semantic Web already works, and people are using it.
http://infomesh.net/2001/swintro/#itWorks