Government pushes UK as ecommerce leader

UK minister Barbara Roche launched the Department of Trade and Industry's (DTI) ecommerce plan yesterday as part of National Technology Week. In it, she projects that 90 per cent of government procurement will be carried out electronically by 2000 to 2001, and 25 per cent of government services will be available online by 2001.

The paper, titled: 'Net Benefit: the electronic commerce agenda for the UK,' was also backed up by a statement from DTI Secretary of State, Peter Mandleson, saying the UK will become a "digital pathfinder" in the race to automate commerce structures.

The document contains analysis of ecommerce hurdles that need to be addressed, such as consumer protection, data protection and the handling of objectionable material. It suggests that more cooperation is needed between the government and private sector partners to bring down these barriers.

But Robin Wilton, a consultant with JCP security software, said the vagueness of Roche's paper "reflects a confused and directionless approach to the digital economy".

For the private sector, the paper also included several statistics to suggest that the UK is already ahead in another of electronic targets. Fifty two per cent of UK companies are using email - a figure Roche hopes will grow to 86 per cent in two years - compared to 43 per cent in Germany and 32 per cent in France.

Wilton commented that such statistics are not really relevant to the overall picture of European ecommerce activity. He added that many countries are much more advanced than the UK when it comes to cabling structures, smartcard adoption and electronic banking infrastructure.