The Future of Electronic Trade and Virtual Communities of Interest

Invited speaker at the International Conference on Electronic Trade in the Construction Sector, Mr. Paul Robillard, Vice-president Marketing, BCE Emergis, demonstrated the increasing place occupied by electronic trade and explained the position his firm intended to occupy in the next few years.

Generally speaking, one can identify five steps in the business use of Internet. First of all, there is the step of making a connection, thanks to which a firm can access the resources offered on the Web. Secondly, the firm is induced to produce its own Internet site; at this step, it is primarily a question of asserting one's presence on the Net. Thirdly, internal utilities, such as an Intranet, are developed. However, it is at the fourth step that the firm begins to use Internet as a medium for business exchanges, through extranets and EDI. Finally, at the fifth step, Internet becomes a true business forum including electronic trading and payment.

For Mr. Robillard, the ever-increasing demand for novel electronic services shows the interest that firms attach to electronic trade. In fact, the number of small and medium businesses that have an access to Internet has doubled between 1996 and 1998. According to some sources, the level of penetration of Internet is about 13%. With more than 381 500 active Web sites, Internet undoubtedly has a high economic potential. At present after sales services and electronic business are still not very popular; nonetheless, the figures allow one to predict a considerable growth in electronic trade in the immediate future.

It is against this backdrop that BCE Emergis set itself the challenge of establishing an infrastructure of Internet services specifically for an internal and external clientele. The firm plans to offer electronic business solutions which cover the five steps mentioned previously. Already several specific markets have been targeted, notably the financial, automotive and construction sectors. In Quebec, BCE Emergis is part of a consortium which has set up an electronic service for the Workmen's Compensation Board; this system allows all parties concerned by workplace accidents to speed up the procedures that concern them. In the construction sector, BCE Emergis, in association with ConstruNet is working on setting up an electronic business community which will bring together all the actors in the Quebec construction sector.