Electronic Government: Federal Initiatives Are Evolving Rapidly But They Face Significant Challenges

摘要

The basic idea of e-commerce has actually been around for quite some time, but the World Wide Web has brought a lot of changes and new opportunities in the last few years. Until recently, e-commerce was mainly identified with electronic data interchange, or EDI. EDI allows one business's computer system to send routine information about transactions to another business's system, following standardized formats. Its focus is on business or trading partner data interactions, not serving consumers directly. The rise of the World Wide Web over the last few years has dramatically broadened the scope of electronic commerce. Electronic commerce is now seen as encompassing all aspects of buying and selling electronically, including marketing, end-to-end transactions with consumers, and on-line auctions. It is transacted through a variety of technologies, including EDI, electronic mail, electronic funds transfer, and web-based applications.