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Thursday 7th December 2000
Cambridge University Engineering Department
Trumpington Street, Cambridge
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eCommerce
for People and Business ran successfully today with approximately 55
participants.
 |
Anne Campbell M.P. chats with Alan Franklin, IEE Cambridge
Chairman, Click the thumbnail to see the full-size image. |
Several of the speakers gave electronic presentations and a number have offered to provide versions of these for access via the Web.
As these are received we will make them available from this site.
David Holburn, Chairman, Seminar Sub-Committee
The Cambridge Seminar was organised by the IEE Cambridge Committee of the Institution of Electrical Engineers.
Speakers'
presentations and notes (being developed)This high-value One Day Seminar will focus on the unparalleled opportunities that the Internet now presents for organisations of all sizes, which are now able to reach a potential market of millions around the world at a fraction of the cost of traditional methods.
However, along with this opportunity comes the need for a clear understanding of the new business and legal models necessary to ensure you gain your share of the market. Getting it right calls for the commercial as well as the legal strategies to be right - getting it wrong could be a costly mistake.
At e-Commerce for People and Business you will hear from a diverse range of experienced presenters, who will shed light on key topics and offer valuable advice which you can immediately use to enhance your online presence.
Make the right e-Commerce decisions by learning from those who have carved a successful path to online business success.
The Internet is revolutionising the way we work, the way we do business, and the way we live our lives. Over one in six homes in Britain now have access to the Internet. A quarter of our businesses are online. The government wants Britain to aim for universal access to the Internet by 2005.
One of the biggest growth areas of the Internet is electronic (e-) commerce. Few of us can have been unaware of the excitement generated by the recent share offering for the e-commerce site Lastminute.com, and the subsequent roller-coaster ride experienced by its shareholders. Electronic commerce is changing the way businesses, of all sizes, work internally and interact with their customers and suppliers. It is also affecting individuals, who will increasingly communicate with business and other individuals through a home computer or a digital TV connected to the internet, or using a publicly available kiosk in a public library or the local supermarket.
It has been predicted that by 2002, online purchases in the UK will total over £25 billion, about 4% of. UK GDP. With the growth in popularity of the Internet, it is getting easier and simpler for companies with goods to sell to set up an online shop. At the moment things like books, CDs, travel and gifts dominate the electronic market, but all of the major supermarkets are experimenting with online grocery shopping, and it will soon be possible to buy new cars online as well as new computers.
Buying and selling over the Internet is already a fact of life for 1 in 7 UK organisations. Up to now, many smaller businesses have assumed that this was an option available only to big corporations. But it's not just big stores which can sell online. Elizabeth Botham and Sons, a Yorkshire-based bakers, has a long-established and highly successful online shop and has been selling cakes this way for over four years. Mansfield Motors, a small independent garage specialising in Land Rovers, has used its Internet marketing strategy to create a new global business, and successfully branded itself as a high quality, customer orientated business.
Some traditional shops are concerned that newly-established online businesses will start to take their customers, and are considering what to do about it. For example, Amazon.com, established just a few years ago, already has over 6 million registered users and is worth more than many older booksellers.
There's little doubt we'll see more and more online businesses. The government has announced plans to get 1.5 million small businesses on line within two years. Patricia Hewitt, minister for e-commerce and small businesses, recently launched a government scheme rewarding the most successful and imaginative small online businesses.
08.30 Registration
09.10 Welcome and Introduction
Chairman, IEE Cambridge Area Committee
09.15 Keynote Address
The Government's approach to e-Commerce and strategy for its deployment. Gaining
competitive advantage and ensuring availability to all.
Anne Campbell, Member of Parliament
09.30 Business Support for e-Commerce in the Information Age
Richard D Kneller, Manager, Essex e-Commerce Centre
10.10 Growing an On-line Business
Chris Champion, Marketing Director, ShopCreator
Developments Ltd
In this presentation you will find out the answers to some fundamental questions:
Very easy indeed! All will be revealed to help you adopt an online business model
10.50 Coffee (in Lecture Room 4 adjoining)
11.10 Case Study
Duncan Mansfield, Mansfield
Motors
Duncan Mansfield will talk about his company Mansfield Motors, a small independent garage
specialising in Land Rovers, that have used their current marketing strategy on the
Internet to create a new global business. In addition to shortening the supply chain for
international customers, Mansfield’s has successfully branded itself, through a
virtual Land Rover club, as a high quality, customer orientated business.
Notes:- Mansfield Motors have won three awards for their innovative use of e-Commerce (BT, the Financial Times, and the UK governments Information Society Initiative). They are the current holders of the East Anglian Business Award in the small business category.
11.50 The Future of e-Commerce
Bill Thompson, Director, On line Publishing
This presentation will explore whether the Internet revolution really is a revolution or
just the ordinary evolution of capitalism. It will discuss what sorts of
technologies will be available in five years time to support the growth in online
activities of all kinds, including e-Commerce.
12.30 Buffet Lunch (in Lecture Room 4 adjoining)
13.30 Electronic Payment Systems
Dr Michelle Baddeley, Faculty of Economics and Politics, University of Cambridge
The availability of financial services in the home/work environment. The role of
electronic money in the e-Commerce strategies of leading financial institutions. Prospects
and problems for the use of electronic money including security/validation/encryption and
privacy implications
14.10 Case Study
Gordon Maw, Virgin Direct
Virgin Direct has been at the forefront of e-Commerce development in financial services.
With Stakeholder pensions on the horizon, Virgin sees the ability to maximise the
potential of e-Commerce as vital to succeeding in this marketplace. Gordon will
outline how Virgin have used new technology, right from the initial marketing approach,
through to the ongoing administration of Stakeholder style pensions.
14.50 Tea (in Lecture Room 4 adjoining)
15.10 International e-Commerce
Derek Banks, Business Education Team, HM Customs and Excise
The application of VAT to e-Commerce in the European Union. The presentation is
expected to include the issues of:-
15.50 Consumer Protection
Alan Stevens, Editor, Which? Online
Have Credit Card - Won't Shop! Will e-commerce fall at the first hurdle?
Projected revenues for online shopping have more noughts than Bill Gates' pay
slip. But unless consumers have confidence in online shopping practices those numbers will
remain unattainable. So, what does '128-bit security' mean to the average shopper? Who can
they turn to when it all goes pear-shaped? Will you give me your credit card number? This
and other questions may (or may not) be answered in this 30-minute presentation.
16.30 Closing Remarks
16.40 Close of Seminar
Anne Campbell was the first British Member of Parliament to have a Website. She has used her web space to provide her constituents with information about her work as their MP since 1994, when the Web was much smaller and much simpler than it is today. Anne's view of the Internet:-
I believe the Internet is a valuable tool in a democracy, giving citizens more direct access to their representatives than is possible by almost any other means.
Richard Kneller is Head of Essex e-Commerce Centre. The EeCC is available to all businesses in Essex that need impartial advice as to their ICT (Information and Communications Technology). EeCC works closely with professionals, and is willing and able to provide affordable support to SMEs.
Duncan Mansfield is the owner and founder of Mansfield Motors. Since learning to drive in a Series II LWB on his father's farm in Sussex, he has been a Land Rover nutter. Duncan joined the British Army in 1980, which gave him the opportunity to drive Land Rovers in many parts of the world from Canada to the jungles of Belize. In 1989 and 1990 Duncan was successfully selected as a finalist for Camel Trophy, although unfortunately he was forced to withdraw due to injuries. After leaving the Army in 1986 Duncan joined the Metropolitan Police serving in London until leaving to start Mansfield Motors in 1993. You can find out more about Duncan and the staff at Mansfield Motors on their web site.
Alan Stevens is Head of Digital Services at the Consumers' Association, which includes internet service provider Which? Online (www.which.net). He is former Editor of Which? Online, and was one of the founders of the Which? Web Trader Scheme, the web's only free and independent certification authority for online traders. Alan is an experienced and authoritative broadcaster on the Internet.
Bill Thompson is a journalist and consultant who lives in Cambridge, England. If you want to know more about him, then you should go to his online biography.
Under development
Business Support for
e-Commerce in the Information Age - Microsoft Powerpoint presentation (706
KB)
Richard D Kneller, Manager, Essex e-Commerce
Centre
International e-Commerce - Microsoft Powerpoint presentation (47KB) - Microsoft
Word document (24KB)
Derek Banks, Business Education Team, HM Customs and Excise
Case Study - PDF presentation (1479KB) - needs Adobe Acrobat Reader
Duncan Mansfield & Jeff Hume, Mansfield
Motors
The Future of e-Commerce -
Microsoft Powerpoint presentation (290 KB)
Bill Thompson, Director, On line Publishing
Registration fee: £40, which includes registration, buffet luncheon, and morning
and afternoon refreshments.
A concessionary fee of £20 is available to:-
Cheques should be made payable to "IEE".
Registration for the Seminar is on a first-come, first-served basis, by means of an application form.
Click here to view a printable form which you can post to Dr John Porter (see below for contact details), with payment by cheque.
Please register as soon as possible and not later than 29th November.
If your browser supports it, the following links ara avaliable to help you make an email enquiry about e-Commerce for People and Business
For more information about the event please contact one of:-
Chairman, IEE Cambridge Area Committee - (contact details)
David Holburn - (contact details for David Holburn)
09.15 - 16.45 on Thursday 7th December 2000
Registration 08.30 - 09.10
Cambridge University Engineering Department
Trumpington Street
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This page was prepared by David Holburn, and comes to you courtesy of Cambridge University Engineering Department. Last updated on Tuesday January 20, 2004.