Page 13 - DCAP306_DCAP511_E-COMMERCE_AND_E-BUSINESS

E-Commerce and E-Business

In the new era of interactive television, the lines between advertisements,
entertainment, education, and services often become blurred. While watching a
World Cup cricket match between India and Australia, you may develop an urge to
know more about Australia. Instead of running to the local bookstore and
purchasing a book, you can connect to an online database and search while not
missing any part of the match. The information in these online databases is not
limited to text but also provides photographs and digital videos (multimedia).
In other words, convergence requires removing the barriers between telecommunications, broadcasting,
computing, movies, electronic games, and publishing industries to facilitate interoperability.

Simple technological improvements driving the phenomenon of convergence are as follows:
1. Convergence of Content: This helps to translate all types of information content, such as, books,
business documents, videos, movies, and music into digital information. Once the content is
converted into digital form, that information can easily be searched, encrypted, duplicated, and
transmitted which suits today’s information processing systems.
2. Convergence of Transmission: This helps to compress and store digitized information so that it can
be transmitted through existing phone and cable wiring. New techniques and other technological
discoveries modify all types of information. Here, we can notice the convergence of
communication systems that provide a medium to transmit voice, data image, and video without
rewiring the neighborhood.
3. Convergence of Information: Some of the information access devices can function as both
computers and televisions. For example, a telephone with internal fax machine, modem, and video
monitor is capable of receiving fax, e-mail, and video.
Convergence is also being driven by certain market conditions including the following:
1. The availability of low-cost, high-performance enabling component technologies, such as,
semiconductors, storage and display devices, communications systems, and operating systems.

2. Entrepreneurs’ expectation of end-user demand for new applications—both products and services
that rely on the above mentioned enabling technologies.
3. The regulatory actions that are creating competition in monopoly markets, such as, local and long-
distance communications, telecommunication and cable equipment, and facilitating the rapid
deployment of the new applications.
1.4 Business Application of E-Commerce
There are a variety of e-commerce applications that are constantly affecting the trends and prospects of
a business. The primary applications of e-commerce are Business-to-Consumer (B2C), Business-to-
Business (B2B), Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C), and Consumer-to-Business (C2B).

Other Applications of E-Commerce

1. Business-to-Employee (B2E)
2. Government-to-Government (G2G)
3. Government-to-Employee (G2E)

4. Government-to-Business (G2B)
5. Business-to- Government (B2G)
6. Government-to-Citizen (G2C)
7. Citizen-to-Government (C2G)

6 LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY