[11820] in Commercialization & Privatization of the Internet
FYI: CommerceNet Press Release
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (William Tao-Yang Wong)
Thu Apr 21 07:26:53 1994
Date: Wed, 20 Apr 94 22:00:38 PDT
From: wtwong@eit.com (William Tao-Yang Wong)
To: com-priv@psi.com
For press information, contact:
Lisa Croel
Edelman Technology Communications
Phone: (415) 968-4033
Fax: (415) 968-2201
MCI Mail: 629-8643 or Lisa_Croel@mcimail.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CommerceNet Makes Electronic Commerce over the Internet
a Reality in Silicon Valley
New Infrastructure for Electronic Commerce on the Internet Enables
Companies to Streamline Procurement, Cut Costs, Shrink Development
Cycles and Communicate More Effectively
SANTA CLARA, Calif., April 12, 1994 PP CommerceNet, the first
large-scale market trial of electronic commerce on the Internet,
will be formally launched today by BARRNet, Enterprise Integration
Technologies (EIT), and Stanford University's Center for
Information Technology (CIT) at an event here at the Techmart. The
event will include the first public demonstration of CommerceNet,
which goes "live" on the Internet today, offering Silicon
Valley-based companies access to services and applications that
make the Internet suitable for electronic commerce.
Many of the companies who have indicated an interest in
participating in the CommerceNet market trial will be on hand at
today's event to show their support and to discuss the potential
impact of CommerceNet on the way they transact business (see page
6). In addition, representatives from sponsoring organizations
including Smart Valley, Inc., Joint Venture:Silicon Valley Network
and the State of California Trade and Commerce Agency were present
to discuss the potential economic impact of CommerceNet on the
local economy and on business.
CommerceNet was created and is operated by a consortium of major
Silicon Valley users, providers and developers. It seeks to
revolutionize the Valley's core electronics, software and
information service industries by making interactions between
customers, suppliers and development partners as efficient as
interactions among internal departments. CommerceNet will
ultimately help to revolutionize the way most Bay Area companies
transact business, regardless of their size or business focus.
CommerceNet's founders and supporters believe that the new
electronic marketplace will benefit participating companies by:
Shortening procurement cycles up to 80% through online catalogs,
ordering and payment; cutting costs up to 10% on both stock and
manufactured parts through competitive bidding; and shrinking
development cycles up to 50% and accelerating time-to-market
through collaborative engineering and product implementation.
"The Internet is a vast, untapped marketplace," said Jay M.
Tenenbaum, Chairman and founder of EIT and the visionary behind
CommerceNet. "With over 20 million users, the Internet is the
biggest and most immediate venue for electronic commerce.
CommerceNet provides the tools that will make the Internet secure
and easy to use, 'unleashing' its potential to transform how
business is done."
An outgrowth of ARPA-sponsored research begun in the 1960's, the
Internet was originally used by colleges, universities and the
government for research and development purposes. It has since
evolved to become "the network of networks," interconnecting not
just government and education, but a huge portion of the commercial
business sector as well. Today, the Internet links over 20,000
public and private networks encompassing over 20 million users in
nearly 140 countries, and it is growing ten percent a month.
Several factors have kept the Internet from facilitating electronic
commerce until now. They include: The lack of standard and
easy-to-use interfaces; the lack of a secure means for transmitting
sensitive data or identifying users; and the lack of indexing and
search mechanisms that make it easy for users to find information.
"We evaluated all of the barriers to electronic commerce on the
Internet and then came up with what we believe are excellent
solutions that break down most of these barriers," said Allan M.
Schiffman, Chief Technical Officer of EIT and Principal Architect
of CommerceNet. "CommerceNet will win over many skeptics who
thought electronic commerce either wasn't possible over the
Internet, or was years away from becoming a reality."
Specifically, CommerceNet provides an integrated set of services
from a single source, including:
% Affordable, high quality Internet connectivity using a variety
of connectivity options including T1, 56K, Frame Relay and ISDN.
Many are available immediately; others will be rolled out during
the remainder of 1994.
% Easy access to user interface and networking software and
registration forms for CommerceNet access.
% Software tools for providers that make it easy to put up
interactive CommerceNet services on any Internet host.
% Simple point-and-click access to all CommerceNet services using
an enhanced version of Mosaic, a popular hypermedia user interface
from the NCSA (National Center for Supercomputing Applications).
Mosaic supports full multimedia presentations, including audio,
video, text and graphics, as well as electronic forms.
% A variety of specialized directories to help users locate
information and services on CommerceNet. These directories, as
with other CommerceNet services, can be browsed or searched for
keywords using Mosaic.
% Security mechanisms, including authentication and encryption,
supported within applications, including Mosaic, using RSA public
key cryptography. Public-key certification services will also be
provided to CommerceNet members.
Buyers and sellers will be able to meet on the network and safely
exchange sensitive information such as credit card numbers and bid
amounts, sign legally enforceable contracts, maintain audit trails,
and get paid through cooperating financial institutions.
Data and transmission security issues are minimized on CommerceNet
because there are no remote logins and private information such as
passwords is transmitted under encryption. Digital signatures
ensure that important information is delivered uncorrupted and
untampered.
Secure client and server products will be available for beta
testing in May of this year; widespread release will follow in
August.
Participating companies are expected to use CommerceNet to provide
customers with online catalogs, product literature, and ordering.
Job shops will provide online access to engineering and
manufacturing services that are faster, cheaper, or better than
those available in-house. Companies will also use CommerceNet for
competitive solicitations and bidding, interactive EDI, and
inter-company collaborative engineering and product data exchange.
The Commerce.Net Server
The CommerceNet server, which acts as the hub of CommerceNet,
provides users access to all CommerceNet-related information and
applications via the World Wide Web, a general purpose architecture
for information retrieval developed by groups of Internet users.
Information about CommerceNet is also available via electronic
mail.
The CommerceNet server hosts: Information on the CommerceNet
organization; directories of participants, value-added third-party
services and Internet resources; member registration and
communications; and tutorials and examples. The server is also a
principal distribution channel for CommerceNet software.
Like the Internet, CommerceNet is open to all. Any individual or
organization can offer information, goods and services by creating
a multimedia "home page" on their own server and listing it in
appropriate directories on the CommerceNet server, as well as with
value-added directories and referral services operated by third
parties. These home pages serve as "virtual storefronts,"
providing brief company overviews and paths for accessing their
product literature, catalogs, order forms, etc. CommerceNet is
thus a fully distributed network of information service providers
whose growth is essentially unbounded. The CommerceNet server is
merely a convenient starting point for entering this marketplace.
The CommerceNet Consortium
CommerceNet is operated by the CommerceNet Consortium, a non-profit
corporation funded by a six million dollar, three year grant from
the United States government's Technology Reinvestment Project,
which will be matched by contributions from the State of California
and member companies.
The Consortium consists of the core development team members,
sponsoring organizations, and industry participants.
The core team is comprised of BARRNet, EIT and Stanford CIT. They
have been responsible for developing and operating CommerceNet and
securing its funding, and will oversee the day-to-day management of
CommerceNet, led by the organization's new executive director,
Cathy J. Medich.
The sponsoring organizations PP Smart Valley, Inc., Joint
Venture:Silicon Valley Network, and the State of California Office
of Strategic Technology PP were instrumental in raising
CommerceNet's visibility with the State and Federal Government.
They continue to support the efforts of CommerceNet and other
initiatives that improve the competitive and business environment
in Northern California.
The following industry participants, in alphabetical order, have
indicated their interest in CommerceNet: Amdahl Corporation,
Anthem Electronics, Inc., Apple Computer, Inc., AVEX Electronics
Inc., Bank of America, Citibank N.A., Dataquest, Digital Equipment
Corporation, Dun & Bradstreet Corporation, Electronic Marketplace
Systems, Inc. (An International Data Group Company),
Hewlett-Packard Company, Integrated Systems Solutions Corporation
(A Subsidiary of IBM), Intel Corporation, Internet Shopping
Network, InterNex Information Services, Inc., Lockheed Missiles &
Space Company, Inc., Nanothinc, A California Corporation, National
Semiconductor, Network Computing Devices, Inc. (NCD), Pacific Bell,
PartNet, Inc., RSA Data Security, Inc., Solectron Corporation, Sun
Microsystems, Inc., Synopsys Inc., Tandem Computers Incorporated,
Trusted Information Systems, Inc., Wells Fargo & Co. and Xerox
Corporation.
Other affiliated organizations that are participating in
CommerceNet include: the Association of Bay Area Governments, the
California Department of General Services, the Commercial Internet
eXchange Association, the Financial Services Technology Consortium
(FSTC), Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Silicon Valley
Public Access Link (SV-PAL).
Information on how to participate in CommerceNet can be obtained by
calling (415) 617-8790, by sending e-mail to info@commerce.net, and
by connecting to http://www.commerce.net/.
