Regulation and Electronic Commerce in Developing Countries

Robin Mansell

Background paper WDR 0307

Introduction

"IT empowers, benefits and links people the world over … access to the digital opportunities must, therefore, be open to all" (G-8 Communique 2000). This was a key message of the Group of Eight countries’ Okinawa Charter on the Global Information Society in 2000. In 2003, the principle of inclusion in the benefits of information societies in local, regional and global contexts was endorsed again in the Declaration of Principles agreed at the World Summit on the Information Society. The Principles emphasise a "commitment to build a people-centred, inclusive and development-oriented Information Society" (WSIS 2003a).

Together with other services being developed for information societies, electronic commerce is expected to play a major role in generating new social and economic opportunities as a result of technological innovations in information and communication technologies (ICTs). In order to achieve ‘inclusive and development-oriented’ information societies, however, it is necessary to ensure that countries have the appropriate technical and institutional infrastructure in place to support the new services. An important issue for all countries is the extent of their readiness to implement new forms of electronic services. However, for many developing countries, there is little systematic evidence about how the new technologies are being designed and implemented in their varying contexts of use.

Increasingly, it is being recognized that the diversity of these services and of information societies needs to be better understood. Information societies are evolving around the world by combining older and newer means of processing information and communicating for various purposes. These developments do not follow the homogeneous logic or model that is often presumed under labels such as ‘global information society’. It is simply inappropriate to assume that there is a single model of electronic service development that will be responsive to the needs of all potential users in all countries.

The aim of this paper is to highlight some of the key considerations for the regulation and governance of business-to-business (B2B) electronic commerce that are raised when the diversity of applications and requirements is placed at the centre of analysis of developments in information societies and global markets. Electronic commerce can be defined as the application of ICTs to support global networks, a variety of business oriented software applications, and business processes involved in trading in goods and services. The main conclusion of the analysis is that the inclusion of developing countries in the potential benefits of new forms of electronic commerce will require measures that address country and sector specific characteristics of markets in which firms operate as well as measures that address the issues raised by the advent of ICT supported means of electronic trading.

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Document Date:
February 2004
Author:
Robin Mansell
Discussion Paper No.:
wdr0307
Pages:
22 pp
Title:
Regulation and Electronic Commerce in Developing Countries
Collection Title:
World Dialogue on Regulation for Network Economies

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Regulation and Electronic Commerce in Developing Countries

Robin Mansell

Background paper WDR 0307