Electronic Business Prospects in Emerging Economies: Lessons from Egypt

Information Resources Management AssociationUSA

Regional Development:Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications

Volume I

Regional development : concepts, methodologies, tools, and applications / Information Resources Management Association, editor. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. Summary: “This reference presents a vital compendium of research detailing the latest case studies, architectures, frameworks, methodologies, and research on regional development”--Provided by publisher. ISBN 978-1-4666-0882-5 (hbk.) -- ISBN 978-1-4666-0883-2 (ebook) -- ISBN 978- 1-4666-0884-9 (print & perpetual access) 1. Information technology-- Developing countries. 2. Economic development--Developing countries. 3. Regional economics--Developing countries. I. Information Resources Management Association. HC59.72.I55R44 2012 338.9009172’4--dc23 2012005060

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Chapter 6.4

INTRODUCTION

The information and communication technology (ICT) evolution is aggressively affecting many nations around the world, forcing changes and transformations to business and socioeconomic de-velopment plans, reflecting major implications on different economies and contributing to the notions of globalization and the evolution of the global digital economy irrespective of time and distance barriers. ICT is driving the radical transformation and change for individuals, organizations and societies from the marketplace to the cyberspace helping the realization of the digital economy, outsourcing and global outreach. In a fast chang-ing global environment, speed, competition and

catering for various diversified cultural elements become key factors for development and growth in the reengineered business environment where electronic commerce (E-commerce) applications promise to grow in volume helping the digital economy to mature and dominate.

Egypt, as a developing nation with an economy in transition, started to invest in building its ICT infrastructure since 1985 as a vital tool for de-velopment and leading to availing opportunities for E-commerce to grow. This article describes the emergence of E-commerce in Egypt since the mid 1990s and its implications in the marketplace including the challenges faced relating to social, technological, financial, cultural and legal issues and the efforts exerted by different stakeholders including the government, the private sector and the civil society to diffuse E-commerce in Egypt.

Sherif KamelThe American University in Cairo, Egypt

Electronic Commerce Prospects in Emerging Economies:

Lessons from Egypt

DOI: 10.4018/978-1-4666-0882-5.ch6.4

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Electronic Commerce Prospects in Emerging Economies

BACKGROUND

Over the last few decades, ICT became vital as a platform for business and socioeconomic de-velopment (Kamel, 2000; American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt, 2002). Moreover, the Internet became an important medium for information ac-quisition and knowledge dissemination across the globe (Kamel, 1995), leading to the formulation of the global information society and creating the digital economy with its growing trends such as competing in time, customer relationship manage-ment and smart communities (Kamel et al, 2009).

Since 1985, Egypt has invested in its ICT in-frastructure targeting the build-up of its national information infrastructure (NII) to become the platform for the development of all sectors based on timely, relevant and accurate information. During the period 1985-1995, a public-private partnership (PPP) helped realize the establish-ment of Egypt’s information highway (Kamel, 1995). The program embedded the establishment of hundreds of informatics projects and centers in different government, public and private sec-tor organizations as well as the development and improvement of all the building blocks of the information infrastructure such as people, technology (hardware and software), networks, information and knowledge management aspects (Kamel, 1999). In 1991, the government began an economic reform program aiming at transforming the Egyptian economy from centrally planned, inward looking economy to one that is market-based and internationally oriented (Kamel and Hussein, 2001). The government policy focused on the removal of price distortions and obstacles to investment and trade and worked on a plan to introduce smooth and effective processes for the reformation of the financial sector in an attempt to plug-in the one-stop shop approach in the ways business is being developed and managed. The highlights of the program included deregulation of foreign exchange, budget deficit financing, gradual removal of government subsidies to cut

down on expenditures, implementation of a priva-tization program, introduction of a capital market law, abolishment of investment licensing and the revision of the trade policy through the reduction of the level of tariffs of the GATT (Kamel and Hussein, 2001).

In the following phase, the government of Egypt was eager to apply and diffuse emerging ICT to join the world in the development and realiza-tion of the global digital economy. This has taken a further boost with the appointment of a cabinet in 1999 that was geared towards investment in the development of an economy that capitalizes on the benefits of ICT and that looks at ICT as a vehicle for socioeconomic development (Azab et al, 2009). ICT was identified as a priority at the highest policy level and a new cabinet office was established namely the ministry of commu-nications and information technology (MCIT) leading to more investments and infrastructure build-up (Kamel, 2005a). Thus, the growth of the ICT industry took massive steps during the period 1999-2009 in different aspects including human, information, legislation and infrastructure (Kamel et al, 2009).

Egypt is a regional hub linking the Mediter-ranean, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. With a population of over 78 million, it is the most populous country in the region (www.idsc.gov.eg). About 28% of its population is enrolled in educational programs (schools and universities); 58% are under the age of 25 and 19 million repre-sent its workforce; around 5.7 million are working for the government sector. Egypt is witnessing its reincarnation into a modern, liberal and private sector-led market driven economy. The current economic growth rate stands at 4.1 annually with an inflation of 11.6%. Estimates show that unemployment is standing at 8.8% and the labor force is growing at around 2.7% annually (www.amcham.org.eg). Egypt is undergoing a liberaliza-tion program of its public sector, investing heavily in its human capital, encouraging foreign direct investment (FDI) and using innovative ICT as

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a platform for business and socioeconomic de-velopment for example as an important engine for job creation (ITU, 2008). The government in collaboration with the private sector through a variety of PPP models is restructuring many of its major economy sectors such as education, health, government reform as well as working on closing both inter and intra digital divides (www.idsc.gov.eg). Moreover, based on a national ICT plan and a revisit of a number of short-term plans, Egypt set its targets for 2007-2010 through an amended ICT strategy that addresses three main pillars, ICT sector reform, ICT reform and development and ICT industry development (Kamel, 2009a).

Within the ICT spectrum, the Internet is a ma-jor driving force of change in the global market place (Kamel, 1995). It is a global information highway linking countries like Egypt with the rest of the world (Bell, 1998). It promises to change the way people live, work, study, and get enter-tained amongst other diverse implications. The growth of the number of Internet users has been stunning and it is expected to continue to rise as the world becomes more aware of the opportuni-ties enabled by the Internet (Cerf, 1999). In the case of Egypt, with an economy relying 92% on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the Internet and E-commerce can empower SMEs to become global players without the resources of a multinational corporation (ITU, 2008).

IMPLICATIONS OF INTERNET GROWTH ON GLOBAL E-COMMERCE

The phenomenal growth of the Internet has cer-tainly been one of the driving forces for the intro-duction and diffusion of E-commerce worldwide. The Internet with its massive innovative capacities will no doubt boost efficiency and enhance market integration domestically and globally, especially in developing countries that are most disadvan-taged by poor access to information. However, it

is important to note that it can also have negative implications for nations that will not have access to information (Kamel et al, 2008). The Internet, as an output of the ICT evolution, is the largest network of computers in the world, providing a wealth of information and knowledge. E-commerce is one of the most important topics in today’s global business environment. Consequently, understand-ing the degree to which the Internet will change business and society is a vital research topic. The global society is currently witnessing a phase of transition from an information age that was physi-cal to an information age that is digital (Lynch and Lundquist, 1996).

INTERNET EVOLUTION IN EGYPT

The 21st century promises to bring to the world more innovations, more opportunities and more challenges. Therefore, countries around the world, including Egypt, should be prepared for a more competitive global marketspace that is informa-tion and knowledge driven. The global Internet market today is estimated to have over 1.6 billion users with over 2.1 billion mobile users; all are potential consumers for E-commerce and mobile commerce applications. However, the Internet users in developing countries only constitute a small percentage of the total global users around 18.6% (www.internetworldstats.com) reflecting the fact that the current distribution of Internet access needs to be restructured so that members of different societies benefit from the digital revolution.

Internet penetration has grown rapidly since its inception in Egypt in the early 1990s, mainly because of a number of government and private sector initiatives. In April 2009, the number stands at 14.1 million subscribers reflecting a modest penetration rate of 15.2% and around 593,042 fixed broadband subscribers. In terms of mobile penetration, there are 38.06 million subscribers (around 50.7% penetration rate) benefiting from

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the competition of three mobile operators. Internet access is well diffused in the major cities spread across Egypt’s 28 provinces. Penetration in the remote and underprivileged communities is less indicating relative cases of intra digital divide. In that respect, the government is encouraging Internet access via its multi-stakeholders PPP initiative namely, “IT clubs” throughout Egypt (www.egyptictindicators.gov.eg). IT clubs are government-funded IT centers, often attached to sport or youth clubs, offering Internet access and basic computer classes. The network of clubs grew from 30 in 1999 to 1,751 in December 2008. IT clubs are diffused across urban and rural areas with more concentration among the underprivileged segments across the different provinces, they represent the Internet café model for them (Ka-mel, 2005b). Internet Cafés are popular in Egypt with over 1,200 cafés established since 2000 and mainly common in Cairo and Alexandria (www.mcit.gov.eg).

It is important to note that rapid growth has been encouraged by government-led “free Internet models” services, which started in January 2002, when the country had fewer than 750,000 Internet users (EIU, 2007). Conceived as a partnership between Telecom Egypt (TE), the national fixed-line carrier, and a variety of private-sector Internet service providers (ISPs), the free Internet model is available in all of Egypt’s provinces stretching to over 1 million square kilometers. With free Internet, dial-up users can log on anytime for the cost of a local phone call, which is about 0.02 US dollars for six minutes. TE turns over 70% of the value of each Internet call to the appropriate ISP. The new model, overtime, contributed to rapid attrition among the nation’s 110+ ISPs. Unlike the dial-up free Internet model, broadband dif-fusion has not been successful and despite the revisited prices (currently standing at around 17 US dollars per month for a 256-kbps line), the model is offered through another PPP model in collaboration with the major private-sector ISPs controlling 95% of the broadband market.

ELECTRONIC COMMERCE IN EGYPT

Developed nations as opposed to developing na-tions have been showing solid and growing im-provements with respect to their economies when it comes to E-commerce implications (Javalgi et al, 2005). Such fortunate realization is not shared with developing nations in general and with Egypt in specific (Elbeltagi, 2007) whereas the develop-ment of E-commerce in developing nations has been less promising than expected (ITU, 2008). E-commerce is still in its infancy in Egypt and for many entrepreneurs in the developing world, online buying and selling is still far from being a reality. In 1998, a national E-commerce com-mittee was founded by the Internet Society of Egypt with representatives from different stake-holders. The committee was mandated to set the framework to introduce and diffuse E-commerce within the community. The committee launched Egypt’s E-commerce initiative in September 1999 however, a number of challenges hindered the growth of E-commerce and its realizations of its full potentials such as local culture, politics, and ICT infrastructure, adequacy, completeness and readiness (Elbeltagi et al, 2005; Stahl and Elbeltagi, 2004).

More specifically, a limited credit card com-munity of about 2 million cards whereas Egypt is a classical case of a cash-oriented society, con-sumer mistrust of online transactions and a lack of legal clarity have been blamed for the stunted development of E-commerce (Kamel and Abdel Ghaffar, 2003 and 20042004). Moreover, the low overall rates of computer penetration standing at 4.27 per 100 inhabitants despite the PC for every home initiative launched in 2002 and restructured to PC2010 that targets a penetration volume of 4 million PCs by 2010 (www.mcit.gov.eg). It is important to note that given the fact that computer penetration is much higher within the business community than among the general population, it is envisioned that there is greater potential for B2B than B2C businesses. A typical example is

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the success of speedsend.com, which is a B2B platform, established in 2001 and pioneered the electronic procurement industry in Egypt through a customized web-based ecosystem (Kamel, 2009b; Pani and Agrahari, 2007). Moreover, culturally, people like to go to stores and interact with sup-pliers preferring the social bond that could come out of such transactions. In other words, the problem is both infrastructural and cultural (Loch et al, 2003). Finally, in some locations, according to Loch et al (2003) culture could be a barrier to using the Internet since many could think and feel threatened by how the Internet will affect family and community life.

MCIT was mandated to create a vibrant IT in-dustry and Egypt, over the last decade 1999-2009 has seen massive developments and growth in the ICT sector. These have been reflected positively in the overall growth of the sector, which exceeded 20% in the last two years and contributed to over-all GDP growth by more than 7% (Fayed, 2009). According to the minister of ICT, the sector has transformed itself from a sector looking for sup-port and subsidies to a sector contributing tangibly and intangibly to the economy with a total of 5.2 billion US dollars received by the treasury since early 2006 (Kamel, 2007). The ICT sector has also served as a role model for other sectors of reform and liberalization, capitalizing on a free market economy and catering to different social groups and interests. Table 1 demonstrates the

liberalization process of the telecommunication sector that paved the way for a possible platform for E-commerce. It is important to note that the liberalization process of the telecommunication sector in Egypt is linked to the nation’s economic reform program that was initiated in 1991 and that has been set as a World Summit on the Informa-tion Society (WSIS) priority (www.arabdev.com). Moreover, Egypt has signed the World Trade Organization (WTO) Basic Telecommunications Agreement (BTA), which sets up a framework for the integration of its ICT sector with the global economy1.

The government plan was mainly to encourage private sector participation, increase ICT-related investments and create ICT-related job opportuni-ties. The objective is to use ICT to raise the standards of living of individuals at the micro level and to create a prosperous society at the macro level (Elbeltagi, 2007). In that respect, and despite the various successful achievements across the sector, when it comes to E-commerce applica-tions, the market growth has not been as success-ful as other elements of the ICT sector.

Electronic Commerce Readiness in Egypt

The extent of E-commerce readiness is governed by the degree of ICT diffusion and the institu-tionalization of an encouraging E-commerce

Table 1. Telecommunication sector liberalization process (www.arabdev.com)

Overview of the Telecommunications Sector Liberalization Process

1854 Establishing the National Organization for Telecommunications

1881 Purchasing the Eastern Telephone Company and Development of the Telephone and Telegraph Authority

1957 Establishing the Egyptian Telecommunication Organization (ETO)

1982 Creating the Arab Republic of Egypt National Telecommunication Organization (ARENTO)

1998 Founding of Telecom Egypt (TE)

1998 Establishing of the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA)

1999 Establishing the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT)

2003 Creating the National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (NTRA)

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environment (ITU, 2008). First, although com-puter penetration and access to the Internet has been growing steadily over the last years, it will take some time until a critical mass is realized. Second, a legal infrastructure governing busi-ness and financial transactions and protecting consumer rights cannot be taken for granted. However, it is readily apparent that the difficulties surrounding E-commerce in Egypt have more to do with traditional ways of conducting business than with legal barriers such as the cash-based society. Moreover, the fact that there is a limited credit card community, with their restricted use online because of banks regulations and the issu-ance of specific credit cards for online purchases is not helping much in building trust among the community in the digital economy. When linked to the theoretical framework and the model, the demand side is rather weak due to special concerns of weak institutions in other related fields. Table 2 demonstrates the barriers to electronic com-

merce in Egypt following the measures adopted by the benchmarking telework and E-commerce in Europe report (ECATT, 2000).

Establishing Information Technology Industry Development Agency

In 2004, the government established the Informa-tion Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA) to stimulate E-commerce growth by availing a regulatory environment and bolster-ing intellectual property rights-IPRs (www.itida.gov.eg). ITIDA is perceived as a regulator and a vehicle to promote ICT development based on an export-oriented strategy. Amongst a variety of dif-ferent roles, ITIDA is responsible to grant licenses to certificate service providers (CSP) also called certificate authority (CA). In the initial phase, four companies were licensed in 2006 namely Security and Network Services, Egypt Trust, Advanced Computer Technology, and Misr for

Table 2. Barriers to electronic commerce in Egypt (ECATT, 2000)

Lack of Awareness of Added ValueAvailability of considerable skepticism regarding the added value of E-commerce due to lack of interest by firms and users for online presence and shopping, respectively, due to lack of access or for security reservations. Suitability of Products for DistributionNot all products can be found on the Internet. Statistics indicate that for many online shoppers in the Arab region (Egypt included), in 48% of the cases the main reason for buying online is the lack of product availability in the local market, followed by ease of purchase (45%), convenience of comparing products online (32%), comparing prices (24%) and ease of payment (21%). There is a lack of exis-tence of well-established distribution networks to support remote products distribution. Costs and PerformanceThe limitations of narrow band access have hampered E-commerce evolution. Moreover, online shopping is perceived by many as an expensive pastime for Internet users rather than an efficient alternative to traditional shopping. Data SecurityCompared to private value added networks, the Internet causes considerable security concerns due to its open architecture, necessitating specific technological measures to make data exchange secured and reliable, which are costly. There is a need to improve security and for allowing alternative payment methods to complement the use of credit card, such as cash on delivery, which suits the local consumer and allows for building trust and alleviating consumer concerns with regard to exchanging payment details over the Internet. Consumer ProtectionIn B2C, building trust requires measures that protect consumers from fraud and entitles them to consumer protection rights when buying from shops and retail outlets. There is a need to enhance buyers’ awareness and to engage trust in online shopping. A vital user’s concern lies in the collection of personalized data about shoppers in databases that may be used for purposes beyond the consent of the shopper, which needs to be dealt with in an appropriate copyright statement and could take the form of a new law for intellectual property rights relevant to the issues of the software industry. Lack of Critical MassOnline marketplaces work better with more consumers and suppliers involved. In Egypt, the market is still relatively small and in its early stages of development. Respectively, the problem is the lack of buyer demand to make online selling a viable and sustainable option but the situation is gradually improving though diversification in market segments that might have not been accessible through traditional retail outlets.

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Central Clearing, Depository and Registry (EIU, 2007). Moreover, ITIDA is responsible for protect-ing electronic IPRs based on the measures of the 1982 IPRs law addressing software applications and electronic data as items subject to copyright protection (EIU, 2001).

Electronic Signature Law

In 2004, the government issued law 15 on elec-tronic signatures (eSignatures) and the central bank of Egypt (CBE) licensed 12 banks to provide electronic banking services including phone and mobile banking such as the online service of-fered by Citibank and HSBC as well as Internet banking services since July 2007. However, the scope of transactions that can be conducted online is still relatively limited. For example, Citibank allows customers to pay their mobile-phone bills online if they are customers of Vodafone Egypt (EIU, 2007). The eSignature law provides for fines of 15,000-150,000 US dollars for faking or intentionally misusing eSignatures or electronic documents. All entities engaged in E-commerce in Egypt will have to be licensed by ITIDA. It is important to note that the eSignature law adds nothing to existing legislation concerning con-tracts or dispute resolution, hence; ITIDA will provide technical consultation for E-commerce or electronic-signature disputes (EIU, 2007).

Modernizing National Postal Authority

The government started a full-fledged process to modernize the National Postal Authority (NPA) as one of the major government initiatives that is part of the overall planning process of launching E-commerce capabilities being the main delivery and distribution arm. NPA is building a network to connect its 3,000 branches throughout Egypt’s 28 provinces. The potential envisioned through PPP is the introduction of electronic postal services in addition to new applications in postal banking.

The location of the different branches especially in 4,000 villages and remote areas could help trans-form the classical developing nations-like current digital divide situation so that its communities become socially and economically included in the community (Kamel, 2009a). Postal services are well-respected brands in most countries around the world offering physical transport network, with E-commerce such services could be optimized in terms of efficiency and global exposure with timely information to different customers about their shipments (ITU, 2008).

Electronic Commerce Cases

ICT can help in alleviating poverty, improving ac-cess to healthcare, fairly distributing resources, and strengthening participation in decision-making processes. Therefore, the impact of the Internet, as an ICT tool, should not be measured only in terms of absolute numbers of connected individu-als and but more in terms of contribution to social and economic progress, development and growth. Therefore, one needs to address the opportunities that the Internet with its various engines holds for Egypt because E-commerce as a platform for business provides unprecedented opportunities for increasing trade, promoting investment, facilitat-ing business transactions, providing a larger and more varied market and supplying an unparalleled marketing tool (EIU, 2001). Moreover, as Egyp-tian companies learn how to use the E-commerce ecosystem, they will become more efficient and more profitable (Bell, 1998).

There are a number of Internet start-ups, although limited, but have become extremely popular, given the need and efficiency in provid-ing their services (Kamel and Hussein, 2004). These include, but not limited to, B2B and B2C examples such as careerEgypt.com (employment), yallabina.com (entertainment), otlob.com (food delivery), filgoal.com (sports), bayt.com (real estate) and Kings Hotel (tourism). The number of websites is estimated to be around 7000 based in

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Egypt where less than 15% are purely dedicated for E-commerce and of those, less than 50 have established strong names and recognized from the market. This could include a mixture of those us-ing purely online transactions or a blended model of traditional and unconventional transactions, especially for payment purposes (Kamel and Abdel Ghaffar, 2004). It is important to note that despite the presence of the above examples of Internet start-ups, efforts to turn these into wide-ranging E-commerce websites have been notably unsuccessful (EIU, 2007).

CHALLENGES

For E-commerce to realize its targeted objectives; there are a number of challenges that need to be faced that relate to a variety of social, technical and financial elements. With respect to social challenges, there is lack of awareness, training, trust, resistance to change and the language bar-rier. Awareness is considered a major deterrent including customer and organizational awareness of the benefits of the Internet. When comparing mobile diffusion to Internet usage in Egypt, it is clear that for the same expenses mobile users are increasing remarkably indicating that affordability is not an issue, in fact Internet access is less costly and more reliable making it viable for mobile commerce to penetrate the market if the proper ecosystem is provided (Kamel and Fikry, 2007). The lack of training is also a major obstacle where people are not prepared to handle operations in a cyber environment, which creates confusion for those accustomed to traditional systems when they are introduced to innovative techniques. The lack of trust remains another challenge with respect to electronic payment systems, and doing busi-ness with people never seen before. Resistance to change is a factor that has more of a cultural aspect where people find it so difficult to change their habits, and which relates to an organizational factor that is the gap between senior managers

who are usually computer illiterates and younger generations represented in middle managers and technical staff who are advocates of ICT. Finally, there is the language barrier to comprehend the content of the web where the majority of Egyptians can only read and write Arabic while over 82% of the websites are in English.

With respect to technological challenges, there is still the problem of relatively weak resources with respect to the telecommunications infra-structure. This includes bandwidth cost with low capacity level leading to long time for access and downloading. With respect to financial challenges, there is the lack of efficient and secured electronic payment systems coupled with a limited credit card community due to the lack of awareness of the use and benefits of credit cards representing a primary challenge since credit cards are the primary method of setting consumer transactions over the Internet. There is also the issue of customs and taxation which is another barrier for E-commerce diffusion and where the position of the government reflect the belief that the use of information networks should not be given any preferential treatment in trading as opposed to traditional methods. I.e. the imposition of taxation on products bought over the Internet remains a viable option, especially that Egypt, as an economy, relies on taxes and custom duties as a dependable source of income. The above-mentioned challenges need to be dealt with strategically at the national level and through proper allocation of resources, many of which need to be transformed into opportunities that can enable the development of a solid infrastructure of E-commerce in Egypt.

CONCLUSION

E-commerce holds many opportunities for Egypt at different levels including business, social and economical. With emerging and innovative ICTs, the availability of enabling environments and eco-systems for development, competition and growth

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sets the stage for diffusing business processes, global trading communities, and new revenue streams that could have positive implications on the economy. For Egypt, E-commerce represents an opportunity to keep pace with the developed world and to leverage its developmental plans using ICT and online applications by capitalizing on a young, skilled and ambitions population. The next phase should witness more coordina-tion between different constituencies including the government, the private sector and the civil society to provide a platform that blends aware-ness, adoption, diffusion and adaptation of ICT capitalizing on the potentials of E-commerce while catering to the local values, norms and cultures of the community. This can help avoid creating gaps within the society and will help realize the critical mass required for a successful online community interacting digitally and benefiting from the marketspace to prevail.

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ADDITIONAL READING

Cohan, P. S. (1999). Net Profit, San Francisco: Jessey-Bass

Cohan, P. S. (2000) e-Profit, New York: American Management Association

Deise, M. V., Nowikow, C., King, P., & Wright, A. (2000) Executive’s Guide to E-Business from Tactics to Strategy, New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc

Earle, N., & Keen, P. (2000). From. com to. profit, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass

Hagel, J., III, & Armstrong, A. G. (1997) Net Gain, Boston: Harvard Business School Press

Hagel, J., III, & Singer, M. (1999) Net Worth, Boston: Harvard Business School Press

Hope, J., & Hope, T. (1997) Competing in the Third Wave, Boston: Harvard Business School Press

Kalakota, R., & Whinston, A. B. (1996) Elec-tronic Commerce A Manager’s Guide, Reading: Addison-Wesley

Kelly, K. (1998) New Rules for the New Economy, New York: Viking

Patel, K., & McCarthy, M. P. (2000) The Essentials of e-Business Leadership Digital Transformation, New York: McGraw Hill

Rifkin, J. (2000) The Age of Access, New Work: Jeremy P. Tarcher/Putnam

Tapscott, D. (1996). The Digital Economy, New York: MacGraw Hill

Timmers, P. (1999) Electronic Commerce Strat-egies and Models from Business-to-Business Trading, Chichester: John Wiley and Sons, Ltd

KEY TERMS AND DEFINITIONS

Broadband: Broadband Internet access, often known as broadband is high-speed Internet ac-cess that is contrasted with dial-up access over a modem, wireless broadband is also becoming popular around the world.

Building Blocks: The building blocks in ICT infrastructure reflects all the basic elements of

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the ICT industry including hardware, software, human resources, networking and information.

Critical Mass: The volume of usage of dif-ferent ICT tools and applications is an important determining factor in spreading awareness and in rendering such the level of ICT usage and deploy-ment effective and efficient.

Diffusion of Information and Communica-tion Technology: The diffusion process of ICT includes the stages of introduction, adoption, dif-fusion and adaptation whether that applies within an organization or a society.

E-Commerce Readiness: E-commerce readi-ness indicates the ability of individuals and/or the community to use ICT for online transactions including payments, buying and selling of differ-ent products and services.

Electronic Business: It is a dynamic set of technologies, applications and business processes that link enterprises, consumers and communities through the electronic exchange of goods, services, transactions and information (technology enabled and technology-mediated).

Electronic Commerce: It is the delivery of goods, services, information, or payments over networks or any other electronic means, frequently considered as a subset to electronic business and sometimes both terms are used interchangeably.

Humanware: The human element represents the most important building block in the ICT in-frastructure and it is the determining factor in its development, growth and sustainability especially in a global, dynamic and competitive marketplace.

Public Private Partnership: The collabora-tion of different constituencies in the marketplace including the government, the public sector, the private sector and the civil society to help realize a change and a transformation in the develop-ment process, many examples of PPP have been successful within the ICT sector especially in the developing world.

Telecommunication Liberalization: The reform of the telecommunications environment through reducing or eliminating the monopoly of national carriers and creating a competitive environment is often referred to as the liberaliza-tion process which is to a certain degree a degree of privatization involving transferring all or some portion of the telephone service government to private ownership.

ENDNOTE

1 Egypt joined the International Telecommu-nication Union (ITU) in 1976.

This work was previously published in Encyclopedia of E-Business Development and Management in the Global Economy, edited by In Lee, pp. 1086-1097, copyright 2010 by Business Science Reference (an imprint of IGI Global).

Electronic Business Prospects in Emerging Economies: Lessons from Egypt

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