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e-commerce@its.best.ukf orp er m a ni nn oc et iv aa n do nu n itFOREWORDby the prime ministerThere is no doubt that electronic commerce is going to have a profound effect onbusiness, Government and consumers and on the way people live and work. E-commercepresents enormous challenges. Countries that wholeheartedly embrace e-commerce willbenefit from improved national economic performance. Those that do not risk seeingtrade ebb away to low cost competitors elsewhere in the world.Conscious of the enormous opportunities and threats posed by e-commerce, I asked thePerformance and Innovation Unit to prepare a strategy to make the UK the world’s bestenvironment for electronic commerce, as announced in last Autumn’s CompetitivenessWhite Paper.The PIU Team has found that the UK is well placed to realise this goal. We have worldclass telecommunications firms and an open and competitive market. We lead the worldin mobile telecommunications technology. We have good levels of Internet penetrationin homes and in the workplace. And English is the language of the Web.But we must not be complacent. There are signs that we are not capitalising on ourstrengths and keeping up with the pace of change. For example, it is disappointingthat a recent survey of Directors in the UK showed that only 2% of UK Board Directorsbelieve that the Internet poses a serious competitive threat. That cannot be right andI hope the messages contained in this report will represent a wake-up call for manyin British business.The Team has identified three areas in which we need to make progress – we need tofacilitate access to the technology and networks, we need to enhance understanding ofthe potential of e-commerce and we need to create an environment where people canhave trust in the new medium. There are some things Government can do. For example,we need to ensure that all sections of society have the opportunity to share in the benefitsof the e-commerce revolution. We have also got to give a higher political priority toelectronic commerce and ensure that all parts of Government are pulling togethereffectively to improve the UK’s performance. That’s why I am delighted that PatriciaHewitt will be the Minister responsible for co-ordinating our e-commerce strategy acrossGovernment and for taking forward this report.But it is clear that the Government alone cannot drive forward the development ofe-commerce. What is needed is a sustained joint campaign between Government andbusiness to ensure that we reap the benefits. Similarly, Government cannot simplyregulate to achieve its aims in this new global electronic environment. This report,therefore, recommends a light regulatory touch. Enough to build confidence in thenew way of doing business and to protect consumers, but not so much that we stifleinnovation, creativity and entrepreneurship and drive industry overseas. I pledge thatwe will work with industry to get that balance right.Tony Blair