News/Press Releases		Features		Event Calendar

PA e-Comm News JUNE 14

Take note! The PA e-Commerce Association has a new phone number. Call us toll free at 1-800-497-0809.

Searches for "World Cup" have taken over first place on the list of the Terra Lycos 50 most popular user searches, replacing "Star Wars" which dropped to number three. Guess what is #2? "Dragonball", followed by "tattoos" and "Miss Universe". The Lycos 50 is compiled from 12 million queries from Internet users on the Lycos Network. Two interesting facts are that the World Cup's dominance online took place before the U.S. team even played its first match and even though MTV has a hit with The Osbournes, Ozzy's family has not been able to break into The Lycos 50. 

While the Internet may disregard international boundaries, shoppers still must abide by the laws of their home country. The release of the first Harry Potter DVD underscores the problems and limitations because, although initially being released in the United Kingdom, American audiences thought they had found a way around that by ordering at Amazon UK. But to no avail. E-commerce also is hampered by different rules and regulations regarding taxation, privacy and a limited number of payment methods. Successful e-commerce companies will have to become savvier about shipping, taxation, payment, cultural differences, language differences and trade restrictions. 

Research has proven that customer personalization helps companies resolve complaints more efficiently and improves customer loyalty, thereby making the relationships more profitable. However, businesses are becoming more conservative in their technology spending and appear to be cutting back on CRM. A recent report by the Personalization Consortium states that such personalization can result in greater online consumer spending. Vendors like Talisma, Blue Martini, E.piphany and others have jumped at the chance to bolster the personalization features of their products by adding analytics and intelligence to the mix. The complexity of a proposed CRM project is the overriding factor driving costs, according to a report from Deloitte Consulting. A highly complex project might include sales, marketing and customer service processes while a relatively simple project probably would entail just the sales or marketing process. Per-seat costs for high-complexity projects that have 1,000 users cost around $50,000 and slowly drop to around $15,000 as the number of users increases, according to Deloitte while per-seat costs for projects of low complexity range from $15,000 for a user group of 100 to $10,000 for 5,000 users. One way to contain costs is to implement personalization tools in one division rather than through the entire company. 

USA Interactive is backing away from a deal to acquire all the outstanding shares of its subsidiaries Expedia, Hotels.com and Ticketmaster through an exchange of stock. The deal would have simplified the corporate structure and helped remove roadblocks from the decision-making process. 

MSN has intensified its war against AOL by offering a less expensive monthly rate and an interim mailbox so customers can smoothly make the transition. So, will AOL’s customer base abandon the entity which has consistently ranked last or next-to-last in any number of third-party customer-satisfaction surveys of ISPs? An investment and research firm poll reported that 40 % of its AOL-using clients were dissatisfied with its service. The main complaints about AOL tend to be about the quality of Web service it provides: connections that too often crash and slow upload and download rates. Then there is the $23.90 monthly fee and AOL's refusal to open its proprietary IM program to users of other messaging systems. 

WorldCom, the largest reseller of wireless services in the U.S., has reported that it will shed its wireless resale business. This reselling business was bleeding cash. 

A new Gartner Research report indicates that most companies could save significant money by sending invoices to consumers via ebilling. This report indicates Business-to-Customer companies could achieve a return on investment if 9 % of their bills were viewed and paid online.

Nine metropolitan areas have been identified as possessing the greatest concentration of the U.S. biotechnology industry in a new Brookings Institution report entitled Signs of Life: The Growth of Biotechnology Centers in the U.S. The report says the nine areas listed below in order account for: more than 60 percent of all spending on research by the National Institutes of Health; slightly less than two-thirds of all biotech-related patents; eight of every nine VC dollars invested in biopharmaceuticals; and, 95 percent of the dollars in research alliances.

Boston-Worcester-Lawrence, MA-NH-ME-CT Consolidated Metropolitan Statistical Area (CMSA) 

• San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose, CA CMSA 
• San Diego, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) 
• Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, NC MSA 
• Seattle-Tacoma-Bremerton, WA CMSA 
• New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NY-CT-PA CMSA
• Philadelphia-Wilmington-Atlantic City, PA-NJ-DE-MD CMSA 
• Los Angeles-Riverside-Orange County, CA CMSA 
• Washington-Baltimore, DC-MA-VA-WV CMSA

Factors going into the assessment of which metro areas constitute biotechnology centers include: biomedical research infrastructure; NIH funding for medical schools; biotechnology related patents; venture capital for biopharmaceuticals; pharmaceutical/biotechnology alliances; life science and pharmaceutical research employment; number of biotech companies with more than 100 employees; number and share of biotech firms by establishment date; market capitalization of biotech companies; and, memberships in the biotechnology industry association. The availability of venture capital and local entrepreneurship is critical in specific metropolitan areas emerging as biotechnology centers. A strong biomedical research presence appears to be a necessary condition for biotechnology commercialization, but it does not seem to be sufficient. 

EDUCATION INFORMATION

“Your e-Business Future: What you need to know and who can help”

Friday, June 21 -- 8 a.m. to noon

Gallagher Conference Center

Penn State Worthington Scranton campus

Dunmore, PA

Fee: $10

Educational workshops include: Should my business be on the Internet? Protecting your customers, protecting your business. Helping customers find you on the Web. Handling purchases on the Web. 

Plus, visit exhibitors offering assistance and resources for small businesses, including:

Ben Franklin Technology Partners

Information Sciences and Technology Program, Penn State

NE Pennsylvania Industrial Resource Center

Penn State Cooperative Extension and others.

For more information, call Terry Schettini at 570-963-6842 or email at LackawannaExt@psu.edu.

http://www.scrantonrtg.com/ebworkshop.htm

TECHNOLOGY PROCUREMENT OPPORTUNITIES

The following is a listing of recently published technology procurement opportunities with various governmental entities. We hope our readers take the opportunity to investigate these postings and increase their business:

NASA is now accepting Phase I proposals for its FY 2003 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs. The agency anticipates making approximately 300 SBIR and 20 STTR Phase I proposals with maximum award sizes of $70,000 and $100,000 respectively in FY 2003. Proposals are due by August 21, 2002. Research topics, proposal requirements and additional contact information is provided in the combined solicitation: http://sbir.nasa.gov/SBIR/sbirsttr2002/solicitation/index.html 

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Acquisition and Logistics Division D – 
THIRD WAVE ADVANTAGE MACHINING SIMULATION SOFTWARE AND HARDWARE Synopsis http://www.eps.gov/spg/DOC/NIST/AcAsD/Reference-Number-
02-822-5690/listing.html

USAF - Air Force Space Command
21CONS (Bldg 982)
70 -- Media Converters
Synopsis http://www.eps.gov/spg/USAF/AFSC/21CONSb984/F1J2YT21300100/listing.html

DISA - Acquisition Directorate
DITCO-Scott
D--INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SERVICES, INCLUDING COMMUNICATIONS SERVICES Synopsis http://www.eps.gov/spg/DISA/D4AD/DITCO/VARIOUS-10-Jun-2002/listing.html

USN - Office of Naval Research
Naval Research Laboratory
A -- Research and Development, modification, and integration of existing Navy supported software. Synopsis http://www.eps.gov/spg/USN/ONR/N00173/N00173-02-R-CR09/listing.html

USA - National Guard Bureau
USPFO for Puerto Rico
D--D-Information Technology services, including Telecommunication Services Modification 01 http://www.eps.gov/spg/USA/NGB/DAHA70/DAHA70-02-R-0005/listing.html

ODA - Department of Defense Education Activity
DoDEA Headquarters Procurement Branch
U -- ExPAN Standard College and Career Planning Software Synopsis http://www.eps.gov/spg/ODA/DoDEA/ArlingtonVA/Reference-Number-HE1254-
2002127-2501/listing.html

State Diplomatic Telecommunications Service Program Office Acquisitions D -- Network Information Computer Test Equipment Synopsis http://www.eps.gov/spg/State/DTSPO/AD-ACQ/S-DTSPO-02-Q-0094/listing.html

House Office of the Chief Administrative Officer
Office of Procurement
D -- Web Content Management System
Synopsis http://www.eps.gov/spg/House/HOCAO/HOCAOOP/Reference-Number-
IHIR2002089/listing.html

Source: www.eps.gov. For direct assistance, contact your local Procurement Technical Assistance Center at www.PaPTACs.com

NEWS & NOTES is a service of the PA e-Commerce Association. Please forward this e-mail to anyone else who might be interested in the content or in learning more about the Association. Remember to visit our website @ www.paecomm.org. or give us a call at 800-497-0809.

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