Nearly six-in-ten adults (58%) have done research online about the products and services they buy, and about a quarter (24%) have posted comments or reviews online about the things they buy. On a typical day, 21% of adults search for product information online.

This is an increase from 15% in 2007 and 9% in 2004. The 2010 data come from a telephone survey by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project conducted between August 9 and September 13, 2010. The survey was administered to a sample of 3,001 adults, age 18 and older, using a combination of landline and cellular telephones. Interviews were conducted in English or Spanish. The sample margin of error is plus or minus 2.5 percentage points for the general population and plus or minus 2.9 percentage points for internet users (n=2,065). Among internet users, 78% say that they at least occasionally conduct product research and 32% report that they have posted online product comments.

(Source: Pew Internet Research)

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Pew Internet Research

Online sales in China almost doubled in the first nine months of this year, official data showed Tuesday, as the nation becomes more switched on and confident in Internet shopping.

China's enormous Internet community spent 168.9 billion yuan (25 billion dollars), a 90 percent increase from the same period last year, the government data showed. And Di Jiankai, a director-general of the commerce ministry, told reporters the total figure for the whole year was expected to exceed 260 billion yuan. He did not providing a comparative figure for 2008. "The commerce ministry pays great attention to e-commerce," he added. "It is a very important business form we can use to boost consumption."

(Source: AFP)

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AFP

Developing countries risk missing out on the benefits of information technology because of their lack of broadband infrastructure, a U.N. agency said.

Lack of broadband Internet access deprives countries of the possibility of building up offshoring industries, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) said in a report late on Thursday. It also prevents people from tapping into all the advantages of mobile phones, whose use is exploding in poor countries. "What is known as the broadband gap for example is becoming a serious handicap for companies in many poor countries," he told a briefing to launch UNCTAD's Information Economy Report.

(Source: Reuters)

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Reuters  

ITU is pleased to announce the launch of its 2009 Cybersecurity and ICT Applications Essay Competition.

The 2009 ITU Cybersecurity and ICT Applications Essay Competition is open to current students and recent graduates in economics, political science, law, literature, telecommunications, computer science, information systems and related fields between the ages of 20 and 30 years old. The winners of the 2009 Essay Competition will be offered the opportunity of a consultancy contract within the ITU Development Sector's ICT Applications and Cybersecurity Division for three months. The winners will be given a contribution towards the cost of an economy class flight from their place of residence. In addition, they will be paid the sum of CHF 6000 towards living expenses for the duration of the contract.

To enter the competition you need to submit an essay on one of the following essay topics:

• Mobiles for Development: Enabling Low-Cost e-Applications for Rural and Remote Areas (e-Health, e-Government, e-Environment)
• Protecting Children and Youth in the Internet and Mobile Age: Innovative Technical and Social Solutions
• Connecting the World Responsibly: Empowering Women and Girls Through Creative Uses of ICTs
• Personal Information Online (internet/mobiles): Responding to User Safety Concerns

All applications should be submitted online through the competition website.

The deadline for applications is 14 June 2009.

We look forward to reviewing your applications and wish you the best of luck in the competition!

"Buses equipped with wi-fi are being used to deliver web content to remote rural villages in the developing world. In rural India and parts of Rwanda, Cambodia and Paraguay, the vehicles offer web content to computers with no internet connection." United Villages is an initiative that provides communties in Asia, Africa, and Latin America with a digital access to locally-relevant products and services using a low-cost, store-and-forward "drive-by WiFi" technology. Mobile Access Points (MAPs) are installed on existing vehicles (e.g. buses and motorcycles) and automatically provide access for WiFi-enabled Kiosks along the roads. Whenever a MAP is within range of a real-time wireless Internet connection, it transfers the data from and for those Kiosks. The United Villages project also allows users to request specific information or content for a few additional rupees. The wi-fi vehicles also deliver as well as collect e-mails, and brings e-Commerce to the villagers.

Read the full article on BBC News.
More on United Villages on their website.

The Consumer Electronics Association(CEA) launched a press release on 19 September 2007 on a study commissioned to investigate the impact of telecommuting and e-commerce on energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, and liquid fuel consumption.

The study found that one day of telecommuting - using consumer electronics such as personal computers and wireless networks - would save the equivalent of up to 12 hours of an average household's electricity use in the United States. The findings also indicate that the level of CO₂ reduction would be equal to removing 2 million vehicles from the road every year.

To read the study, click here.

The International Trade Centre's e-Trade Development Unit published its latest newsletter today, which highlights the topics as follows:

• ITC joins the UN Global Alliance for ICT and Development;
• Mali K7: an African Record Company aims at the Global Market;
• Training on e-Commerce targets SMEs in Tehran;
• Interview with Mr. Walid Kooli, e-Commerce focal point in Tunisia;
• Report from the field: ETDU in Iran;
• Knowledge Process Outsourcing (KPO) event mobilizes African firms;
• Helping Developing Countries migrate towards Paperless Trade;
• Paperless trade - how does it work?
• Bangladesh designs a strategy for its technology sector.

Bill St. Arnaud's blog passes on information on the upcoming OECD-Canada Technology Foresight Forum on the Participative Web: Strategies and Policies for the Future to be held 3 October 2007 in Ottawa, Canada.

Internet bandwidth could become a global currency under a proposed model for the future of e-commerce that exploits a novel peer-to-peer video sharing application designed by a trans-Atlantic team of computer scientists according to an article by Vidura Panditaratne on Wednesday, 29 August 2007. This application is being used by researchers from Delft University of Technology and Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam and Harvard's School of Engineering and Applied Sciences to explore a next-generation model for safe and legal electronic commerce that uses Internet bandwidth as a global currency. An enhanced version of this application called Tribler is now available for free download online.

A version of the Tribler video sharing software serves as a model for an e-commerce system because of its flexibility, speed, and reliability. The researchers envision this model to connect users to a single global market, without any controlling company, network, or bank with bandwidth as the first true Internet "currency" for such a market. "By studying user behavior within an operational 'Internet currency' system, with a particular focus on understanding how and why attacks, fraud, and abuse occur and how trust can be established and maintained, the researchers imagine future improvements to everything from on-demand television to online auctions to open content encyclopedias."

Read more by accessing the full article.

More and more citizens in Singapore are using government services online, of which 98% can be accessed on a 24/7 hour basis. Such e-government services include, inter alia, online business licensing services that allow entrepreneurs to register their business online, which would result in significant company savings.

To protect Singapore's critical infrastructure from cyber attacks the government established a national cyber threat monitoring scheme in March 2007. International collaboration through computer emergency response teams (CERTS) represents another approach of combating the threats from cyberspace. Through both a public education campaign on cybersecurity and a legal environment dealing with computer misuse, spam, electronic transactions, etc. Singapore aims to increase confidence in using its e-government services.

To read the full article "S'pore: E-govt success lures cyber terrorists" by L. Tann, ZDNet Asia, click here.

Under the umbrella of the Millennium Development Goal to reduce poverty and the plan of action of the World Summit on the Information Society, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the International Trade Centre (ITC - UNCTAD/WTO) combined their respective strengths in order to raise awareness on the potential of using mobile phones for business applications in developing countries.

ITC and ITU, based on a request from Burkina Faso, conducted a m-business potential assessment in this country. The study revealed the need of small and medium enterprises in exportation to obtain real-time market information.

For more information on the so-called "Trade at hand" initiative, click here.