EC-DC Center
An ECDC center (a central component of the strategy of the ITU ECDC Project) consists of the shared infrastructure and services necessary to provide secure electronic payment services, secure transactions services and trust services to multiple independent businesses in a region or country. The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) is NOT responsible for the selection of businesses, merchants or entrepreneurs that could participate in ECDC Projects, does not define the criteria for
participation but provides guidelines to assist in the establishment of the selection criteria.
Some of the desired features and characteristics of an ECDC center involves it self-sustainability, neutrality and openness to all businesses (including Small and Medium Enterprises - SMEs) in the region or country that are willing to participate in the ECDC project and could benefit from electronic commerce.
If possible, an ECDC center should provide mechanisms to build local human resource capacity in electronic
commerce and facilitate the adoption of national policies on electronic commerce.
It shall be run and operated by a public and/or private entity in the region, country or community designated (either
by consensus or by virtue of the role of that entity within the region).
In case a World Trade Center (WTC) is interested in participating in the ECDC project, the ECDC center could be located at
the WTC based on the terms of the Partnership Agreement between the ITU and the WTC Geneva and the objectives of ECDC.
When requested by the host country organization, government or other entity responsible for running the center, Trust
Services may be provided by WISeKey SA based on the terms of the Partnership Agreement with the ITU.
ECDC centers may be part of the Global Electronic Commerce Portal and the Electronic Trading Online system.
The ITU does NOT run or operate these centers but together with its partners, assists in setting them up. When a center is
up and running, it becomes the property of the funding entities and other partners based on procedures that have been defined and accepted by all those concerned. The ITU does NOT define the procedures for the ongoing operations of an ECDC center.
Eligibility and conditions
Public and private sector organizations, companies, cooperatives or any other structured entity with a recognized legal status located in an ITU Member State that is either a developing or least developed country are eligible to participate in ECDC projects. Since one of the objectives of ECDC is to enable developing countries to acquire electronic commerce technologies, it is important to have a program for building local capacity. This shall enable developing and least developed countries play an active role in the
implementation and ongoing operations of the ECDC center and also reduce the setup and operational costs.
Correspondence and notices
The company, cooperative, organization or entity to be responsible for the electronic commerce services and infrastructure as described in this and other documents about the ECDC project is hereafter referred to as the Commerce Service Provider (CSP). All correspondence between the ITU and the country or region for the purpose of defining the requirements of the ECDC project
(as described in this document) shall be with the CSP. The CSP shall contact the relevant sectors (Information Technology, Banking, Business and Government) to collect the requested information and send them to the ITU. The requested information should be sent via email (as a Microsoft Word and/or RTF attachment) and/or via fax in English, French or Spanish.
Guidelines for evaluating the requirements for implementing an ECDC center
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