Chapter 9
E-Government, E-Learning, and
Other EC Applications
E-Learning at
Cisco Systems
The Problem
Cisco’s products are continuously being
upgraded or replaced; so extensive
training of employees and customers is
needed
Employees, business partners, and
independent students seeking
professional certification all require
training on a continuous basis
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E-Learning at
Cisco Systems (cont.)
Traditional classroom training was both
expensive and ineffective because of:
The rapid growth in the number of students
The fast pace of technological change
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E-Learning at
Cisco Systems (cont.)
The Solution
Built two e-learning portals
For 40 partner companies that sell Cisco
products
For 4,000 systems engineers who implement the
products after the sale
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E-Learning at
Cisco Systems (cont.)
To encourage its own employees to use
e-learning, Cisco:
Makes e-learning a mandatory part of
employees’ jobs.
Offers easy access to e-learning tools via the
Web.
Makes e-learning nonthreatening
Help employees pass and remove the fear
associated with failed tests
Offers additional incentives and rewards
Adds e-learning as a strategic top-down metric
for Cisco executives
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E-Learning at
Cisco Systems (cont.)
For its employees, partners, and
customers, Cisco operates E-Learning
Centers for Excellence that offer
training
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E-Learning at
Cisco Systems (cont.)
The Results
Reduced costs of developing and blending
courses
Saved productivity, travel and lodging
costs
Saved per capita trainee costs
Are able to offer more courses at lower
costs
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E-Learning at
Cisco Systems (cont.)
What we can learn…
Application of e-learning as an efficient
training tool
E-learning is also becoming popular in all
levels and types of schools and
universities
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E-Government
E-government: The use of IT and e-
commerce to provide access to government
information and delivery of public services
to citizens and business partners
Offers an opportunity to improve the
efficiency and effectiveness of the functions
of government and to make governments
more transparent to citizens and businesses
by providing access to more of the
information generated by government
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E-Government (cont.)
Government-to-citizens (G2C):
E-government category that includes
all the interactions between a
government and its citizens
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E-Government (cont.)
Major features of government Web
sites:
phone and address information
links to other sites
publications
databases
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E-Government (cont.)
Major areas of G2C activities:
tourism and recreation
research and education
downloadable forms
discovery of government services
information about public policy
advice about health and safety issues
Useful in solving constituents’ problems
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E-Government (cont.)
Netizen: A citizen surfing the Internet
Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT)
nationwide EBT system to deliver
government benefits electronically
deliver benefits to recipients’ bank
accounts
smart card system for those without
bank accounts
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E-Government (cont.)
Government-to-business (G2B): E-
government category that includes
interactions between governments and
businesses (government selling to
businesses and providing them with
services and businesses selling
products and services to government)
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E-Government (cont.)
Group purchasing
eFAST service conducts reverse auctions
for aggregated orders
Forward e-auctions
auction surplus or other goods
Tax collection and management
electronic filing of taxes is now available
in over 100 countries
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E-Government (cont.)
Government-to-government (G2G): E-
government category that includes
activities within government units and
those between governments
Government-to-employees (G2E): Egovernment category that includes
activities and services between
government units and their employees
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Implementing E-Government
Transformation process
Stage 1: Information
publishing/dissemination
Stage 2: “Official” two-way transactions
with one department at a time
Stage 3: Multipurpose portals
Stage 4: Portal personalization
Stage 5: Clustering of common services
Stage 6: Full integration and enterprise
transformation
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Implementing E-Government (cont.)
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Implementing E-Government
(cont.)
Implementation issues
Transformation speed
G2B implementation
Security and privacy issues
Wireless applications
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Implementing E-Government (cont.)
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Online Publishing,
E-Books,and Blogging
Online publishing: The electronic
delivery of newspapers, magazines,
books, news, music, videos, and other
digitizable information over the
Internet
e-zines: Electronic magazines
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Online Publishing
Online publishing approaches and
methods
Online-archive approach
New-medium approach
Publishing-intermediation approach
Dynamic approach
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Online Publishing (cont.)
Content providers and distributors
Those who provide and distribute content
online
The issue of intellectual property
payments is critical to the success of
content distribution
In 2002, many online content providers
were starting to charge for content, as
advertising was insufficient to cover their
expenses
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Online Publishing (cont.)
Publishing of music, videos, games,
and entertainment
Webcasting: Live shows broadcast on the
Web
Webinars: Seminars on the Web (Webbased seminars)
Edutainment: The combination of
education and entertainment, often
through games
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E-Books
E-book: A book in digital form that can be
read on a computer screen or on a special
device
E-books can be delivered and read via:
Web download
Web access
Dedicated reader
General-purpose reader
Web server
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E-Books (cont.)
Types of e-books
Web server
Online bookshelf
The download
The Rubics-cube hyperlink book
The interactive, build-your-own
(BYO) decision book
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E-Books (cont.)
Advantages of e-books
Portability
Lower production and distribution costs
Lower updating and reproduction costs
Ability to reach many readers
Ease of combining several books
(customization)
Lower advertising costs
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E-Books (cont.)
Limitations of e-books
E-books require hardware and software
that may be too expensive for some
readers
Some people have difficulty reading large
amounts of material on a screen
Batteries may run down
There are multiple, competing standards
Only a few books are available as e-books
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E-Books (cont.)
E-book issues
How to protect the publisher’s/author’s copyright
How to distribute and sell e-books
How much to charge and collect payment for an
e-book
How to best support navigation in an e-book
Which standards to use
How to increase reading speed
How to deal with resistance to change
How to design an e-book
How publishers can justify e-books in terms of
profit and market share
How to secure content
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E-Books (cont.)
Print on demand
Customized printing jobs, usually in small
quantities, and possibly only one document or
book
Process
1. A publisher creates a digital master and sends
it to a specialized print-on-demand company
2. When an order is placed, a print-on-demand
machine prints out the text of the document
or book, then covers, binds, and trims it (300page book in 1 minute)
3. The books are packaged and shipped to the
publisher or the consumer
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Blogging
Weblogging/blogging: Technology for
personal publishing on the Internet
Blog: A personal Web site that is open
to the public
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E-Learning
E-learning: The online delivery of
information for purposes of education,
training, or knowledge management
Web-enabled system that makes
knowledge accessible
to those who need it
when they need it, anytime,
anywhere
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E-Learning (cont.)
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E-Learning (cont.)
Benefits of e-learning
Time reduction
Large volume and diversity
Cost reduction
Higher content retention
Flexibility
Updated and consistent material
Fear-free environment
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E-Learning (cont.)
Drawbacks and challenges of e-learning
Need for instructor retraining
Equipment needs and support services
Lack of face-to-face interaction and campus
life
Assessment
Maintenance and updating
Protection of intellectual property
Computer literacy
Student retention
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E-Learning Failures
E-learning failures due to:
Believing that e-learning is always a
cheaper learning or training alternative
Overestimating what e-learning can
accomplish
Overlooking the shortcomings of selfstudy
Failing to look beyond the course
paradigms
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E-Learning (cont.)
Viewing content as a commodity, which
causes lack of attention to quality and
delivery to individuals
Ignoring technology tools for e-learning
or, on the other hand, fixating too much on
Technology as a solution
Assuming that learned knowledge will be
applied
Believing that because e-learning has been
implemented, employees and students will
use it
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E-Learning (cont.)
Virtual and online universities
Distance learning: Formal education
that takes place off campus, usually,
but not always, through online
resources
Virtual university: An online
university from which students take
classes from home or other off-site
locations usually via the Internet
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E-Learning (cont.)
Online corporate
training
via the intranet
and corporate
portals or the
Internet
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E-Learning (cont.)
Drivers of e-learning
Technological change
Competition and cost pressures
Globalization
Continual learning
Network connectivity
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E-Learning (cont.)
E-learning tools available from:
WebCT
Blackboard
Learning Space from Lotus
Corporation
Computerprep.com
Macromedia.com
Ecollege.com
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E-Learning (cont.)
Implementing e-learning centers
A learning center is a focal point for
all corporate training and learning
activities, including online ones
Facilities may be run by a third party
rather than connected to any
particular corporation, and they are
referred to as electronic education
malls
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Knowledge Management
and E-Commerce
Knowledge management (KM): The
process of capturing or creating
knowledge, storing it, updating it
constantly, interpreting it, and using it
whenever necessary
Organizational knowledge base: The
repository for an enterprise’s
accumulated knowledge
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Knowledge Management (cont.)
KM types
1. Human capital
2. Structured capital (organizational
capital)
3. Customer capital
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Knowledge Management (cont.)
KM activities
1. Creating knowledge repositories where
knowledge can be stored and retrieved
easily
2. Enhancing a knowledge environment in
order to conduct more effective
knowledge creation, transfer and use
3. Managing knowledge as an asset so as to
increase the effective use of knowledge
assets over time
4. Improving knowledge access to facilitate
its transfer between individuals
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Knowledge Management (cont.)
Knowledge sharing
Knowledge has a limited value if it is
not shared
The ability to share knowledge
decreases its cost and increases its
effectiveness for greater competitive
advantage
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Knowledge Management (cont.)
Song (2002) proposed a framework for
organizing and sharing knowledge
gleaned from the Internet
list strategic goals and objectives
and the critical information needed
for their attainment
build analysis and storage
mechanism as part of a business
intelligence system
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Knowledge Management
and E-Commerce (cont.)
KM relationship to EC
organizations need knowledge,
which is provided by KM
large amounts of data can be
gathered easily, and through
analysis organizations learn about
their clients and generate useful
knowledge for planning and decision
making
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Knowledge Management
and E-Commerce (cont.)
Core knowledge management
activities should include:
Identification
Creation
Capture and codification
Classification
Distribution
Utilization
Evolution of the knowledge needed to
develop products and partnerships
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Knowledge Management
and E-Commerce (cont.)
Knowledge portal: A single point of
access software system intended to
provide timely access to information
and to support communities of
knowledge workers
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Knowledge Management
and E-Commerce (cont.)
Online advice and consulting
Medical advice
Management consulting
Legal advice
Gurus
Financial advice
Other advisory services
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Customer-to-Customer
E-Commerce
Customer-to-customer (C2C):
e-commerce in which both the buyer and
the seller are individuals (not businesses);
involves activities such as auctions and
classified ads
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Customer-to-Customer
E-Commerce (cont.)
C2C auctions
general sites (eBay.com,
auctionanything.com)
specialized sites (buyit.com, bid2bid.com)
Classified ads
national, rather than a local, audience
greatly increases the supply of goods and
services available and the number of
potential buyers
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Customer-to-Customer
E-Commerce (cont.)
Personal services
lawyers
handy helpers
tax preparers
investment clubs
dating services
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Customer-to-Customer
E-Commerce (cont.)
C2C exchanges
consumer-to-consumer bartering
exchanges (targetbarter.com)
consumer exchanges that help
buyers and sellers find each other
and negotiate deals (see
business2.com)
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Peer-to-Peer Networks
and Applications
Peer-to-peer (P2P): A network
architecture in which workstations (or
PCs) share data and processing with
each other directly rather than through
a central server
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Peer-to-Peer Networks
and Applications (cont.)
Characteristics of P2P systems
provide for real-time access to other users
(e.g., instant messaging)
maximize the use of physical attributes such
as processor cycles, storage space, bandwidth,
and location on the network
employ user interfaces that load outside of a
Web browser
address the need to reach content resources
located on the Internet periphery
support “cross-networking” protocols
promote popular interest by doing something
new or exciting
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Peer-to-Peer Networks
and Applications (cont.)
P2P networking connects people
directly to other people
Provides an easy system for sharing,
publishing, and interacting that does
not require knowledge of system
administration
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Peer-to-Peer Networks
and Applications (cont.)
Models of P2P applications
Collaboration
Content distribution
Business process automation
Distributed search
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Peer-to-Peer Networks
and Applications (cont.)
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Peer-to-Peer Networks
and Applications (cont.)
C2C P2P applications
Napster—people could enter files that
other people were willing to share
U.S. federal court found Napster to be in
violation of copyright laws because it
enabled people to obtain music files
without paying the creators of the music
for access to their material
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Peer-to-Peer Networks
and Applications (cont.)
Gnutella (gnutella.com) a P2P
program connects the peer
computers
Kazaa
ICQ (the instant messenger-type
chat room) where chatters share the
same screen
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Peer-to-Peer Networks
and Applications (cont.)
Intrabusiness P2P applications
companies are using P2P to
facilitate internal collaboration
B2B P2P applications
enable companies to store
documents in-house instead of on an
unknown, and possibly unsecured,
server
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Peer-to-Peer Networks
and Applications (cont.)
B2C P2P applications
Marketing
Advertising
B2C payments
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Other EC Applications
Selling prescription drugs online
drugstore.com
Postal services
e-stamp.com
Services for adults
adultshop.com
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Other EC Applications (cont.)
E-alliances
For a large EC project, a company
may join with a technology provider,
a logistics provider, and a bank
Wedding-related sites
Wedding channels
Gift registries
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