Fourth Annual Netcentricity Conference Focuses on E-Markets

This year, the Robert H. Smith School of Business dedicated its Fourth Annual Netcentricity Conference, held on April 23, to the discussion of the Future of Electronic Markets. Panelists and participants included nationally and regionally respected e-marketers, professors of information technology and e-commerce, e-government program directors, researchers, and MBA students. The conference featured state-of-the-art multimedia presentations and timely research initiatives that demonstrated how important digital and information technology has become in our lives.

The event kicked off with Howard Frank, dean of the Smith School, who discussed the definition and importance of netcentricity today. "Netcentricity is the power of digital networks to distribute information instantly and on a global scale," he said. Frank cited such examples as retail-giant Wal-Mart and its advanced supply chain management system to illustrate the "netcentric world" we live in today. He said that netcentricity is a "transforming agent" that when leveraged appropriately in the business world can create tremendous value.

Keynote speaker, Harvey Seegers, current executive in residence at Smith and former chairman and CEO of GE Global eXchange Services, gave a candid discussion of the appropriate and inappropriate conduct that took place during the volatile first decade of the electronic marketplace. Seegers reasoned that there was a misconception among e-marketplace players that "you could start an Internet business with a little capital, sprinkle 'Internet magic' on it and make a lot of money - a 'build it and they will come' mentality." Seegers mentioned reasons for several failed attempts at building sustainable e-businesses, including the weakened economy and the inherent assumption that "profits didn't matter."

The electronic marketplace is a much more technologically complex and capital-intensive arena than it was perceived to be. Seegers believes the e-marketplace is now at an "inflection point" where the economy will bounce back to "spark a resurgence of investment in e-markets." Now, e-markets are much more widespread than most people think. Public and private e-marketplaces handle the exchange of millions of dollars each day. Graphical interfaces are more user-friendly, and business-to-business and business-to-consumer transactions can now be handled through e-payment systems. Web services can connect large corporate systems together in the e-marketplace to provide better, faster service to buyers and sellers. Seegers, in an amendment of his assessment of the future of e-markets, asserts, "The future of commerce is electronic markets."

The government has experienced much of the same evolution with its e-initiatives. Though e-government did not attract as much press coverage as the dot-com "boom" and subsequent "bust," its progression during the last decade has been astounding. Alisoun Moore, CIO for Montgomery County, Md., along with Roland Rust, conference co-chair and Smith professor of marketing, and Janet Caldow, director of IBM's Institute for e-Government, discussed some of the advantages the government and its customers stand to experience given the anticipated future of e-government. Not only does digitizing several government processes and services cut costs, but Rust argues that it helps create increased revenue as well.

Many local, state, and federal government agencies have already moved from publishing basic information on their Web sites for the benefit of citizens to soliciting bids for professional services, and facilitating customer services that would otherwise require complex scheduling and face-to-face contact. Fifty-three million Americans filed their taxes on-line last year and this year the IRS predicts even higher numbers. Now, several agencies are moving toward "the development of integrated portals built around the functional needs of any customer," Moore says. The move toward a more customer-centric government is being made possible through the Internet and Web services.

Other sessions included a discussion of digital versus physical goods by P.K. Kannan, associate professor of marketing at Smith; Barbara Kline Pope, executive director of the National Academies Press; and Joseph Bailey, assistant professor of logistics, business, and public policy. Richard O'Neill, chief economic advisor for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and Professor G. Anand Anandalingam, Smith's decision and information technologies department chair, offered insights into how to structure market mechanisms that can clear the market of goods and services at the appropriate price and time to be consumed.

"Most really do not know how far we've come," says Seegers about the development of digital technology. The Smith School celebrates the convergence of business and technology and offers the annual Netcentricity Conference to precipitate invaluable knowledge sharing among the thought leaders in the Smith School community and beyond. Please check back early next year for details on the next annual Netcentricity Conference.