E-Commerce
Indians wary of planning vacations on Internet
July 16, 2008, Deccan Herald
A plethora of travel websites in India have come up in recent times offering the traveller a variety of options from flights to hotels to vacation packages online. However, a recent study by Travelocity throws up the fact that the average Indian traveller is still not hooked on to this way of travel planning and booking. Some of the primary inhibitors is the lack of comfort with usage of such portals as well as less confidence with regard to accuracy of costs portrayed.
MSTC e-commerce initiative lauded
June 26, 2008, iGovernment
This is the report of proceedings from a conference organised by the Metal Scrap Trading Corporation(MSTC) which discussed the effects of e-commerce vis a vis physical trading. Over the past few years, MSTC has moved in a full-fledged way to online trading. The report says that the company uses its portal to provide services to producers of indigenous scrap, coal, manganese ore and iron ore.
Going global through digital technology
May 19, 2008, Deccan Herald
This article talks about the fact that trading in tea is all set to go digital away from the traditional system which involves the presence of middlemen. Over the past few years, the plummeting tea prices and the continued erosion of margins by traders meant that the actual tea growers continued to be worse of.
E-commerce transactions to reach $100 bn in '08
December 30, 2007, Indiatimes Infotech
This PTI report suggests that e-commerce transactions in India are expected to reach $100 billion by 2008. This is largely due to companies shifting to the internet for trading.
Mobile phones and economic development: Evidence from the fishing industry in India
2008, Reuben Abraham, MIT Press Journal
There is considerable speculation about the correlation between investments in telecommunications and economic development. Yet, there has been very little research on whether there is a connection between information and communication technologies (ICTs) and economic growth, and if indeed a connection can be established, how it works. Vast populations in developing countries live in rural areas and are subject to the vagaries of their highly inefficient markets. Mobile phones, by virtue of their role as carriers and conduits of information, ought to lessen the information asymmetries in markets, thereby making rural and undeveloped markets more efficient. This article tests this assumption using a case-study from India, where the fishing community in the southwestern state of Kerala has adopted mobile phones in large numbers.
Gender, e-commerce and development
2003, R.C. Sharma, The Electronic Journal on Information Systems in Developing Countries
This short piece by the regional director of Indira Gandhi Open University (IGNOU) discusses major barriers to women's entry into the e-commerce sector. The analysis of gender issues in e-commerce settings reveals that women face significant barriers in education and training.
Evolving an ICT platform for a traditional industry: Transforming artisans into entrepreneurs
B. Bowonder, S. Sadhulla and Akshay Jain
In India, the leather industry is a traditional industry. Kolhapuri is a traditional chappal manufactured through a manual process. The paper presents a case study of the manner in which the design process, manufacturing process and marketing of Kolhapuri industry was reengineered using ICT interventions.
What works: Tarahaat's portal for rural India
July 2001, Caitlin Peterson, Vivek Sandell and Andrew Lawlor, Digital Dividend
TARAhaat is a business enterprise of Development Alternatives (DA), an NGO focused on sustainable rural development in India, and its marketing arm, Technology and Action for Rural Advancement (TARA). TARAhaat uses a franchise-based business model to bring computer and Internet technology to rural regions and plans to use these technologies to create revenue streams leading to financial viability for itself and its franchisees.
