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To: bugssy who wrote (2423)	5/31/1999 7:10:00 AM
From: SurfForWealth	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 3896

Article in todays FP! Cheers!!! Monday, May 31, 1999 Wake-up call for e-commerce Claudia Cattaneo Financial Post CALGARY - Internet applications are multiplying at such a brisk space cybertime is being measured in "dog years" -- or seven years for every human year, says Scott Owens, who develops Internet commerce strategies for major Canadian companies. But Canadian businesses have not caught on to the growing commerce potential of the Internet -- or to the new speed of business propelled by the Net -- and are lagging behind their U.S. counterparts by about five human years in developing strategies, said Mr. Owens, managing partner with Deloitte & Touche in Calgary. "Canadian management has not woken up to the issue," Mr. Owens, who has a background in electrical engineering, research, and corporate strategy development, said in an interview. "I consult to CEOs on a regular basis, and when we ask them, what's your e-com strategy, they say, 'Pardon me?' They haven't had a wake-up call yet." The only Canadian exceptions are financial institutions, which are well into it, and airlines, which are catching up, he said. The Internet has forever changed the speed of business time by eliminating time walls, he said. Evidence that the business cycle has accelerated includes: - Companies are developing new products and services in a fraction of the time it took just a few years ago by assigning multiple teams working 24-hours a day in different time zones. - Consumers who can complete worldwide searches for a product in minutes, compared to months or years before the Internet. - Manufacturers who can distribute products directly to consumers through the Internet, shrinking time lags by skipping retailers and distributors. Airlines, for example, are squeezing out travel agents by selling tickets directly on the Internet. - Companies that can go through an entire cycle -- startup funding, product launch, a share offering and an acquisition -- in a matter of months. The rule of thumb a few years ago was seven years from start-up to commercialization. But seven times the speed won't necessarily mean seven times the revenue, or seven times the profit, Mr. Owens said. It means companies making the transition will win, while the others will lose. "You will have small organizations grow to billion-dollar firms in a very short period of time. We have already seen that in the U.S. with Internet stocks. And you will see large organizations fail, because they fail to make the transition," he predicted. Taking e-commerce's growth seriously is Revenue Canada. Herb Dahliwal, the Revenue Minister, told a Calgary conference last week the government, with the provinces and foreign jurisdictions, is developing strategies to ensure e-commerce purchases are properly taxed. Tax on purchases made on the Internet is supposed to be paid where the product is consumed, he said. But monitoring cyberspace transactions will be a challenge. "Our whole tax system is based on voluntary compliance."