Key Issues in Electronic Commerce in Today’s Global Information Infrastructure

This paper presents an overview of some of the key issues which have emerged in recent years surrounding the growth and application of e-commerce in the global information infrastructure (GII). Increased access to the Internet, the Internet as a strategic resource for business, trust and security issues surrounding e-commerce, and calls for a regulatory and legal framework to protect buyers and sellers, are four critical areas that need to be addressed by industry, government and the individual. In attempting to synthesise some of the contemporary key issues in e-commerce, we conclude by suggesting that research into this subject must embrace both external and internal factors as this will engender a deeper understanding of the role of e-commerce in the so-called ‘knowledge-driven economy’.