1st Pacific-Asia Workshop on Electronic Commerce

1st Pacific-Asia Workshop on Electronic Commerce
Queensland University of Technology
Brisbane, Queensland
April 5th, 1997

Welcome to the 1st Pacific-Asia Workshop on Electronic Commerce. This event was actually a double first -- because it was also the first venture undertaken by CollECTeR (Collaborative Electronic Commerce Technology and Research), the inter-university Electronic Commerce research group which, at the time of the Workshop, linked:

the Electronic Commerce Research Group within Monash University's Department of Information Systems;

the Centre for Information Systems Research within Swinburne University's School of Information Technology; and

the Department of Information and Communications Technology from the University of Wollongong.

CollECTeR provides a major focus for research into Electronic Commerce at all levels and is already linked with a number of industry groups from both public and private sectors -- as well as with consulting groups specialising in this area. Activities over the next few years will include student exchange and joint supervision, joint graduate student consortia, conferences and workshops, and extensions of our existing links with industry. The workshop formed the first opportunity for Universities around Australia to find out about CollECTeR and, as a result, the number of departments/groups belonging to CollECTeR jumped from 3 to 9 (see the index page for details of current membership).

The PAWEC'97 workshop was designed to serve two purposes:

to add additional opportunities for discussion about Electronic Commerce to PACIS'97; and

(possibly) to become an annual event, providing an opportunity for researchers in this exciting and rapidly-growing area to publish and discuss their work with colleagues from around the Asia-Pacific region.

We worked hard to make the workshop an academic event which would be valuable to all participants -- whether author or delegate. All papers appearing in these proceedings were blind-refereed by at least two reviewers, all of whom had research expertise in the area of Electronic Commerce (and we ensured that all papers were refereed by reviewers from outside the author's own institution). The panels at which authors presented their work were chaired by the members of the Conference Committee and formed an opportunity to discuss issues arising from the papers, in addition to merely presenting the authors' ideas and contributions.

We are most grateful to the organisers of the 3rd Pacific-Asia Conference on Information Systems, who kindly allowed us to link our workshop to PACIS -- and, in particular, to Michael Middleton for his efficient organisation of facilities and refreshments. Delegates told us that they found the workshop a valuable opportunity to exchange ideas with others sharing their interests -- we hope that you will enjoy reading these papers and find them a useful resource in your own research activities!

PAWEC 97 Committee Members

CollECTeR Index

Revised: January 1998
Direct comments and questions to:
Professor Paula Swatman