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the usefulness of the new medium and build confidence in electronic commerce
transactions. Knowledge deployment
and mobilization
are the strategies that can
best fit government’s intention to create awareness about electronic commerce, as
well as about the rights of individuals in this new environment. Issues such as
awareness about privacy protection and trust toward electronic means should be
considered by policy makers when they apply knowledge building and deployment
practices. The education of the public on one hand can help the electronic
commerce marketplace to reach a critical mass of
users. On the other hand, a
“digital literate”
society can use electronic means to perform “electronic activism”
and express disappointment about business practices (see, for example, Badaracco
and Useem, 1997). Additionally, they might refuse the exchange of personal data
through electronic means, although this is a practice that is very useful to companies
for marketing purposes. Thus, regulators should balance the needs of the business
community with the social concerns related to the use of electronic means. It is
expected that when the social issues such as trust and digital democracy are
addressed satisfactorily, electronic commerce is more likely to become the
predominant business practice.
The “education”
of individuals within the business
environment (business level)
is essential. In this field the help of professional bodies such as chambers of
commerce and trade associations is essential. While most of policy research
concentrates on the role of governments or international organizations, the role of
players, such as trade associations, that can act as policy intermediaries is very
important: they have knowledge of the local context and thus can complement the
general national or international policies. As discussed earlier in the paper, other
policy intermediaries that become increasingly involved in policy issues in the
information society include independent private organizations as well as civil
liberties and professional groups who wish to promote the interest of a particular
group or the net-citizens at large. Schools and universities also face pressures to
support the ‘workforce of the future’
and try to promote the use of information and
communication technologies, thus contributing to knowledge building and deploy-
ment strategies. Finally, the Internet empowers individuals to draw their own