Partners Launch Survey Of Internet, E-Commerce Usage

Compiled ByJill Jusko Advisory firm IDC and the University of California at Irvine have launched eWorld 2002, a research effort to gather insights into the adoption and usage of Internet and e-commerce tools and technologies by geography and industry. The research initiative gets under way with a survey of chief information officers and IT managers in 10 countries: U.S., Brazil, Mexico, Denmark, France, Germany, Japan, China, Taiwan and Singapore. The survey will address the manufacturing, retail, wholesale and finance industries and targets companies of all sizes. "We expect that the survey will help us determine whether the Internet and e-commerce are making some firms, industries and countries more competitive than others, by examining the current environment, technology readiness, barriers/incentives for Internet use and the impacts of e-commerce," says Kenneth Kraemer, director, Center for Research on Information Technology and Organizations (CRITO). The center is a unit in the Graduate School of Management at the University of California at Irvine. As part of a grant from the National Science Foundation, CRITO will use the survey data in academic research. IDC's research involving eWorld 2002 data will be available beginning in May 2002.