Center for Management Development1
Introduction to Electronic Commerce
TERMS
Dr. Scudder
Center for Management Development2
Index 1
ANSI
Application
Anonymous FTP
Application Acknowledgement
ASCII
ATM
Authentication
Backbone
Bandwidth
Barcode
Bit
Broadband
Browser
Bulletin Board
Cad/Cam
Commerce
Convergence
Cross post
Critical Mass
Cyber Space
Defacto Standard
Digital Cash
Digital Signature
E-Commerce
Edifact
EDI
Electronic Form
EFT
Electronic Publishing
Electronic Purse
Encryption
FAQ
FTP
Filter
Finger
Firewall
Flame GO to NextIndex Page
Center for Management Development3
GIF
HTML
Hypertext
HTTP
Information
Superhighway
Internet
ISP
Interoperability
IP Address
JIT
List Serv
LAN
Mail bomb
Mail box
Map
Micropayment
MIME
Multimedia
Network
Newbie
Non-repudiation
Point-to-point
Point-to-multipoint
PGP
Product code
Protocol
Proxy server
PSTN
Public Domain
Quick Response
Remote Access
Remote Host
Slip
Server
SMTP
Smart Card
Snail Mail
Spamming
Stand Alone
TCP/IP
Telnet
Index 2
Center for Management Development4
Text File
Trading Partner
Transmission
Trojan Horse
URL
UPC
VAN
User Friendly
Uuencode
Value Added Network
Web Page
Web Server
Web Site
World Wide Web
Protocols
Http
TCP/IP
FTP
POP
IMAP
Go Back to Previous Index
Index 3
Center for Management Development5
Commerce
Defined– “Activity embracing all forms of the
purchase and sale of goods and services”
• Collins English Dictionary
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Electronic Commerce
Includes business functions other than just ‘purchase of goods and services’, i.e.– ATO Electronic Lodgement Service– CHESS Australian Stock Exchange– ASC Electronic Document Lodgement– NSW Tax line - Stamp duty
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Electronic Commerce
Is not about the technology itself
It is about business and how businesses use the available technology and applications to meet their business needs incl. – Improving effectiveness, efficiency, flexibility
and capacity to adapt to changing conditions
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Electronic Commerce Technologies
Processor technologies
Networking technologies
Data capture technologies
Storage technologies
Display technologies
Printing technologies
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Electronic Commerce Applications
EDI (Electronic Data Interchange)
Smart cards
EFTPOS
Electronic catalogues
Electronic directories
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EC Terminology
New technology terms developed on an on-going basis
A selection of electronic commerce terms
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ANSI
(American National Standards Institute)– administer a wide variety of standards in the
US including the ASCX12 EDI standard)
Application– a software program that performs a useful
task of tasks on a computer system
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Anonymous FTP– an Internet tool that enables anonymous
access to a remote computer system
Application Acknowledgment– an EDI transaction set used for the
automatic acknowledgment of another transaction sent e.g. a purchase order
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ASCII– American Standard Code for Information
Exchange– an 8 bit code to represent 256 characters
of the English alphabet, foreign language characters, numbers, punctuation and selected symbols
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ATM – Asynchronous Transfer Mode– a technology that permits the sharing of
transmission facilities between different data types, i.e. voice, data and video by carrying the data in small fixed-sized cells (56 byte)
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Authentication– method of ensuring that the party
accessing a computer system is actually the party they are claiming to be
Backbone– a network that connects other networks
and allows them to send data to one another
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Bandwidth– the amount of data that can be transmitted
over a circuit or network measured in bits per second
Bar code– printed bars and spaces that represent
alpha-numeric characters that enables data to be captured automatically into computer systems
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Bit– the smallest unit of information, i.e. a
binary digit equal to either a zero or one
Broadband– any transmission system that combines
multiple signals on one circuit i.e. a cable which can support video, voice and text simultaneously
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Browser– a program that locates and displays HTML
documents e.g. Internet Explorer, Netscape, Mosaic, Opera, etc.
Bulletin Board (BBS)– a computer system that provides subscribers with
news and information on particular topics and usually allows posting of public and private messages by subscribers
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CAD/CAM– computer aided design/computer aided
manufacturing
Client– any computer or application that requests
services or information from another computer or application
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Convergence– refers to the ‘moving together’ of the
various communications, information and entertainment industries to a common interactive broadband media
Crosspost– where the same message is posted to
multiple newsgroups
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Critical mass– a technology derives its value from the
extent that its use is universal amongst potential users. Critical mass is the point where the number of users of the technology is such that its use is considered to be ‘universal’
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Cyberspace– a term used to describe all computers and forms
of electronic communication as an ‘environment’ that users can enter and experience e.g. over the Internet
De facto standard– a standard that is widely used by many users and
software developers without having been created or approved by an official standards body
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Digital cash– funds which are held in an on-line account
which can be electronically transferred between two parties
Digital signature– a method of ensuring that a message was
actually sent by a person claiming to send it
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Email– the deliver of text messages and attachments over
a network from on computer to another, generally messages created by a human and intended for one or more people
EDIFACT– Electronic Data Interchange for Administration
Trade and Transport– UN sponsored global EDI standards
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Electronic Commerce– the conduct of business communication
and transactions over networks and through computers
Electronic Data Interchange (EDI)– the computer application to computer
application exchange of business data between organisations in a structured and standardised format
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Electronic form (eform)– an electronic form displayed on a computer screen
for completion by the user
Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT)– the electronic transfer of funds between bank
accounts of business partners
Electronic publishing– the electronic distribution of newsletters, journals,
white papers, research reports etc.
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Electronic purse– a card with stored value that can be
‘loaded’ with digital cash at banks or from ‘electronic wallets’ and spent using “point-of-sale’ devices
Encryption– the disguising of a message to obscure its
meaning
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FAQ– a list of frequently asked questions about a
topic with answersFTP (File transfer protocol)– a tool which allows users to transfer files
from remote hosts to their computerFilter– a utility that disposes of unwanted input
according to pre-defined specifications
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Finger– a tool that allows a user to obtain a list of
all users currently logged on to a specific host
Firewall– a computer system, router or pair of
routers between the Internet and a private network to prevent unauthorised users from accessing the private network
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Flame– an angry or often insulting message
GIF (Graphics Interchange Format)
– a file format that supports the transmission of graphics files
HTML– HyperText Mark-up Language– the document language used for creating
WWW pages
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HTTP Hyper Text Transfer Protocol
HyperText (or hot links)– links to other sections of the same document or
other documents over the WWWInformation Superhighway– the global information infrastructure, including the
Internet, PSTN (public switched telephone network), the cable network etc.
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Internet– a global network of “Inter”connected
computer “net”works
Internet Service Provider (ISP)– provides connections to the Internet
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Interoperability– the ability to integrate products from different
vendors into functional systems without developing custom software, hardware or tools, and without using gateways between the products
IP address– a 32 bit number that uniquely identifies the
connection between the Internet and each host computer or IP router
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Just-in-time– a process designed to minimise the amount of
inventory held and requires the delivery of goods from suppliers ‘just-in-time’ when they are needed. Used in the supply of goods for manufacturing and in the retail sector when usage or sale can be programmed.
LAN– local area network- a network typically found in a
limited geographic area or devoted to a specific department or organization.
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Listserv– a mailing list that automatically distributes
messages sent to it
Mail bomb– filling other Internet users email box with
unwanted messages
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Mailbox– a logical storage area for incoming email
messages which await a specified user
Map– Translation from one format to another. In
EDI, the translation of EDI data from one EDI format to another or between an EDI format and the format of another system
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Micropayment– a very small payment (fraction of a cent)
MIME– multi-purpose Internet mail extension– a standard for sending multimedia non-
ASCII messages over the Internet
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Multimedia– documents that combine multiple data
types, e.g. text, graphics, scanned images, audio and video
Network– the hardware and software that permits
multiple computers to communicate with each other
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Newbie– a new Internet user
Non-repudiation– assurance to either party in an electronic
transaction that the other cannot later deny having agreed to or sent the transaction. The assurance is generally provided by means of a digital signature
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Point to point– a mode of communication in which two
parties communicate with each other, e.g. telephone calls
Point to multipoint– a mode of communication in which one
party communicates with many
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PGP– pretty good privacy– an encryption program freely distributed on
the Internet for assuring privacy of email messages
Product code– an alphanumeric code that uniquely
identifies a product
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Protocol– a description of rules and guidelines that
determine how computers and other devices on a network communicate with each other
Proxy server– a server which relays requests for service on
behalf of clients. It may also provide a firewall security between the Internet and a private network by examining the content of packets before forwarding them
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PSTN– public switched telephone network
Public domain– a program or document not protected by
copyright, patents or trade secrets that may be copied, modified or resold, for any purpose without any obligation to the originator
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Quick response (QR)– a strategy to improve response to
customer demand by using various technologies to share point-of-sale information between retailers, wholesalers, manufacturers and suppliers
Remote access– dial-up access to a network or computer
system
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Remote host– a host (computer) accessed over a network
using telnet, FTP, or some other client application
Slip– a standard for TCP/IP point-to-point
connections over serial lines
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Server– a computer or software program that
provides services to clients over a network upon request
SMTP– the worldwide de-facto electronic
messaging standard. Whilst it facilitates mail between the Internet and other networks, it is limited to ASCII characters
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Smart card– a credit card sized device implanted with
either computer memory chips or computer processors
Snail mail– mail delivered by the traditional postal
service
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Spamming– the mass distribution of unwanted
information (usually commercial) to Internet users and newsgroups
Stand-alone– an adjective used to describe a computer
system that completely performs its function without the need to connect to another computer system
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TCP/IP– transmission control protocol/Internet
protocol
Telnet– the standard Internet Terminal emulation
protocol that permits clients to log-on to remote computers
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Text file– a file that only contains ASCII characters
which can be read on a screen by a human
Trading partner– any company or organisation that regularly
transacts business
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Transmission– the transfer of information from one
location to another by electronic, electromagnetic or optical means
Trojan horse– a seemingly benign computer program
which contains software designed to disrupt the computer it runs on and possible destroy data
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URL (uniform resource locator)
– a standardised method of identifying any document or resource on the Internet e.g. http://www.buseco.monash.edu.au/
UPC (universal product code)
– a numeric code for retail goods that identifies a particular product (6 digits to identify the manufacturer and 6 digits assigned by the manufacturer to uniquely identify the product)
VAN Value Added Network – Network provider of
business services such as EDI
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User-friendly– easily used by a user, particularly one who
is not familiar with the application or with computers and software in general
Uuencode– a Unix program that encodes a binary file
into ASCII so that it can be transmitted over Internet mail. The recipient uses the uudecode program to decode the file
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Value Added Network (VAN)– a network that offers special services such
as protocol conversion and data store and forward
Web page– text and graphics sent to a web browser by
a web server which may or may not fill more than one computer screen but all of which can be viewed by scrolling
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Web server– a server supporting one or more web sites
which supplies web pages to web browsers upon request
Web site– one or more interlinked web pages
controlled by a single organisation and linked to a single home page
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World Wide Web (WWW)– a set of Internet servers that provide
hypertext services to clients running WWW browsers
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Sample Protocols– HTTP – Hypertext Transfer Protocol– TCP/IP – Transmission Control
Protocol/Internet Protocol– FTP – File Transfer Protocol– POP – Post Office Protocol– IMAP –Internet Mail Access Protocol