Irish businesses will fail if they do not capitalise on the power of the Internet, according to the Minister for Science Technology and Commerce, Mr Noel Treacy. "Increasingly companies are doing business electronically and customers are using the Internet to shop", said Mr Treacy. "If Irish companies are not in a position to service the needs of this new generation of clients and customers then they will become marginalised", he added.
Speaking on Tuesday at the launch of the Small Firms Association's publication `E-Business, a Comprehensive Guide for Small Business', Mr Treacy added that small firms in particular must adapt to the e-commerce environment if they are to survive. "In a few years time all business will be ebusiness and we must ensure that Irish business reaps the benefits of the new information communication technologies", he said.
11 Out Of 60 Ain't Bad: Ireland is 11th in a list of `ebusiness ready' countries published by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). The EIU list places the US top of the list followed closely by Sweden, Finland and Norway. The study of 60 countires measured e-business readiness by examining the expected business attractiveness of the general business environment and the state of the communications infrastructure in each of the countries.
Surf's Up: Irish people spend an average of four hours and 23 minutes surfing the Web, according to statistics released last week. The survey, by market research company AC Neilsen, reveals that during this time Irish users look at about 18 sites and 352 pages. Six out of 10 surfers are males, who spend 40 per cent more time online than women.
Web Aid: Women's Aid, which is concerned with the issue of domestic violence, officially launched its new website (www.womensaid.ie) in Dublin Castle on Friday. The site aims to educate and inform people on the issue. Journalists seeking press releases, students compiling projects and women needing basic information can all make use of the site, according to the organisation. In addition, Women's Aid said that the launch of the new site would free up much-needed time currently spent answering telephone queries.
New Love: An alert has been issued about a new variant of the "Love Bug" worm. "New Love", which the companies say has not yet been put in general circulation, forwards itself to addresses on a user's e-mail system using different subject lines as it spreads, according to anti-virus companies. The virus has to ability to mutate and avoid detection by anti-virus software and could ultimately damage computer operating systems.
Boo To Bust: The "dot-com" company boom was dealt a severe blow last week with the closure of Boo.com, the Internet sportswear retailer which was set up only 18 months ago. Three hundred people could lose their jobs at Boo which had liquidators appointed to it on Thursday. However, the liquidator, KPMG, has said there is an "incredible amount of interest" in the failed venture.
In Brief... Filipino authorities investigating the "Love Bug" virus are struggling to come up with appropriate laws with which to prosecute suspects . . .Plans to break up software giant Microsoft will "undo the harm to competition caused by Microsoft's illegal conduct", according to the US Justice Department. . .