The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the Government of Canada held a Ministerial Conference on Electronic Commerce in Ottawa from October 7 to 9, 1998. The conference brought together Ministers of OECD member governments, observers from non-member countries, the heads of major international organisations, industry leaders, and representatives of consumer, labour and social interests for the purpose of furthering their plans to promote the global development of electronic commerce.

The Conference reflected the growing recognition of the need to create the right global framework to harness the enormous economic potential of electronic commerce and to ensure its continued growth in a socially responsible manner. Building on the results of a previous OECD Conference held in Turku, Finland in November 1997 and on the European Ministerial Conference in Bonn, Germany in July 1997, governments, the private sector, and social interests met in Ottawa to advance their common commitment to creating a certain, secure and predictable international environment for the conduct of electronic commerce.

PARTICIPATION

OECD Ministers convened the Ottawa OECD Conference in a new way. For the first time at an OECD Ministerial event, leaders from national governments, business, labour, consumer and social interests, and international organizations came together to clarify respective roles, discuss priorities, and begin the work towards a global action plan to with the goal of "Realising the Potential of Global Electronic Commerce.

More than 900 delegates attended the Conference, including 150 registered media representatives. All 29 OECD member countries, as well as 12 observer countries, and 30 Ministers were present. In all, more than 200 business representatives and close to 100 representatives of labour, consumer and public interest groups attended, either representing private sector or non-government organisations or as members of member country delegations. Twelve international organizations took an active part in the Conference, including the heads of the World Trade Organization (WTO), the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the World Customs Organization (WCO).

More than 75 Canadians participated in the Conference. This group included a broad range of industry, consumer and labour representatives as well as provincial government representatives. Several Canadians had key speaking roles at the Conference - J. Monty (Bell Canada Enterprises), T. Matthews (Newbridge), R. Persofsky (Cebra), A. Bjerring (CANARIE), D. Johnston (McGill University), G. Feeney (Royal Bank) as well as the Conference Chair, John Manley and the Minister of National Revenue, Herb Dhaliwal.

CONFERENCE THEMES

The Ottawa Conference took specific steps to establish the cornerstones for the future growth of trans-national electronic commerce. Government representatives, business, and labour and NGO leaders considered the economic and social potential of electronic commerce, the barriers that currently limit this potential, and solutions that may be employed. Participants identified the following elements towards a shared vision for global electronic commerce:

Building trust for users and consumers

Ensuring that the frameworks and safeguards which provide confidence in the physical marketplace are adjusted to instill equivalent confidence in the digital marketplace for users and consumers.

Establishing ground rules for the digital marketplace

Providing protection for governments, industry, and consumers as they venture onto this new platform that is as effective as that provided by legal and commercial frameworks in the physical world, and addressing barriers to electronic commerce.

Enhancing the information infrastructure for electronic commerce

Creating effective competition in telecommunications markets can ensure a sustained, long-term trend towards lower costs, increased quality and, thus expanded access to information infrastructures and services. The growth of global electronic commerce relies on universal and affordable access to the information infrastructure.

Maximizing the benefits

Understanding the social and economic impacts of electronic commerce is critical to successfully making the transition to a digital economy and the broader movement towards a global information society. All players must contribute to understand and address the impacts on growth, productivity, and employment, and needs of business, including small and medium sized enterprises, organizations and consumers in both developing and developed countries.

The Conference identified the challenges implied by maximising the benefits of global electronic commerce and clarified roles, responsibilities and commitments in terms of an action plan for global electronic commerce. Government representatives, business, and labour and NGO leaders agreed:

• It is among the roles of governments to meet the public interest, and create an environment for global electronic commerce in which the ground rules are appropriate, clear and predictable, and where cooperation among all players is facilitated globally.

• The leading role of the private sector to stimulate the growth of global electronic commerce through investment and dynamic innovation in products and services, and partnership necessary between governments and private sector in assuring consumer confidence and acceptance.

• The full range of social interests must be included and engaged in efforts to facilitate the growth of global electronic commence and maximize its potential in social, civic and community development.

Participants also acknowledged that partnership among all parties is a cornerstone of the fulfilment of this vision, and sets the stage for the development of solutions to problems that confront electronic commerce.

CONFERENCE RESULTS

The OECD Ottawa Ministerial Conference on electronic commerce broke new ground for the OECD and the global community in creating new working partnerships between governments, the private sector, consumer and social interest groups, and among international organizations. Continuing efforts to enhance and develop these partnerships will be critical to the growth of global electronic commerce and the contribution of the OECD.

The "Conference Conclusions" represent another first for an OECD Ministerial. Conference participants - ministers, business representatives, labour, and social interest groups - came to agreement on the formal outcome of the Ottawa Ministerial. The Conference Conclusions outline a shared vision for global electronic commerce, the commitments and priorities of each party to implement that vision, and next steps.

Three action oriented documents were tabled – The OECD Action Plan for Electronic Commerce, the Report on International and Regional Bodies: Activities and Initiatives in Electronic Commerce) and the Global Action Plan for Electronic Commerce prepared by Business with Recommendations for Governments – that outline for the first time who is doing what to solve these various problems. Together, the reports highlight the potential and value of co-operative efforts while, at the same time, exploiting the relative strengths of the various organisations involved.

Ministerial Declarations which establish baseline principles and goals and provide guidance regarding the OECD’s further work on privacy, consumer protection, and authentication were adopted, and several agreements and a work plan for taxation issues reached.

SHOWCASE

For the first time at a ministerial-level OECD event, an Electronic Commerce Showcase, organized and financed by the private sector, provided conference participants with access to practical applications of electronic commerce already in place in business community and within the public sector. The Showcase featured some 40 firms and organisations and illustrated both the benefits of electronic commerce as well as effective techniques for addressing some of the key policy issues and concerns surrounding its development.

FUTURE STEPS

The Conference served to demonstrate the actions being taken by the international community to facilitate the conduct of trans-national electronic business and to remove obstacles to its future development. The Conference deliverables - the OECD Action Plan and the decisions on authentication, privacy, consumer protection, taxation and social-economic impacts; the business action plan; and the report on the activities of international organizations clearly articulate the steps and initiatives underway by governments and the private sector. It will be important to continue to communicate the results of this work over the next several months both within member countries and in the appropriate international fora.

The Ottawa Conference represented an important milestone in establishing a plan of action for the groups participating in the Conference, but its ultimate success will be measured by the degree to which all parties meet their respective commitments to future action. For the OECD and member countries, this will mean pressure to meet the commitments contained in the Declarations and Conference Conclusions in such areas as:

• consumer policy issues;
• social and economic impacts;
• privacy and the protection of personal information;
• authentication mechanisms and standards;
• access to information infrastructure;
• Year 2000 problem; and
• taxation rules.

In addition, the Secretary General of the OECD made a commitment to host a meeting in approximately one year involving all parties to the Ottawa Conference to assess progress made.