In the past few decades there has been a revolution in communication and computing and all indications suggest that the technological advancement and application in the field of technology is expected to continue to progress at a rapid pace. Alongside and helping the massive rise in power and use of new technologies in information has been the decreasing cost of communication due to both technological improvements and increased competition. According to Moore's law the processing capacity of microchips is growing by more than in every one year. These developments offer numerous potentials, but also bring major problems. The advances in information technology are having broad-ranging impacts across a variety of areas of society. Policy makers are addressing issues involving economic productivity and intellectual property rights privacy protection, and affordability of information and access. Making decisions now can result in long-term consequences and therefore, attention should be given to their social and economic effects.

Perhaps one of the more significant outcomes of the progress of information technology will be electronic commerce over the Internet and a revolutionary method to conduct business. Although it is only a few years older, it is likely to impact economic activity and the social context. It already affects major sectors as communications retail trade and finance and could expand to include areas like health and education. It implies the seamless application of information and communication technology throughout the value chain of any business that is managed electronically.

The impacts of information technologies and electronic commerce on the business model, commerce market structure, work, the labour market, education private life, and society as a whole.

Business Models, Commerce and Market Structure

One of the ways that information technology is affecting work is through reducing the importance of distance. In many fields the job distribution is changing dramatically. For instance, some software firms have found ways to over come the limited local market in the field of computer engineers, by sending work for development to India or other countries where wages are lower. Additionally, these arrangements could take advantage of the time differences so that critical tasks can be completed at a rapid pace. Businesses are able to outsource their manufacturing to different countries and rely on communications to keep marketing as well as R&D teams in close contact with the manufacturing organizations. Technology can also facilitate an easier division of labor between countries and, in turn, affects the relative demand for various capabilities in each country. The technology enables various types of employment and work to be decoupled from each other. Businesses have more flexibility to locate their economic activities and create more competition between areas in the labor, infrastructure capital, and other resources markets. This also opens the way to regulatory arbitrage. Companies can increasingly choose which tax authority and other rules apply. Clevernero

Technology for communication and computers facilitate more market-like modes of production and distribution. An infrastructure of computing and communication technology, offering the ability to access 24 hours a day, at no cost to nearly any information on price and products desired by buyers, will lower the obstacles to information to a more efficient market operation. This infrastructure might also provide the ability to make instant transactions, and render intermediaries such as stock brokers, sales clerks as well as travel agencies, who's job is to act as an information link between buyers sellers as well as redundant. The elimination of intermediaries could lower the cost of the distribution and production value chain. Information technology has enabled the advancement of enhanced mail order retailing, in which products can be purchased quickly using phones or computer networks. They are then dispatched by suppliers through integrated transport companies that rely extensively on computers and communication technologies to control their operations. Non-physical products, like software, can be sent electronically, eliminating the whole transport channel. Payments can be done in new ways. The result is disintermediation throughout the distribution channel, with reduced costs, lower consumer costs, and greater profit margins.

The impact of technology on the firms cost structure is most clearly illustrated by the electronic commerce instance. The key areas of cost reduction when executing the sale through electronic commerce instead of the traditional retail store are physical setting up, order placing along with execution support as well as strong inventory carrying and distribution. Although setting up and maintaining the e-commerce website could cost a lot, it's certainly less expensive to operate this kind of storefront than a physical store because it's always accessible, can be accessed by millions across the world and comes with a few cost variables, so it can scale up to meet the requirements. In keeping one "store" instead of several, duplicate inventory costs are reduced. In addition, online shopping is highly effective in reducing costs of attracting customers, because advertising is usually less expensive than for other media and more targeted. In addition, the digital interface lets merchants of e-commerce verify whether an order is uniform and that the purchase as well as the invoice match. Thanks to e-commerce, businesses can transfer a significant portion of their customer service on line , so that customers can use manuals and databases directly. This significantly cuts costs while generally improving the quality of support. E-commerce stores require less skilled, but highly-skilled employees. It also allows for savings in the cost of inventory. The faster the input is ordered and delivered and delivered, the less need there is to store a large quantity. The cost savings associated with fewer inventories is the most evident in industries where the product has short shelf-life (e.g. bananas) and is susceptible to rapid technological obsolescence or price drops (e.g. computers) or when the market is experiencing a high flow of innovative products (e.g. books, music). However, shipping costs can significantly increase the price of some products bought through electronic commerce and add substantially to the final price distribution costs are considerably decreased for digital goods like financial services, software, and travel, which are key e-commerce categories.

While electronic commerce may lead to the deintermediation of certain intermediaries, it creates greater dependence on other intermediaries and certain entirely new intermediary roles. Among the intermediary services which could increase the cost of online transactions are advertising, secure online payments, and delivery. The relative ease of becoming a merchant and opening stores creates a huge number of offerings that consumers can easily be overwhelmed. This is why it is crucial to using advertising to establish a brand and thus generate consumer familiarity and confidence. In the case of new start-ups in e-commerce it can cost a lot and result in an enormous transaction cost. The wide reach, accessibility, and lack of physical clues the fundamental characteristics of e-commerce makes it vulnerable to fraud and thus increase the costs of merchants who operate on e-commerce in comparison to traditional shops. The development of new methods is underway to ensure the security of credit cards in e-commerce transactions, however the requirement for increased security and verification results in higher costs. One of the most important benefits of e-commerce is the ease of having your purchases delivered directly to the customer. When it comes to tangibles, such as books, it is necessary to pay shipping costs that cause prices to rise in most cases, which negates many of the savings that come with the internet and significantly increasing transaction costs.

With the advent of Internet eCommerce is fast growing into a rapid-paced, international market with an ever-increasing number of participants. The global and open nature of e-commerce is set to expand market size and transform the market structure both in regards to the quantity and size of players as well as the manner in which players compete in international markets. Digitized products can cross the border in real-time. Consumers can shop around the clock day, 7 days a week and businesses are constantly competing with online competitors from all over the world. The Internet has helped to expand markets that are already in place by removing several marketing and distribution barriers that hinder companies from accessing foreign markets. E-commerce reduces transaction and information costs for operating on overseas markets and provides a cheap and effective way to improve relations between the customer and supplier. It also helps companies find innovative ways of marketing in delivering and sustaining their products and services. Although e-commerce on the Internet has the potential to open global markets, certain aspects like language, transport costs, local reputation, as well as differences in the cost and ease of access to networks, can limit the potential of this to a greater or lesser extent.

Workplace and Labour Market

Communication and computer technology allows people to communicate with one other in ways that are different from traditional face-toface, telephonic and written formats. They permit collaborative work that involves diverse groups of people who rarely, if ever, meet physically. These technologies make use of communication infrastructures that are both globally accessible and constantly online and able to provide 24 hours of activity and asynchronous and synchronous interaction between groups, individuals and organizations. The social interaction of organizations is influenced by the use of technology for communication and computers. Peer-to-peer relationships across departments can be improved through sharing of information as well as coordination of tasks. The interaction between subordinates and superiors is expected to be more stressful due to the social control issues caused by the use of computerized monitoring systems, but contrary to that, the use of e-mail will ease the way for conversations across various status levels which will result in more open interactions between supervisors and subordinates.

The importance of distance will be reduced due to the advent of technology in communication and computers can also encourage telecommuting and thus, has implications for the patterns of residence of people. Since workers are finding they can perform the bulk of their work from their homes rather than at a central work environment, the need for homes in climate- and physically appealing regions will increase. The implications of this shift in jobs from suburbs to areas that are more remote could be significant. Values of properties would rise in the favoured destinations and fall in the suburbs. Rural, historical or charming aspects of life and the natural environment in the recently attractive areas would be threatened. Because the majority of telecommuters are more educated and higher paid and have higher incomes, the demand in these regions for high-end and wealthy services such as gourmet restaurants and clothing stores will increase. There would also the need for expansion of services of all types which would create and expand job possibilities for the local population.

Through reducing the fixed cost of employment, widespread telecommuting should make it easier for individuals to be able to work at a flexible time, to work part time, to share jobs, and to be able to do two or more jobs at the same time. Since changing employers will not necessarily require changing one's place where they live, telecommuting will enhance job mobility and speed progress in career. It can also lower stress levels and increase satisfaction at work. Since stress in the workplace is one of the major factors that influence health , there could be additional benefits in the form of lower health expenses and mortality rates. However, one may also think that the use of technology, by expanding the number of different jobs required of workers as well as the variety of skills needed to perform these tasks may speed up the pace of work and increase the level of stress and stress on employees.

One question that is more difficult to be answered concerns the effects computers and communication impact on the work force. Computers as well as communications to accomplish basic tasks like bookkeeping more rapidly than humans causes concern that people could be replaced by computers and communication. The answer to this concern is that, even when computers and communication lead to the elimination of certain workers, new jobs will be created, particularly for computer specialists and that the growth in output will increase overall employment. There is a greater chance that technology and communication will result in changes to the kind of workers needed for different occupations rather than to changes in total employment. Clevernero

Many industries are affected by the impact of electronic commerce. The distribution sector is directly affected since e-commerce is a way of supplying and delivering services and goods. Other industries, in indirect ways, are ones related to Information and Communication Technology (the infrastructure that allows e-commerce) industry related to content (entertainment and software) related to transactions (financial sector travel, advertising, transport). eCommerce might also create new markets or extend market access beyond traditional boundaries. The expansion of the market could have a positive effect on employment. Another crucial issue concerns interlinkages between the various businesses affected by ecommerce. The cost of e-commerce-related intermediaries and services could create jobs in indirect ways, on the basis of the volume of electronic transactions and their impact on prices, productivity and costs. The convergence of telecommunication, media and computing technologies is creating an integrated supply chain for the production and delivery of multimedia and information content. The majority of jobs are related to e-commerce in the content industries and communications infrastructures such as the Internet.

Jobs are made and destroyed by technology as well as trade and changes in the organization. These processes also lead to changes in the skill composition of employment. Beyond the net gains or losses brought about by these factors, it is evident that those with different level of skill will be affected differently. E-commerce is certainly driving the demand for IT professionals, but the demand also calls for IT knowledge to be paired with strong business applications skills which is resulting in a demand for a multi-skilled, flexible workforce. There is a rising need for greater integration of Internet front-end applications with enterprise operations, applications , and back-end databases. A lot of IT needs to provide Internet support are met by less-paid IT employees who are able to deal with the organizational services needed for basic web site programming. However, wide area networks, competitive web sites and sophisticated network applications require more knowledge than an IT job that is platform-specific. The skills needed for e-commerce are scarce and highly sought-after The growth of e-commerce may increase the rate of upskilling across many countries as it requires highly skilled computer scientists to replace less skilled information clerks or cashiers, as well as market salespersons.