THE INTERNET HAS COME OF AGE
Louis V. Gerstner, Jr.
Excerpts from remarks made July 1, 1997, at an event marking the
release of the White House report, "The Framework for Global
Electronic Commerce."
Today, 50 million people are connected to the Internet. That
number will probably grow to 500 million, and some even predict a
billion people will one day use the Net.
The number-one question that I get from people as I go around the
world, particularly if they're over 40, is: What are all these
people going to do when they're connected to the Net? The answer
is, all the things they do today. They will buy and sell; bank;
get entertainment; trade stocks; earn a college degree; replace a
driver's license.
This is what we mean by e-commerce. It's not just about buying
and selling over the Net. It's about using this powerful new
technology to transform every aspect of what we do as people.
A lot of important pieces had to be put in place before
e-commerce could take hold: new technologies; agreements on
standards for things like secure financial transactions; and,
significantly, leadership initiatives like the policy framework
for electronic commerce.
But these elements are now in place. Today we can say with
confidence: The Internet is not only open for business, it's
ready for business. The Internet has come of age.
For enterprises, it represents enormous opportunity, because
networks are great levelers. They dissolve many traditional
barriers to entry.
We all know that "location, location, location" is a tenet of
good business. Increasingly, the Net is where business must be.
With a first-class web site, any business of any size can
challenge entrenched franchises and brands, anywhere in the
world.
The potential is huge for businesses that move to the Net
quickly. Some estimate that e-commerce volumes today are about
$2 billion -- and will grow to more than $1 trillion ($1,000,000
million) by the year 2010.
Millions of people who are connected to the Net and who are
asking, "What do I do with it?" They can now dive into the
richest, most diverse, borderless, sleepless marketplace the
world has ever seen.
And, as they shift from "browsing" to buying, they can do so with
greater confidence that their transactions will be secure and
their private information will remain private.
As exciting as all of this is, commerce is only one type of human
activity this technology is transforming.
As with the electric light, the printing press, and manned flight
-- other great technologies the world has seen -- information
technology is transforming and will continue to transform
everything. It will vastly improve every aspect of society and
human interaction: how we'll make the arts available to all; how
we'll receive government services; how we'll care for our elderly
and homebound.
With networks we have the chance to deliver the best, to the
neediest: the best teachers to our most remote rural school
districts or the forgotten enclaves of our inner cities; the
skill of the finest physicians to patients in need, without
regard for physical proximity; and knowledge about the world to
all the people in the world.
Of course, as all of this takes off, it spawns a range of
societal and technology issues. Some we recognize as old issues
in new garb, along with new challenges dealing with taxation,
security, and parental responsibility.
The answers to those issues begin with the kind of leadership
that has resulted in the policy framework: government and
industry working together, defining appropriate roles and
responsibilities.
This sends a very powerful message: The private sector, an open
marketplace, and competition -- not the government -- will
regulate opportunity and the pace of innovation.
Industry welcomes these initiatives.
And we are committed to work with the administration, with
Congress, and other governments to make the recommendations in
this report a reality and to fully deliver the promise of a
networked world.
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