Thanks to the Internet, it is now possible to open up shop without a shop. Elaborate storefronts with fancy window displays have given way to virtual storefronts with flashy graphics and complicated applets. Now you don't have to worry about having enough $1 bills to make change throughout the day, having public restrooms that are up to code, or even carrying insurance so that if someone trips on your steps and sues you, you'll be covered.
Virtual stores are getting more attention than real ones. Now the question isn't how your storefront can attract more customers but how your virtual storefront can attract more hits. It's one thing to play pleasant music and serve spiced apple cider to everyone in the store to keep them there, but it's quite another thing to entice a virtual customer -- who could be thousands of miles away -- to stay in your site and make a purchase.
We seem to have made it over the first hurdle -- physical infrastructure. Agreed, it could use an overhaul, but there is enough of an infrastructure in place to support global commerce for the time being. The U.S. government has committed $100 million this year alone -- with a $300 million, three-year commitment total -- to the Next Generation Internet (NGI) initiative. The goal of the NGI initiative is to create a new type of interconnected community that will be able to exchange information in richer ways, faster, and more securely. The initiative is composed of three goals. First, to develop the next generation network fabric and connect universities and federal research institutions at rates that are 100 to 1,000 times faster than today's Internet. Second, to promote experimentation with the next generation of networking technologies. Third, to demonstrate new applications -- such as digital libraries, biomedical research, and emergency warning and response systems -- that meet important national goals and missions. (To see a draft concept paper of the NGI Initiative, see www.hpcc.gov/ngi-concept-08Apr97/ngi_vision.html.)
The NGI is currently for universities and the U.S. government, but just as the previous ARPANET became public domain, we can only imagine that the benefits from the NGI initiative will spill over to the private sector, too. In theory, today's electronic commerce applications should be able to run on top of tomorrow's turbocharged network. However, with a bandwidth anywhere from 100 to 1,000 times greater than today, all sorts of currently unfathomable applications will be possible. In essence, today's electronic commerce could be little more than a warm-up for tomorrow.
Having tackled the infrastructure hurdle, we are now jumping the second hurdle -- applications. Web applications are becoming as pervasive as Starbucks. We are witnessing the birth of a new breed of servers that are optimized for the Web environment, as well as servers that are optimized for the intricacies of electronic commerce over the Web. Many DBMS readers are currently grappling with the issue of integrating Web technology with existing systems. And yet more readers are being tasked with creating an infrastructure that will bring in revenue for the company. For this reason, DBMS decided to focus this month's Internet Systems special section on the issue of electronic commerce.