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On April 1, 2005, the Next Generation Electronic
Commerce Promotion Council of Japan Takes Off! |
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| Mr.Goto, Representative of the Organizing Committee, chaired
the Inaugural General Meeting. |
On March 24, 2005, the inaugural General Meeting
of the Next Generation Electronic Commerce Promotion Council of
Japan (Chairman: Takuya Goto, Chairman of the Board of Kao
Corporation, Vice Chairman: Tsutomu Kanai, Chairman of the Board and
Director of Hitachi, Ltd.) and the establishment celebration party
were held with the attendance of many guests, including Mr. Masakazu
Toyota, Director-General of the Commerce and Information Policy
Bureau, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, and Mr. Yoichi
Kato, Director of the Information Technology & Economy Division,
Commerce and Information Policy Bureau, the Ministry of Economy,
Trade and Industry. The Next Generation Electronic Commerce
Promotion Council of Japan (ECOM) started activities on April 1.
The Next Generation Electronic Commerce Promotion Council of Japan (ECOM)
will take over the accumulated achievement of the Electronic
Commerce Promotion Council of Japan, such as the establishment of
rules for electronic commerce with a sense of security, proposals on
relevant matters to the government, and international
standardization activities based on user needs. The new organization
will make efforts not only to resolve problems crucial for the
utilization of RFID tags, including traceability systems, such as
interoperability relating to inter-company and inter-industry
information sharing as well as globalization, but also to carry out
development and promotion activities for EC and to improve the EC
environment so that all kinds of economic entities, including the
general consumers and companies, can make use of EC with a sense of
security. Based on these efforts, it aims to develop the utilization
of IT in Japan into a new stage ahead of the world.
 Activities of the Next Generation Electronic Commerce Promotion
Council of Japan and the Secretariat
The Council consists of board members, regular A&B members and
special members (as of April 28, 2005. 150 companies/groups,
including 24 board members, 44 regular A members, 80 regular B
members and 2 special members). The Secretariat in charge of the
operation of the Council consists of approximately 40 staff
(including approximately 20 research directors). Based in the Kikai
Shinko Kaikan (3F) in front of Tokyo Tower, we promote all kinds of
activities of working groups and task forces in cooperation with the
member companies and organizations of the Council. We also hold
seminars for members and dispatch lecturers, as well as release
information by means of the website of ECOM, the ECOM Forum 2005,
ECOM News, and others.
The
Organization outline
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| Mr.
Toyota, Director-General of the Commerce and Information
Policy Bureau, METI, delivered an opening address at the party.
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The organization of the Council is as follows: General Meeting,
Board of Directors, Planning Committee, Secretariat as a base for
supporting activities of the Council, as well as Special Committee
on RFID Tags/Traceability, EC Safety & Security Group, IT
Utilization Group, Technological Infrastructure Development Group,
International Relations Group, Public Relations Group, General
Affairs Section and Accounting Section. The Council will develop
activities by positioning the RFID Tags/Traceability Group as
Special Committee and organizing four working groups and one liaison
meeting.
Electronic tags are expected to play a wide range of roles in
electronic commerce. If the business environment that enables the
identification and management of individual products is improved (by
means of the introduction of RFID tag technology) as leverage for
the next generation electronic commerce, companies will be able to
implement meticulous supply chain management, which was thought to
be impossible in the past. Meanwhile, consumers will be able to
obtain more detailed and highly accurate product information. In
addition, new possibilities will emerge in product lifecycle
management that will contribute to environmental protection and the
effective utilization of resources.
Relationship
with related organizations
The Council is a private voluntary organization in which the
Electronic Commerce Promotion Center (ECPC) of the JIPDEC serves
as the Secretariat. With the aim of implementing seamless
inter-company information sharing based on RFID tags, the Council
will develop activities by cooperating with the Japan Electronic
Data Interchange Council (JEDIC), the Japan PKI Forum (PKI-J),
the Japan Electronic Signature and Authentication Partnership
(JESAP), the Council of Anti Phishing Japan and other similar
organizations, and by strengthening its partnership with the
Distribution Systems Research Institute.
ECOM
operates with your support from a great number of companies and
organizations including the following board members:
Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd/ Denso Wave Incorporated/ Fuji
Electric Holdings Co., Ltd./ Fujitsu Limited/ Global Friendship,
Inc./ Hitachi, Ltd./ Itoham Foods Inc./ Kao Corporation/ Komatsu
Ltd./ Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd./ Mitsubishi
Electric Corp./ Mitsubishi Research Institute/ Mitsui Global
Strategic Studies Institute/ Mizuho Corporate Bank, Ltd./ Mizuho
Information & Research Institute, Inc/ NEC Corporation/ Nihon
Unisys, Ltd./ Nomura Research Institute, Ltd./ NTT Data
Corporation/ Oki Electric Industry Co., Ltd./ The Japan
Automobile Manufacturers Association, Inc/ Tokyo Electric Power
Company/ Toshiba Corporation/ Toyota Motor Corporation
(24 companies Annual Membership fee: 3 million yen As of April
28, 2005) |
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The Next Generation Electronic Commerce Promotion
Council of Japan (ECOM) formulates activity directions and themes in
the Planning Committee and organizes working groups (WGs) clustered
by each theme, which is mainly comprised of participants from the
board members and regular A members. The working groups exchange
specific information, conduct surveys on areas to be promoted, make
proposals to related organizations, and carry out some independent
activities. Information about the results of WG activities is
released first to ECOM members by means of ECOM News, ECOM forums,
ECOM seminars and activity reports.
This is the first year of the new ECOM. A meeting of the Planning
Committee, which consists of board members and special members, was
held on April 26, in which the members discussed specific contents
of WG activities in accordance with the implementation structure
that was approved in the inaugural General Meeting on March 24.
The WGs will be open for applications from May 18 to May 25. The
details will be sent to you and will also be released on the website
of ECOM (http://www.jipdec.or.jp/archives/ecom/) after the second meeting of the
Planning Committee (scheduled on May 13) is held. We hope for your
active participation for the purpose of the development of the next
generation electronic commerce. Thank you for your understanding in
advance that, for the purpose of developing more fruitful WG
activities, some WGs have enrollment limits and preconditions for
joining. Page
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Participation in the eighth China International
Electronic Commerce Conference and the holding of a trilateral
meeting of the Electronic Commerce Associations of Japan, China and
South Korea |
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For the purpose of advancing the
utilization of RFID tags and EC, ECOM is engaged in developing
international cooperation activities with EC promotion organizations
in China, Taiwan, and other countries as well as the Japan-Korea EC
Promotion Council. As part of these activities, Eiji Hamanaka,
Secretary-General of ECOM, and Kojun Matsumoto, Research Director
(International Relations Group), participated in the above-mentioned
conference and meeting. Participation reports by Kojun Matsumoto,
Research Director, are as follows.
[Participation in the 8th China International E-Commerce Conference]
The above-mentioned conference was held on April 17-18, 2005, in the
Beijing International Conference Center, Beijing, China. After an
opening speech by Ms. Song Ling, Conference Chairwoman and
Chairwoman of the China E-Commerce Association (CECA), speeches were
made by Mr. Jiang Zhenghua, Vice-Chairman of the Standing Committee
of the National People’s Congress, as well as Vice Director of the
National Development and Reform Commission, a representative of the
Ministry of Information Industry, the Deputy Mayor of Beijing City,
and representatives of the Ministry of Science and Technology,
Ministry of Commerce and other similar organizations.
From foreign countries, representatives of the U.S. Commercial
Service and Korea CALS/EC Association (KCALS) made speeches, and
from Japan, Eiji Hamanaka, Secretary-General of the Next Generation
Electronic Commerce Promotion Council of Japan (ECOM), made a speech
as a representative.
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From left to right: Mr. Kim, Vice-Chairman of KCALS, Ms.
Song, Chairwoman of CECA, and Hamanaka, Secretary-General of ECOM |
Participants were highly interested in this conference because it
was the first electronic commerce (EC) conference after the law
concerning electronic signatures became effective in April in China.
Ms. Song, Chairwoman, expressed a hope for future EC development, a
resolution for strongly developing promotional activities for this
purpose, and an expectation for great contributions from Japan,
China and South Korea, based on cooperative relationship.
In this conference, forums including many presentations were held
according to themes, such as technological innovation in EC, Chinese
economy and EC, EC-related laws and regulations, and EC and network
security. Approximately 30 EC-related companies put their
products/services on display.
[Trilateral Meeting of the Electronic Commerce Associations of
Japan, China and South Korea]
On April 18, in the above-mentioned conference place, a meeting was
held to advance future cooperative activities of the Electronic
Commerce Council of Japan, China and South Korea. Attendees were as
follows: Ms. Song, Chairwoman of the China E-Commerce Association (CECA),
Mr. Kim, Vice-Chairman of the Korea CALS/EC Association (KCALS),
Eiji Hamanaka, Secretary-General, the Next Generation Electronic
Commerce Promotion Council of Japan (ECOM), and Kojun Matsumoto,
Research Director, ECOM. In addition, as other concerned parties,
CECA-affiliated electronic commerce organizations in Wuhan, Hangzhou,
Hebei Province and Tsingtao participated in the meeting and
demonstrated their willingness to advance cooperative relations with
Japan and South Korea in the future.
At the meeting, the attendees built consensus on the following
future cooperative activities: the holding of conferences and
lecture meetings relating to electronic signature and authentication
in China, information exchange for the development of human
resources to be engaged in electronic commerce, mutual cooperation
in the exchange of technological information in relation to RFID and
other similar issues, the preparation of publicity brochures on a
joint basis for the development of EC, etc.
Finally, an MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) was concluded to
promise the future cooperative activities of the three
organizations, and the meeting was closed. Page
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"Announcement of the “ECOM Forum 2005” |
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The “ECOM Forum 2005” will be held to report
activity results of the “Electronic Commerce Promotion Council of
Japan (ECOM)” for the final year (2004) and to explain the activity
policies of the new organization, the “Next Generation Electronic
Commerce Promotion Council of Japan (ECOM).” We will present the
latest trend relating to the electronic commerce environment. If you
are interested in this area, please actively participate in the
forum.
Date: June 9 (Thursday), 2005
Place: Toshi Center Hotel (2-4-1, Hirakawa-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo)
Details of the program and application for participation will be
released on the website, etc., as soon as they are determined.
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From the Secretary-General |
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 I
was appointed as the Secretary-General of the Next Generation
Electronic Commerce Promotion Council of Japan (ECOM). I
sincerely ask for continued support of member companies and
relevant organizations. This year marks 6th year-operation of
ECOM, including the period of the former ECOM, and, going back
further in the history, the 14th year-activities in this field
including EDI standardization which ECOM’s predecessor, the
defunct Center for the Informatization of Industry (JIPDEC/CII)
aimed to promote. During this transition period from EDI and
CALS to EC, I am always surprised at amazing innovations in
common infrastructure technologies as typified by the Internet
and the marvelous improvement in legal systems for the
development of EC.
The new organization marks the third start of ECOM. The activity
period is three years. Under the leadership of Mr. Goto,
Chairman (Kao), and Mr. Kanai, Vice Chairman (Hitachi), all the
members of the Secretariat, including research directors, will
make efforts to accomplish the end desired. Your continued
support would be most appreciated.
(Hamanaka)
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ECOM News No. 1
Issue Date: April 28, 2005
Issuer: Next Generation Electronic Commerce Promotion Council of Japan
Kikai Shinko Kaikan Bldg 3F
3-5-8, Shibakoen, Minato-ku Tokyo 105-0011, Japan
Tel: +81-3-3436-7500, Fax: +81-3-3436-7570
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