Minister Minors: Dept of E-Commerce Statements

This morning [Nov 26] the Minister of Business Development and Tourism Patrice Minors delivered two Ministerial Statements in the House of Assembly. Both statements highlighted two recent initiatives undertaken by the Department of E-Commerce this month – consultation regarding the Electronic Transactions Act 1999 and e-Monday.

Full statement on Electronic Transactions Act Public Consultation Launch:

Mr. Speaker, I rise before this House to inform the Honourable Members about the consultation process that will take place between November 29th and December 31st, 2010, to identify possible revisions to the Electronic Transactions Act 1999 (“ETA’).

Mr. Speaker, the Electronic Transactions Act 1999 was introduced to ensure that information shall not be denied legal effect solely on the ground that it is in the form of an electronic record. Provisions were also implemented to promote public confidence in electronic communications technology. For example, the ETA provides that where signatures are required by law, that digital/electronic methods may be used that can satisfy these requirements. The original legislation was drafted after consideration of the latest models provided by the OECD and other international organizations such as the ‘UNCITRAL Model law on Electronic Commerce 1996’.

The ETA was granted Royal Assent on August 5, 1999 and came into force on October 4, 1999.

The regulations that were implemented to support provisions in the ETA were:

* The Standard for Electronic Transactions (“the Standard”) was issued effective May 18, 2000.
* The Certification Service Providers (Relevant Criteria and Security Guidelines) Regulations were introduced in 2002.

Mr. Speaker, it is now over ten years since the ETA was passed. While the Department of E-Commerce has not received any feedback suggesting that the ETA is outdated, there have been a great many technological changes during that time. With this in mind, it was felt that it was time to review the ETA and its supporting Regulations. As a part of the Department of E-Commerce’s internal review of the legislation, it was believed prudent to seek external comment from ETA stakeholders.

Mr. Speaker, an Advisory Committee comprising key stakeholders has reviewed the ETA and considered the Act in light of current international best practices. Through the discussions of this advisory committee, recommendations with respect to possible amendments to the ETA were made. While they believed the ETA has stood the test of time, minor changes were proposed that would form the basis of a wider public consultation process.

The E-Commerce Advisory Board was also consulted for their recommendations. The resulting Public Consultation Document constitutes the preliminary assessment of the ETA. The Document provides background information relating to the issues surrounding the legislation and suggestions for changes. It has been prepared for circulation to the public and is intended to elicit responses to those suggestions.

Mr. Speaker, some of the highlights from the consultation document include a suggestion that the authorised certification provider scheme be amended so that the reference to Bermuda technical standards be changed to refer to standards issued by one of the international agencies. The certification service provider provisions were introduced to regulate the issuance of digital certificates.

These digital certificates are of increasing importance in the conduct of e-business by Governments and organisations. Another highlight relates to the Standard that was issued by the Minister under the Act. The Standard is a useful document as it provides businesses with a framework for the proper conduct of e-business.

The document applies to e-commerce service providers and it has been suggested that it be amended to update its contents, correcting some anomalies that have arisen as a result of changes in the use of technology.

Mr. Speaker, the Department of E-Commerce encourages all suggestions regarding any potential changes to the ETA. It also wishes to hear from interested parties with regard to any potential opportunities and/or challenges that might exist for the IT, E-Commerce and E-Business sectors. The Department of E-Commerce will gather and carefully consider feedback from the public before formalizing its policy recommendations.

The public consultation will take place over a 5-week period and was launched via a press conference this past Wednesday. The consultation document will be made available electronically on the Government’s website and in hard copy from the office of the Ministry of Business Development and Tourism’s Department of E-Commerce on November 29th.

A public meeting will be held on Monday, December 6th, 2010 from 5.30pm – 7.30pm at the Bermuda Chamber of Commerce. Additionally, an additional session will be held for business and technology industry representatives on Thursday, December 2nd, 2010, from 1.30pm – 3pm at the Bermuda Chamber of Commerce.

Mr. Speaker, comments sent in response to the consultation will be made using the response form found at the end of the consultation document. These are available at www.gov.bm or at the front desk of the Department of E-Commerce. Responses, unless stated otherwise in accordance with the provisions stated in the Response Form, will be considered public information and the Department of E-Commerce will publish a summary of all responses on its website at www.gov.bm. Post-closing, the Department of E-Commerce will collate all responses and submissions and deliver its recommendations to the Minister of Business Development and Tourism. Once Ministerial approval has been obtained, a cabinet memorandum will be drafted.

This will be submitted to Cabinet for consideration and, if approved, drafting instructions will be prepared for submission to the Attorney General’s office.

Mr. Speaker, the aim of this exercise is not only to strengthen our already existing legislation, but to also ensure that Bermuda remains a competitive jurisdiction with respect to conducting business electronically.

So we want to encourage as much public feedback as possible and hear from interested parties with regard to any potential opportunities and/or challenges that might exist for the IT, E-Commerce and E-Business sectors.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Full statement on eMonday:

Mr. Speaker, I rise before this House to inform the Honourable Members that a new initiative meant to enable, encourage and increase online shopping in Bermuda took place on Monday, November 15, 2010. The eMonday initiative, developed by the Ministry of Business Development and Tourism, also had sponsorship from the Bermuda Chamber of Commerce – Retail Division, the Bermuda Small Business Development Corporation (BSBDC) and North Rock Communications.

The intention is that like CyberMonday in the United States, eMonday will be an annual event that will kick off the holiday shopping season.

I am happy to report that as an inaugural event, the initiative created some awareness in the community that there are online shopping options in Bermuda.

Mr. Speaker, online shopping has become such a phenomenon because of its ease and convenience and it has ballooned into a multi-million dollar business worldwide. Bermudians are no stranger to this trend. The Bermuda Technology Benchmark survey commissioned by the Department of E-Commerce shows that shopping online is one of the top activities for Internet users in Bermuda.

In 2007, 58 % of those surveyed said they regularly used the Internet to shop for goods and services online. Mr. Speaker, by 2008 that figure had reached 68 % and remained at this level in 2009.

According to the survey, local online purchases include theatre and movie tickets, airline tickets, gift cards, electronics, registration for local races, books, household items, clothing and purchasing second-hand items using sites such as eMoo.

Mr. Speaker, in times of economic challenge, organisations must look to all avenues available to develop and grow their businesses.

The objectives of eMonday are five-fold:

* to support and encourage the development of e-commerce, as well as the local retail sector;
* highlight the importance technology plays in enabling entrepreneurship (i.e. no bricks and mortar required);
* identify e-commerce businesses on the Island and promote them;
* provide information and resources for e-commerce start-ups through networking; and
* support Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW).

Mr. Speaker, with these objectives in mind, a key goal was to drive traffic to participating e-retailer sites. Participating businesses had to accept orders online, or accept orders online with the ability to provide full online payments. The e-taliers also had to offer a discount or promotion on e-Monday to participate.

Additionally, in the lead-up to eMonday, on October 12th and 13th, 2010, 3 workshops were offered for participating e-tailers. The topics were shopping carts and processing online payments, as well as the tools for building a website and how to make it work for the needs of the e-tailer. This resulted in a few participating e-tailers going live with their web offerings just in time for eMonday.

Mr. Speaker, the eMonday initiative did create interest in the community. In the short time frame between which e-tailers registered to participate, my announcement to the public to encourage participation and the day of the event, 47 e-tailers signed up to participate and of those, 43 offered discounts on eMonday. On eMonday, over 1,200 visitors used the eMonday website to access the participating e-tailers.

These visitors were predominately Bermuda-based but our statistics also indicated visitors from the US, Canada, the Cayman Islands and the UK. In aggregate, the e-tailers saw over 2,500 visitors and some reported sales, registrations or inquiries that originated from the initiative.

Mr. Speaker, while an increase in traffic was and is an excellent sign that there is interest in online shopping in the local market, we hope that this initiative will evolve into one that contains a significant number of sales. This will only happen through increased awareness in the community that there are local e-tailers with goods for sale and if e-tailers increase the variety of goods that they offer for sale online.

By thinking innovatively and implementing alternative business models, local businesses can attract the community to their stores and away from international retailers by finding ways to give them what they want. That may be access to variety, a reasonable price or speedy delivery. eMonday shows that there are e-tailers out there who are enhancing their business offerings and evolving retail in Bermuda.

The initiative itself was deemed to be good exposure by many of the participating e-tailers, with many expressing their interest in participating in the future. Indeed, there have been queries from small and medium-sized businesses and larger retailers expressing an interest in participating in eMonday in 2011.

Mr. Speaker, if we are to ensure that our local economy remains vibrant and viable, then we must support and encourage the development of e-commerce in our local retail sector. Overall, eMonday was considered a worthwhile campaign by those that participated and I am pleased to announce that eMonday will be back next year.

In the meantime, www.eMonday.bm will be a resource that can be used throughout the year to find e-tailers offering products and services that are available to the local market.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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