"Vision of the future in Information Technology & E-Commerce"
Remarks by
William B. Seebeck
Vice President & Managing Director, Technology & Media Group
The Dabbagh Group, Ltd.
At COMDEX Saudi Arabia 2000
E-Commerce in Action Conference
Le Meridien Hotel
Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
10 April 2000
Thank you for your kind introduction.
Mr. Casey, the management and staff of SBM/IBM, special guests, my brothers and sisters in technology.
"Visions of the Future in Information Technology and E-Commerce!" Sounds like looking into a crystal ball to try and see the future. Yet, visioning is part of what I have been doing in this industry for some 25 years. What I like about doing it is that it is about possibilities -- challenges to existing structures and systems and to the human spirit.
More than being a visionary, in the online industry, I have put my own resources into developing ideas and new advances that I believed could happen. One of those was in 1991, when I developed a system and methodology that today we call Intranets. I called my system, Information Interchange Networks. That was more than a year before the Internet became commercially available. Then in 1996, I introduced what I called Affinity IntraNets. Creating direct point-to-point links by a corporation to vendors, customers, bank and accounting firm, industry analysts -- any institution with whom they had an affinity relationship. Today, those links are called extranets.
So I say to you, it is not enough to vision, you must also DO!
The late U.S. Senator Robert Kennedy used to say, "Some people dream dreams and ask why?But I dream dreams and ask why not?
Eighteen years ago, when I started in the online industry, I found that there was a small core of believers that shared the vision of the possibility of online. Most of the print publishers did not agree with them, did not share the vision. I remember in 1983, standing before the publisher's board of then Time-Life, trying to convince them that there was a business future in electronic information, that they could make money from it. Most disagreed. It took the leadership of their chairman back then Andrew Heiskell who believed that it was a possibility. Today, that company is Time-Warner, soon to be AOL/Time Warner.
What I thought about online information back in 1982 was the possibility that information about peoples and their commerce shared worldwide would reduce ignorance and foster peace. I viewed online as a powerful catalyst for change; that knowledge shared creates the possibility of peace and human advancement. I still firmly believe this.
This electronic revolution we are all apart of knows no national borders, we need only reach out through the Internet and the world can be there for us. Whether we are seeking information on a company or a university; medical research or building contracts; or in just linking through the power of e-mail with groups of people for business purposes; or with friends or family for pure fun. With the creation of e-mail, we collapsed the information float that once divided us by geography and politics and religious beliefs. We created a virtual world that allows us to educate, explore, conduct business, etc. all at the same time, in the same way, almost without risk. The possibilities are endless.
So, you may say, Bill, what does this have to do with us here today? We have heard much of this before from other people.
I have told you about these things because right now there is another possibility. It is a vision of the future that I want to share with you right now. It is a vision that I challenge you, each of you to embrace. It is a dream that begs the answer of "Why not?"
My friends, the electronic revolution is moving quickly across the globe. It is more than an industry, it is a movement. Advances in technology each day change systems and structures and impact societies and their peoples. No one nation can put a halt to it, for technological change no longer rests in the hands of institutions but rests in the hands of each user, wherever they are around the globe.
Yet for this movement to root itself firmly in commerce, it needs to regionalize. For language is not the same. Selling is not the same from one country to another. Buying is not the same from one nation to another. Who does the buying and how they do the buying is not the same from one nation to another. Herein lies the power and the possibility for the Middle East.
In order for this region to take its rightful place in the networks and technology of the future, it is now time for the Arab world to exert itself and create a regional representation of itself on the electronic global stage. In this way, the nations and peoples of the Arab world can properly promote their history, culture, language and beliefs equally to the world. Only in this way, can we create a global medium that looks like the peoples of the world, rather than that of only one nation.
To achieve this vision and possibility, you must DO!
How?
Here in the Middle East, the number of children 0-15 years of age represents some 43% of the total population. This tells us that education is the foundation of the future of the region. This education must include a strong technological base and should be funded heavily with this future in mind. What are the institutions of higher education in the region doing electronically? Why are they not key elements in the development of new uses of technology linked to venture capital funds that help precipitate new Internet companies? How many universities have incubator sites? My friends, it is time to DO!
Second, the Middle East is the birthplace of successful commerce! You need to reclaim this by moving more quickly into electronic commerce. Why should some other region of the world have a de facto claim on the way commerce -- electronic or otherwise look or be conducted? DO!
Third, I have always said that there are three components to online -- communications, content and method of payment. So, what about communications? It is critical that the nations of the region rapidly open broadband data access as wide as possible. One of the reasons that this is so critical is because wireless and satellite, which are already here in one form or another, will very soon render some land line options obsolete - therefore you will be holding onto nothing. DO!
Fourth, what about content? Why has the region been speaking only to itself? Where is the content that tells the world who you are? Where is the content that tells the world about the history of each of the countries? Where is the content that tells the story of your achievements in mathematics, science and technology? Where is the content that tells the world about the life of an Arab family? How can the world do business with the region if it does not know who you are and what you believe?
DO!
Fifth, what about the methods of payment? The Arab world has some of the most advanced banks in the world. It was here in this region that such methods of finance were first created. Why have the institutions not created online banking systems for all? Where are the online credit card systems? Where are the smart card systems? Where is corporate electronic interchange? DO!
My friends, my vision of what the electronic world looks like is representative of the world and its peoples. Discord in the electronic world will come about when peoples of regions and nations feel left out of the process and the progress. We must avoid this from happening. We can only stop that from happening by DOing!
Please do not think that you can control technology, because technology has a life of its own and it is global. Once you have chosen to be a part of the technology revolution, you have to be willing to "Ride the Tiger" and move with the change.
Yet, if you answer my call today; If you meet the possibility of regionalization with great strength and effort and leadership, then technology will be your companion and not your foe. It will open up new vistas and a much broader element of interchange and communication amongst peoples of the earth. DO this for your people and the future of the culture you cherish and revere and are passing on to your children.
One of the reasons, as I mentioned before, that this is so critical, is because in the technology revolution, what was yesterday is not what is today and what was today is not what it will be tomorrow.
For tomorrow, what I see is that wireless is about to come of age globally. Issues relating to incompatibility and pricing have or are being resolved. Investment is pouring into every wireless venture conceivable and so it should. It is only through wireless that we achieve success in e-commerce. It is only through wireless that we can achieve true mobility. It is only through wireless that we are not confined by the enormous capital investment of land line infrastructure.
What will drive wireless even faster is the advent of sub-orbital satellite systems. These platforms will begin to exchange content next year. Further, existing U.S. satellite systems that were previously used for military purposes, the so-called C3 (Command, Control, Communications) will go commercial. This will accelerate the process as two of the companies involved in sub-orbital broadband wireless communications -- Hughes and Loral were the original contractors for these C3 communications systems. The other player in the mix -- Teledesic -- originally a partnership of Bill Gates and Craig McCaw personally, now joined by Boeing, has broad links to the traditional wireless and Internet based online services.
So, the cycle is that within 18 months, the world will begin to move its broadband transmission to wireless. Will the Arab world and the countries of the Middle East be prepared to be part of this effort at the outset? When we meet again this time next year, what will the region have accomplished to be an equal player in this effort?
This is the challenge. It is not enough to vision. It is not enough to dream. You must DO! You must embrace the possibility and make it happen.
May goodness and its teacher, and meeting the possibility of achievement in all your endeavors be your daily companion.
Thank you.
Copyright 2000 WBSeebeck
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