Speech: COMDEX Saudi Arabia, April 10, 2000

"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

Speech: GITEX Dubai, U.A.E., October 30, 1999

Remarks

by

William B. Seebeck

Vice President & Managing Director, Technology Portfolio

The Dabbagh Group Ltd.

to

GITEX Dubai

at Dabbagh Information Technology's (DIT's)

Fifth Annual Information Technology Awards Dinner

Crown Plaza Hotel

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Saturday, 30 October 1999

Thank you Walid [Akwai] for that very kind introduction.

Excellencies, Special guests, Award Nominees, my brothers and sisters in technology. 

I am also very pleased to welcome you to DIT’s Annual Awards Dinner.  On behalf of Amr Dabbagh and the employees of the worldwide operations of the Dabbagh Group, we thank you for coming here tonight and sharing this great meal and celebration.

For the last five years, our company – Dabbagh Information Technology (DIT), the publishers of PC Magazine Middle East & Africa and DIT.Net have been privileged to host this dinner at GITEX.  It is an Awards Dinner, put forth to honor those companies and their many bright, innovative and at times most courageous employees who create new products and services and bring them to market.  We recognize them because they should receive this honor from all of us -- their peers in the technology industry.

However, those of us here and the many that we represent back in our offices around the world are more than just employees of companies.  We are, each of us, partners in a technology revolution that changes all of the time, even as we share this great meal tonight.

Like you, I am a participant in that revolution and have been for 25 years, 18 of them in online.  Like you, I have explored, invented, created, developed, risked, lost and won, but rarely have I done it alone.  To create such a time-intensive technology revolution, you need colleagues and partners and alliances.  You or I may think in a vacuum, but you can’t bring your visions and dreams to life alone.  In many ways, it has always been this way.

When my ancestor, Thomas Johann Seebeck discovered thermoelectricity in 1821, he did it in an environment where he daily shared ideas with such people as Goethe, Schiller, Volta and others that lived in or visited the University town of Jena, Germany.  They also met regularly at gatherings of the French Academy of Sciences, gatherings much like the sessions we are holding here at GITEX.  There, they heard Benjamin Franklin of America and Peltier of France and others describe their work.  From such sessions, new creations were put forth and advances made at a greater pace.  Today, history calls that particular technology revolution -- The Age of Electricity.

But who are our partners today?  Where are they located?

As this dinner and the GITEX show illustrates, our partners today are based in countries around the world – in America, in Britain, Germany, Holland, Australia, India, Italy, China, and yes, also in all of the countries of the Middle East.  We can partner with anyone in a virtual world and in an evolving global economy.

Yes, this electronic revolution knows no national borders, we need only reach out and through the Internet, the world can be there for us.  Whether we are seeking information on a company or a university; or 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 educate, explore, conduct business, etc., all at the same time, in the same way, almost without risk.

The power of this medium is unlike any other in history.  Yet, like anything else, it also has limitations.  The Internet is finite because is defined as being available only to those who have credit cards.  Yet, less than 3% of the world has credit cards (in the U.S., some 65% have credit cards but 35% don’t have bank accounts; less than 15% of the Germans use credit cards in what has traditionally been a cash society, etc.).  The Internet is still a man’s domain, not being used widely by women, who are the predominant purchasers of soft goods in the Western countries.  The Internet’s users are still defined as ranging from age 18-29, skewing to 33 years of age and finally, the Internet is still viewed as an "American thing".

So create we must, partner we must, alliance we must, promote we must, yet, understand that there are risks.  The Internet without filters can offend and challenge the morality and beliefs of people as it has done in Belgium and Germany and here in some areas of our region; the Internet can also be used by some as the sole source of your children’s amusement – the virtual baby sitter.

Finally, the Internet is a powerful medium and while it was born in the U.S., the Internet must continue to aggressively evolve so that it becomes an acceptable member of the family of each nation, not just America’s.

We have plotted an aggressive future for ourselves on behalf of the countries of the Middle East, and in that vain, we celebrate the announcement by His Royal Highness yesterday concerning the creation of the world’s first Internet City.

As the leading online and information technology media company in the region, we at Dabbagh are committed to opening the Middle East to every other region of the world so that so that we can attract and offer a wide variety of partnerships and alliances to businesses in our region.

We at Dabbagh are committed to providing an Internet based IntraNet for every company and individual in the world that has an interest in or does business with the Arab world.  Through this Arabic/English portal, we will offer business-to-business services, consumer services, educational activities and a fun but safe environment for the children of the region.

We at Dabbagh are committed to provide television and wireless services in the region that support Internet or other broadcast services.

To show that we are quite serious about these efforts, we at Dabbagh have created DIT Fund, an investment fund that in strategic alliance with Masayoshi Son, the president and ceo of Softbank Corp. has made and will continue to make select investments in pre-IPO Internet ventures.  Many of these ventures can be applicable to our region as well and when appropriate, we will aggressively assist them in that effort as well.

In doing all of these things our company will be making, we believe, a major contribution to the development of this information and communication revolution in this region.  We look forward to working with all of you and your companies as we work together in this, the Age of the Internet.

Now, let us celebrate and honor those companies that have made important contributions to our industry during the past year.

Thank you very much.

Copyright 1999  WBSeebeck

Press Report: Expert Claims MasterCard to Pocket SmartCard Technology

Specialists skeptical of Mondex purchase...

"Some smartcard specialists fear Mastercard could hold back the electronic purse technology  developed by Mondex International, following its agreement to buy the UK firm last week. Concerns were prompted by a teleconference last week in which Mastercard president Eugene Lockhart estimated it could take up to 10 years to roll out an infrastructure for the Mondex cards. 'It is going to take us quite a bit of time to come up with the right terminal policy," he said. 

Bill Seebeck, specialist in global electronic currency and managing director of consultancy Grant/Seebeck International, warned: 'While Mondex International hopes to gain brand distribution with Mastercard, Mastercard takes the biggest threat to its business out of the game." Seebeck claimed the Mondex card would have been rolled out within the next couple of years...."

                                                                   Computer Weekly (U.K.), November 28, 1996

Speech: The World Bank, November 9, 1996

Remarks

 by

William B. Seebeck

Managing Director

Grant/Seebeck International, LLC

to

The World Bank

Fund Staff Federal Credit Union

1996 Strategic Planning Conference

The Embassy of New Zealand

Washington, DC

Saturday, November 9, 1996

It has been 25 years since I helped draft a speech for David Rockefeller, then chairman of the Chase Manhattan Bank on “Where Banking would be going in the 1970’s”.  Much has happened since 1971, in every institution including banking.

In 1971, when that speech was given by Mr. Rockefeller, Chase was considered a cutting edge bank.  Yet, in 1971, it had just begun the computerization of the bank’s accounts.  Until 1970, commercial accounts were still being hand-posted.  I remember being at a meeting where the positives of computerization were discussed with the bank’s then vice chairman, George Roeder.  The case was made that computerization would make it possible for the Bank to collect and post all the costs associated with the maintenance of a commercial account, so that we could for the first time review the profitability of an account.  Imagine that.

In the area of communications, the Bank was still using rotary dial phones and international calls were still made by our operators.  However, we had begun exploring a move from operator-driven plug boards to a Centrex system.

In credit cards, Chase, one of the pioneers of that industry, was then reviewing the possibility of instituting a new program in alliance with the Bank of America – The Bank Americard.  Chase had a hundred or more branches in the New York City area.  It also prided itself as being #1 in institutional banking.  Chase also maintained “on the ground” representation all over the world.  Chase, with the experienced David Rockefeller at the helm, a true internationalist, was a picture of what a modern commercial bank should look like.

In some ways, the fundamental structure of banking as it was in 1971, has not changed a great deal, it has only upgraded its operation.  However, 25 years later, I am here to tell you that Banking as it was then and Banking as it is now will be altered completely in the next 10 years.  Why?

Because technology born of the revolution that is changing all of our institutions is also driving fundamental changes both in the operation of banking and in what will be expected of banks for the future.

Let us understand that banking is the process of moving, storing and the using funds for a fee, for the broad purpose of promoting commerce within a capitalist society.  Funds are what the society has decided represents value.  In the 16th century, dyes for coloring textiles and the like had real value and were exchangeable for gold which also had real value in a society whose commerce was run primarily by barter.  Later, it became acceptable to use paper currency to represent funds backed by gold.

In the year 2005, we believe that it will no longer be necessary to represent funds by paper currency.  We believe that funds or the representation of value will evolve over the next 10 years to become electronic currency.

Fundamentally, we believe this because, with the advent of electronic mail, technology collapsed the information float – the time in which it takes for us to communicate.  It has reduced our words to data and made it possible to compress that data in packets small enough to be sent in nanoseconds via communication networks.  This action alone has fundamentally changed, virtually overnight, the way business operates, and we human beings, communicate with one another on this planet earth.

Now, once technology collapsed the information float with e-mail, the money float was also collapsed, since moving money is nothing more than moving data.  Yet while e-mail has been growing exponentially for the last five years, e-moneys growth has been snailish at best.  As a result, real electronic commerce is not broadly available, despite lots of bravado in the press.  In large part, this is because the new banking system necessary to support this new evolving world of commerce is yet to be created.

Why?

I think because it is such a fundamental change for banks and for their customers, including us.  For after all, electronic money means the end of float.  We have all enjoyed float whether as an individual, as a company or as a bank.  It also means the end of the archaic 1-5 day bank clearing structure.  Why do you need it if you can move money from one place to another in nanoseconds?  Electronic money also means the beginning of the end for checks.  You won’t need them anymore.  Electronic money also levels the field of competition with banks because it is a great equalizer.  In the electronic age, you may not need a global bank if your local bank can download value to your electronic Smart Card.  More on Smart Cards later.

Yet, despite our initial resistance to electronic money, let us remember that in some respects, electronic money has been with us in one form or another for 25 years.  The electronic money we have been successfully using is known as the credit card or the ATM/Debit Card.  The credit card replaced personal loans and the ATM card has replaced checks.  Yet, the actual value of what we charge our credit account or direct deposit account is not found on the credit or debit card.  The credit card and the debit card are not funds in and of themselves, rather, they represent promises to pay by our banks in an intricate settlement process that occurs within 48 hours of our actual transaction.

Like paper currency and checks, we believe that credit and debit cards as we know them now will be seriously on the wane at the beginning of the next century.  They will evolve into a much simpler system of Smart Cards that can communicate directly with our banks allowing for the exchange of funds to take place instantaneously, either through direct communication via a phone or through the stored value represented on the card.

Now, you may ask, “Does this mean that we will still have a need for MasterCard and VISA and other bank cards?”  Our answer is no, we will no longer have a need for MasterCard or VISA as a mechanism, although they may remain as brands.  We believe that these bank associations will no longer be relevant to the banks of the future.  

The Mondex card issued in June 1995, by NatWest in association with British Telecom and Midlands Bank has already proved that you need only the Smart Card and a communications company to exact a transaction.  With electronic currency and Smart Cards, you won’t need the cost of an intermediate organization between the consumer, the merchant and the bank, since the “open to buy” will be on the Smart Card itself.

When these bank associations were born 25 years ago, they represented a mechanism for profit for banks unable to handle massive transactions.  Essentially, MasterCard and VISA are telecommunications switches that link the merchant to a card issuant bank requesting an authorization covering payment of goods and services.  They also exist to protect their brands.  Smart Cards hold value and/or the authorization on the card – there is no need to contact the bank for approval on every transaction.  Therefore, you don’t need the telecom switch anymore.  Technology has changed the requirement for that transaction.

Someone asked me recently when I thought we would go to Smart Cards.  Well, in part, our target date was established in September of this year, when President Clinton signed the Welfare Reform Bill into law.  This bill mandates that states introduce Smart Cards by 1999 for recipients of welfare benefits.  The result is therefore, that we will have access to Smart Cards by 1999.

Last month, Microsoft announced that it will support, via its software, Smart Cards and hopes that personal computer manufacturers will install Smart Card readers beginning in 1997, in their computers much like CD-ROM’s are installed in most desktop machines manufactured today.

What does a bank issued Smart Cards look like?  Well, it has a flexible silicon chip embedded in it and represents technology that has been around since 1972.  When the U.S. starts using Smart Cards, we will be joining millions of other people around the world that have been using them for more than a decade, primarily as a medical identification cards.

We believe that Smart Cards by 2005, will have our basic identification on it, including drivers license, medical history, medical insurance, photograph, signature sample, a biometric identifier like a fingerprint, face or retinal scan that can’t be altered and will represent at least one level of security.  It will have on it credit lines from a variety of institutions like department stores or banks that represent actual value, i.e., the credit lines can be drawn down from the card without additional approval from the creditor.  It will contain a direct link to your bank and the ability to store value or currency on the card for exchange with merchants or other consumers.

What else changes for banks?

Banks will no longer require local branches.  Branches will be closed and replaced by ATM-like machines necessary for an individual to add value to their Smart Cards when they are away from home or when they don’t have access to PC’s or smart phones at home or in the office.  For PC’s and smart-phones or even cell phones, you will be able to slide your Smart Card into the device and download value directly from the bank.  Banks will also set up regional centers, as many already have and also offer videoconference facilities in areas frequented by the general public, such as malls and grocery stores.  In addition, you will be able to videoconference with your bank directly via your personal computer. 

Commercial and institutional banking will continue along the same route with the movement of money occurring via the use of Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) and dial-up links to the bank.  EDI will speed up international letters-of-credit and general purchasing, processing and collection.  Digital signatures, fast becoming legal in most states, will serve to help confirm the many number of legal instruments necessary in commercial transaction and critical to the banking process.

International banking will change dramatically.  Already, Smart Cards such as Mondex can store value in more than one currency (Mondex can store five).  As a result, an individual can move from place to place on the globe with stored value in that nation’s currency.  In inter-country exchanges, already many nations are creating internal SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications) compatible service networks that can link with SWIFT inter-bank telecom switch in Amsterdam.  Acceptance and availability of technology in countries is critical to worldwide acceptance.

So what have we done to banking so far?

Acceptance of Electronic Currency as a form of universal exchange.

 •      Introduction of Smart Cards to replace:

•      Cash

•      Checks

•      ATM Cards

•      Credit Cards

•      Medical ID Cards

•      Drivers License

•      SmartCard can contain:

•      ID information

•      Photographs

•      Biometric security, i.e., signature, fingerprint, facial or retinal scan

•      Direct Deposit Account (DDA) Access and Cash stored value

•      Credit card line store value (“open to buy”)

•      Drivers license

•      Health insurance authorizations

•      Health information

•      End of the requirement for MasterCard, VISA or any other credit card organization or acquiring bank.

•      End of the existing U.S. bank clearing structure.

•      End of local branch banking

•      Introduction of video-banking centers in malls, shopping centers, or other places in which people gather.

•      Introduction of regional banking centers for commercial banking requirements.

•      Use of SmartPhones, PC’s, cell phones, POS (point of sale) and electronic wallet devices for SmartCards.  It should be noted that companies have already made such devices.

•      Changes in U.S. banking law, where required, to allow for the growth of this relationship.

 

Sounds like a lot doesn’t it?

 Well think about it though.  How will we expand global electronic commerce via the Internet or Intranets when:

•      Most bank issued credit cards, today, don’t allow electronic payment transfers from your bank account unless your account is in collection.

•      Most banks do not have electronic banking services available via either phone or personal computer.

       •      Only 2% of the world’s population have credit cards.

•      Only credit cards are accepted for payment on the Internet or Intranets.

•      Less than 12% of the Germans use credit cards.

     There is no mechanism for the consumer to move money around the world electronically.

•      There is a limited ability to settle payments for electronic services in multiple currencies in multiple countries.

•      35% of the American people do not have bank accounts.

 

The answer is, if the banking industry doesn’t begin changing radically soon, electronic commerce advances made by scores of new companies like Netscape, Connect, Open Market, Yahoo!, Alta Vista and many others including Microsoft and IBM will slow dramatically.

 Unlike 1971, my friends, we, you and I, along with businesses and governments are now part of a truly global electronic economy.  The Internet has proven its ability to perform and it has captured the imagination and garnered the involvement of millions of people in every part of the globe.  The banking industry must move with speed to support this new commerce market with advanced payment systems and relevant electronic banking structures.  Your challenge as bankers is to be open to understanding the evolving nature of this technology and to be willing to make changes that are both fundamental and revolutionary.  Are you up to this challenge?

I think you are.

Thank you very much.

Copyright 1996 WBSeebeck