Electronic Commerce for the South Pacific: A Review of E-Readiness

The two most powerful forces affecting the world economy are the increasing rate of globalisation and advances in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). The combined effect of these two forces could empower people by opening up the world's knowledge, or it could result in an increasingly divided society. For the developing countries of the South Pacific the challenge is to find a suitable niche in the global economy, ICT has the potential to be a significant enabler in creating this niche. This paper is an exploration of the opportunities made available by developments in the area of electronic commerce. How can the countries of the South Pacific best exploit these opportunities, and will they be able to benefit from leapfrogging to the latest available technology, missing out some expensive stages of infrastructure building?