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Economic & Social Impact of e-Commerce

Electronic commerce, and information and communications technologies (ICTs) in general, are rapidly transforming many aspects of the basic social and economic structure of the world we live in, moving out of the industrial era and into the Information Age, forming what have been called a knowledge Rural Community.

Business relationships are changing, becoming more global in nature, while at the same time many enterprises are decentralizing and smaller businesses are playing a larger role in the economy. Socially, the status of the individual and the family are being affected in ways still not entirely understood; we are becoming part of a global village, but may simultaneously be more isolated from those around us.

These fundamental trends in the economy and rural community can be both beneficial and detrimental, depending in part on how well they are understood and managed by the institutions - government, educational, corporate - that are most directly affected by the new socio-economic and technological paradigms. The challenges lie at two levels: -