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There are so many topics that the headline I just made up could lead me to. In this instance, it's an opinion piece in the Globe and Mail entitled, Business needs to do more to stop cybercrime. The essay addresses an (informed) question about the development of eCommerce in Canada and, by extension, around the world. Using data from a recent Pollara poll conducted for Symantec, Don McLean, editor-in-chief of ITWorldCanada.com, asks whether the online commerce world is simply too "seedy" to succeed.
He extrapolates and questions what it'll take for eCommerce to become a commercial place of choice for the average joe. I like his choice of the summarizing word "seedy" because of how it evokes the notion of a downtown shopping district that is a little dangerous, pushing the timid masses to the apparent safety of a sterile suburban mall. The dearth of shoppers means the locals don't bother to upgrade (clean) their surroundings, so the area gets "seedier," propelling more of the fat middle-class purchaser market away. The spiral continues.
So, it's a chicken and egg situation. Or, switching metaphors, just chicken. Who'll blink first: the eCommerce-striving businesses that need to invest more to make their district less seedy overall, or the consumers who need to suck it up and go there for the quality and value of the product (increasing the merchants' revenue, incenting upgrade investment)?
Ironically, this chicken and egg description has a lot to do with a form of "the tragedy of the commons." Consider: there can't be much of an incentive for a store-front retail operator in a "seedy" district to clean up and brighten his/her space because the entire district is gloomy. Investing to do so won't necessarily bring in more customers nor incent the neighbors to do the same. It might, on the other hand, create a shiny new target for vandals and thieves.
The parallel comes up a little short in the online world: after all nobody sees the neighbours. More than that, nobody has to walk through that common neighbourhood. Any single business can spruce up and make passage to their offerings safer at purely their choice irrespective of the neighbourhood.
Regardless, McLean presents some interesting information, which is excerpted below:
A survey of 1,250 Canadians by Pollara on behalf of security product vendor Symantec Corp. observes that 45 per cent of B.C. residents and 41 per cent of those surveyed in Ontario don't feel safe from threats such as hackers and identity theft while shopping on-line.Posted by Grayson at June 16, 2005 10:09 AMIn fact, four in 10 Canadians feel "unsafe" when shopping on-line, and similarly, nearly one in four say likewise when banking on-line. The survey was conducted in early May and researchers say the results are accurate to a total of plus or minus 3.2 per cent.
Given that Canadians are among the more Internet-connected and IT-savvy folks in the world, these observations lead one to wonder whether there might a real danger of people turning their backs on cyberspace business and commerce.
and
Pollara survey observes that 58 per cent of on-line Canadians have been a victim of a computer virus or worm -- a number that may be significantly higher, given that some people won't admit to falling prey to such activities . . . Yet IT security remains a marginal investment for most businesses and something they're inclined to spend money and time on only when they have to.
and
Canadian companies are dragging their heels even in areas where they are legally required to take action to secure information. . . . Still, the . . . survey results show more than half of small businesses required to be in compliance with the Canadian Privacy Act are in fact not, and 43 per cent of small businesses in Canada that must be compliant with PIPEDA are not.