NEW ECONOMY – OLD BASICS

If the old economy was based on buying and selling tangible products such
as cars and oil, the new economy is increasingly about buying and selling ideas.
Which of course gives rise to vast legal issues, concerning the protection of those ideas.
As our cover story outlines, in this new economy Intellectual Property Laws are being tested, especially in areas of the Internet.
Professor David Vaver, UK-based New Zealander who visited the country recently as NZ Law Society fellow, is leading figure in this area. We are very pleased to publish his informative story on where IP is heading.
While the subject area can be complex, Vaver’s message is simple enough – no one wins if the law becomes disincentive to people with bright ideas.
This issue also has special feature on e-Managing, which ties together some of the basic strands of using the Internet in business.
While business-to-consumer traffic receives high public profile, the biggest impact is shaping up in the business-to-business side of the web.
Forget the idea of buying book or record over the Internet, it’s well-known fact that around 80 percent of Internet use will be done between businesses – between suppliers and buyers, between customers and between staff.
Transforming your business into successful e-business won’t be easy, but it needs to be done, and done quickly if your company is going to survive.
But it’s also helpful to remember that when all’s said and done, we’re talking about tools to do the job better.
All the technology in the world often can’t replace old-fashioned face-to-face contact. I was reminded of that recently, when one of IBM’s chiefs told me that they’re always looking to hire good communicators.
The more technical the world gets the more we need good communicators.