question_answer

Discuss utility of E - Commerce in:

(a) Health,

(b) Education,

(c) Governance,

Answer:

Ans.     (a) Changes in Health: E health is following the same path, with electronic patient records slowly being introduced and health insurance schemes starting to refund e health services. This will be a user driven development as it is more likely that the users will be able to adapt to e health much faster than the healthcare system can deliver it.

This will clear the way for a whole new e health industry, worth billions of dollars. One has to look at some of the e health systems linked to the high end private hospitals in the USA to see what is in store. They use their e health facilities as a major marketing tool to attract customers, not just to the actual hospital, but to all the other facilities around it. The add on revenues are significant.

(b) Progress in e education: It is moving at an enormous pace and already some schools are limiting the number of printed textbooks   some are going totally e book. With over a million children now with laptops it is only a matter of time before the education system to switch over. The savings in books and other printed material alone will pay for this digital revolution. South Korean schools will be entirely e book based by 2015.

(c) Governance: Many e government services on offer around the world already provide citizens with relatively sophisticated services and the establishment of a fiber based broadband network may see governments improve and broaden the range of web services even further. In addition, mobile services are being incorporated in service offerings and computing is becoming integrated. The Internet of Things (IoT) and M2M will also impact upon this sector. Those who are still talking about broadband as an end in itself; do not understand the situation. Broadband is simply the tool that will further enable and advance the digital economy.