Singapore To Set Up E-Commerce Institute.

Singapore will set up an e-commerce institute as early as the first quarter next year to train more manpower to meet future industry demand, a member of parliament said this week. The institute will be run by non-profit organization CommerceNet Singapore Ltd. The move is part of the findings of a new study, carried out by CommerceNet and a Nanyang Technological University (NTU) research unit, aimed at promoting e-commerce in Singapore. CommerceNet, which will release details of its courses later, is now working with universities and polytechnics here on how to establish itself. There are also plans to carry out industrial attachments with some of CommerceNet_s corporate members like Compaq Computer Corp. and Visa International in Asia Pacific. The survey reached out to about 100 senior executives from four key segments of the electronic commerce industry such as business-to-business, on-line retailers, IT vendors, and e-commerce solution providers. NTU Professor Roger Debreceny, who presented the results of the survey, said those surveyed felt that the private sector would have to lead in promoting Singapore as an e-commerce hub. He also said participants asked if there were suitable models for local companies to emulate in terms of implementing e-commerce. He added that few examples existed because e-commerce is just beginning to take off in Singapore.