Jersey Reinforces E-Commerce Ambitions With New E-Business Portal And Planning Initiative

Robert Lee, Tax-news.com, London

31 January 2001

Jersey has wasted no time in demonstrating its committment to the development of e-commerce in the jurisdiction. Already this year, the Jersey Information Society Commission (JISC) has launched a new e-business portal and is now inviting comment on an initiative "aimed at shaping Jersey's e-business future".

Firstly, Jersey has introduced a new portal, www.e-team.je, to promote e-commerce on the island. It was unveiled earlier this month by the Jersey States IS/IT strategy adviser, Peter Griffiths, who said it could be used by Jersey firms wanting to go online, but was primarily an "electronic shop window" promoting Jersey as an e-commerce centre around the world.

At the official launch, Mr Griffiths commented: 'There is nothing like this in the offshore world. The site carries a vast amount of information and provides us with a marvellous promotional tool which carries the Jersey banner around the world.'

The new portal has been created and written with entrepreneurs, corporates and professional advisers in mind and is divided into two principal sections: Services and Information and Enquiries and Research. Questions can be e-mailed to a team on the help desk who claim to provide a response within four days. A key component of the site is the dissemination of information on all aspects of e-business in a Jersey context. For example, how companies relate to Jersey, what are the aspects particular to Jersey and how can business be done with Jersey. Entrepreneurs and firms interested in setting up an e-business in Jersey can use the e-team portal as a "one-stop-shop" for all the legal, tax and practical information crucial to setting up a successful e-commerce ventre.

Mr Griffiths concluded: 'With the launch of the new Official Jersey Portal, The States of Jersey, through JISC, has demonstrated its ongoing commitment to the development and promotion of e-commerce.Throughout the project we have worked closely with a number of partners, including the Income Tax Department and the Jersey Financial Services Commission, to provide the on-line facilities. We are grateful for their input and cooperation and look forward to a successful partnership with industry, who will use the Portal to their full advantage and really place Jersey in the centre of excellence for e-commerce'.

Following the launch of www.e-team.je, the JISC is now undertaking a strategic planning initiative, called 2020.je, on which it is inviting comments. A press release from the JISC stated: 'The project is particularly aimed at Jersey based organisations. It has been designed to help Jersey consider how it may evolve into, and sustain, its position as a leading e-commerce jurisdiction in the year 2020. The objective is to help build a shared vision of the future and to implement a process to help locally-based businesses, of every size, develop and test their own individual strategies for addressing the future.'

The initiative has involved the setting up of a dedicated Internet site - www.2020.je - which is to gather information via research, interviews, discussions and feedback, with the aim of identifying where Jersey is today, where it could be in the year 2020 and what actions must be taken to get there.

From the results, the JISC will produce a business plan and marketing programme that in line with its goal of creating "e-Jersey - an Island of IT opportunity for all". Comments are invited via the www.2020.je site until February 7 2001.

.

Recommended

Write a comment