Electronic commerce aids environment

Local governments seeking environmental solutions have found an ally in the Internet. A new partnership between Public Technology, Inc. (PTI), and the Environmental Industry Coalition of the United States (EIC/US) has gathered local officials, environmental businesses and electronic commerce providers to explore electronic commerce opportunities.

Initially, the partnership will establish an electronic commerce system that will focus on environmental products and services and ways to reduce purchasing costs for industry and government. PTI, through its local government members, and EIC/US, through its environmental business members, will seek targeted funding from the federal government and industry for an e-commerce system. The project will be piloted with a small number of states, cities and counties.

Program tests will determine the feasibility of electronic commerce between government and businesses, eliminate problem areas, address special concerns and establish a model for the nation. The pilot program is tentatively scheduled to begin in early 1999, although beta sites have not yet been identified.

Representatives of the partnership met at a PTI-sponsored focus group in February to brainstorm about problems, solutions and strategies related to buying and selling environmental products and services over the Internet. They determined that electronic commerce would allow governments to function more efficiently and dissolve some of the current barriers between governments and environmental firms.

Historically, environmental purchasing has been hindered by a variety of problems. For example, local governments typically are not organized to deal with environmental problems, either on the Internet or on paper, because issues cut across many traditional departments; therefore, a solution to an environmental problem may be politically and bureaucratically difficult to implement.

Additionally, many environmental businesses in the United States are small and unrecognized, with a limited ability to market themselves to governmental decision-makers. Finally, local procurement processes often are difficult for vendors to comprehend and vary greatly from one jurisdiction to another.

Electronic commerce and the Internet offer potential to provide government with immediate, consistent information and inexpensive access to disparate companies. They also offer the environmental industry a means to market and sell to an expanded marketplace at a significantly lower cost. According to David Welsh, executive director for the Northwest Environmental Business Council in Portland, Ore., the partnership program is really about supply and demand. “There is an unmet demand for environmental technologies and services,” he says. “The [partnership] will establish how to [link] the demand and the supply using more innovative technology.”

Other projects include a product directory and a catalog of environmental products and services. Companies will create profiles listing their capabilities and services so that local governments can determine the qualified organizations in their areas. The directories will be sent to several federal organizations and to officials within each municipality.

As the pilot program moves forward, businesses may use PTI’s current electronic commerce program, EC4GOV, to receive and respond to government requests for assistance, pricing or service. Governments also can use the system to make purchases through the Internet. With EC4GOV, and the other programs, governments can find appropriate technology solutions to their environmental problems.