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SCMP Reporter

THE information superhighway will change the way Hong Kong does business. But few businesses realise just what the superhighway can do for them or how to even find the entrance ramp.

  If your business has not yet got on the information highway, you should ask yourself ''why not?''.

  Because the chances are that your competitors and customers already are on it, and that could cut you out of the loop.

  American businesses got their wake-up call when giant supermarket chain Walmart suddenly announced it would refuse to buy from companies not linked to its electronic purchasing system.

  Companies that could not adapt simply lost the business.

  Hong Kong is nowhere near that stage of sophistication - yet. But a silent revolution in which computers and terminals are the weapons is going on around us.

  Those who do not arm themselves will become yesterday's companies.

  The buzzwords in this brave new world are multi-media, connectivity and networking.

  But do not be daunted by the techno-babble.

  The so-called superhighway is really like a telephone system for computers.

  It allows them to talk with each other and exchange information globally.

  If you imagine that a telephone system is like a footpath which can carry only pedestrians, then the information superhighway is like a freeway which can take everything from private cars to buses and trucks laden with information.

  At the moment, mostly words are carried on the highway.

  But as technology progresses that will change to television type pictures allowing even greater interchange of information.

  The uses are as varied as the imagination of the user. An executive can type a memo on his computer and instantly send it to a colleague working in California.

  Then he can check the latest news stories from Reuter on China and, seeing a mention of a statement made by United States President Bill Clinton, can instantly retrieve the full text from the White House computer.

  Increasingly, sales orders are being handled electronically rather than manually.

  There are also services for users in Hong Kong. One of these, being launched by a company called Xxact, will allow the public to book tickets for UA cinemas by computer.

  The signs of change are everywhere. It is not unusual to find business cards bearing fax, phone and electronic mail numbers.

  If your company representatives do not have an electronic mail address, consider a scenario in which two sales people see a customer.

  If the customer and only one of the two sales people have electronic mail addresses, it is likely that the company with electronic mail will walk away with the deal.

  When you are ready to join the information age, you will need to go through a company that offers access to the information superhighway.

  The largest of these is the Internet, which is really a large number of interconnecting supercomputers which agree to swap information with one another.

  In Hong Kong, the two largest Internet service providers are Hong Kong Internet and Gateway Services and Hong Kong Supernet.

  Supernet's Bob Coggeshall said that businesses without a connection to the electronic highway would be at a disadvantage.

  ''Using the Internet for electronic mail is just another communications tool like a phone or a fax,'' he said.

  ''Five years ago, the fax did not exist and people said 'why should I use a fax?'. The same will happen with the Internet.''   To give a better understanding of what the Internet is and to explain how to use it, Supernet will conduct a free seminar on April 25. [** NB should be June 25 **] Another company, Compuserve, acts like the Internet but uses its own + private network and is easier to use.

  Mr Coggeshall said that offices in Hong Kong needed a cost effective way to communicate with their head offices overseas and electronic mail was the easiest, most cost-effective way of doing this.

  It provides confidentiality, whereas a fax can be read by anyone and, unlike a telephone, it does not require the addressee to receive the call simultaneously.

  This is a bonus when time differences often make it inconvenient to place a business call.

  It is surprising that Hong Kong has been so slow to move on to the information superhighway.

  The three main providers of Internet access in Hong Kong have about 5,000 users between them.

  Compuserve says it has 3,000 subscribers, while the other two are reckoned to have about 2,000 between them.

  The US by comparison is reckoned to have between 10 million and 15 million subscribers.

 Around 40 per cent of Internet subscribers are businesses and Deacons solicitors is one of them.

  Information systems manager Kerry Kilpatrick at Deacons said the convenience of electronic mail was the big drawcard in being connected to the superhighway.

  ''It is just easier to respond to an electronic mail message yourself rather than having to dictate it to your secretary and go through several drafts. It is definitely going to become an accepted way of doing business.''   Deacons also uses electronic mail to send many of its documents to clients for revision in Hong Kong and to talk to its offices in the US.

  A document travels back and forth and is amended several times without ever leaving the computer screen.

  ''The ability to communicate electronically with associate firms and clients rather than having to fax a 60-page document back and forth several times is a big advantage,'' said Mr Kilpatrick.

  In researching this article, this reporter sent a message to a news group on the Internet asking users how they use it for business.

  The reply from one respondent was typical of the responses received.

  ''I use the Internet to communicate with our offices in the US, Singapore, and Australia as well as some of our customers.''   But it's not all smooth driving on the superhighway.

  Far from being a seamless and easy to use connection, driving along the superhighway is a little like starting on a journey on a road with no sign posts, some pot holes and a number of tollgates.

  Lack of knowledge of the Internet or Compuserve is another factor inhibiting its growth and acceptance in Hong Kong's business community.

  One frustrated user said: ''I am in the hotel and airline supplies business but none of my clients has the foggiest idea what the Internet is. Let us just say it will take a lot of pushing to get people to the stage where they know what it is all about.''   In spite of the knowledge gap, businesses in Hong Kong are increasingly using some sort of information network.

  Compuserve general manager Peggy Scott said that businesses were being attracted by more on-line services which were useful for research, such as Lexis, an electronic law library.

  Businessmen have been attracted by Compuserve because of its ease of use.

  ''You would be surprised by how sophisticated business executives have become,'' said Ms Scott.

  One user who is not surprised is Bertrand Jubault.

  He runs a one-man office for French equity research company Euro Equities in Hong Kong, and uses Compuserve to communicate with his head office each day.

  The cost of a secretary and office space in Hong Kong is prohibitively expensive, so Mr Jubault has a secretary in the head office in France type up his major contracts for him and send them to him electronically.

  ''It saves me time because I just change a few figures and then print it out myself,'' he said.

  For increasingly more companies in Hong Kong, being on the information superhighway will not just be a convenience which saves time and money; it will become a necessity.



Electronic highway the road to success