The information society
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/eb045669 |
| Pages | 412-413 |
| Published date | 01 June 1998 |
| Date | 01 June 1998 |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Library & information science |
THE
INFORMATION
SOCIETY
Continuing
our
review
of
government Initiatives
and projects that will
help the
growth
of
the
Information
Society.
If
you know of
such
a
project, or
are involved
in one that
you
would
like to see
here,
please
contact
the Journals
Editor
at
the publisher's
address
or by
e-mail
at
tel@learned.co.uk.
China
China's Yahoo
In a recent interview for Wired News, Charles
Zhang,
founder and CEO of Internet Technologies
China,
spoke of the development of his company's
product, Sohoo.
Sohoo, mainland China's equivalent to Yahoo, has
rapidly become the country's most popular search
site and has attracted the business of major compa-
nies wishing to gain entry to the Chinese market
through advertising to its growing online population.
Zhang waved a flag for the 'firstness' of his company
in his interview with John Alderman:
Because we are riding the wave of China's Internet
content revolution, a lot of things we do are firsts.
We are China's first venture capital-backed
Internet
company.
We
are Intel's first venture
capital investment in
China.
We
are the first major
[Chinese] search engine and
directory.
We
are the
first to use an outside company to audit online
traffic.
Zhang decided at the beginning of 1997 'that the intrin-
sic nature of the Internet is information sharing, so the
best way is to aggregate content and do a search
engine and tell people where to find things. That way,
the whole Internet becomes a library or electronic mar-
ketplace'. Internet growth figures in China are quite
impressive. Last October, there were 600,000 online,
and now it has gone beyond 1.5 million people. Points
of access include Internet
cafes,
of
which
there are
hun-
dreds - with access to decent amounts of capital.
Wired News
asked Zhang about governmental worries
about
the
spread of information
online,
and he respond-
ed:
'Yes,
there is
concern,
and we have formal contacts
with the government officials about what to do
and
what
not to
do.
We
won't venture too much into talking about
domestic policy or pornography'
(Source:
Wired
News,
30 Oct 1998).
European Union
The Information Society Forum goes
global
The Information Society Forum, which was estab-
lished by the European Commission in 1995 has
started welcoming new members, including repre-
sentatives from Central and Eastern European
Countries. The Forum acts as a think tank for the
Commission on issues related to the Information
Society and provides an opportunity for dialogue
between all partners concerned.
The 184 Forum members include representatives
from the various user groups (consumer associa-
tions,
public services, firms including small
busi-
nesses), social groups (trade unions, employers'
organisations, academics, family associations),
con-
tent providers, equipment manufacturers and institu-
tions.
Meanwhile, at the request of DG Xlll/E of the
European Commission and within the framework of
the INFO2000 Programme, the Gemini Consulting
Group has undertaken the CONDRINET (CONtent
and Commerce DRIven Strategies in Global
NETworks) Study. CONDRINET concentrates on the
role of content as a moving force in the development
of an electronic-trading marketplace.
The main results found by CONDRINET are recom-
mendations for medium and long-term strategies for
the multimedia content industry and EU content
pol-
icy actions for the exploitation and use of information
content for the period 1998-2003.
Condrinet: http://www2.echo.lu/condrinet/
France
Three Colours Blue
France's Minitel sevice is to be updated by IBM. On
October 6, IBM and France Telecom announced that
they will join forces to build an open-standard soft-
ware platform that will facilitate development of new
types of inexpensive devices, such as screenphones,
for accessing the Internet. France Telecom and IBM
are to develop software and services to bring Web
access to France's 35 million Minitel subscribers.
This will dramatically increase the number of people
with Internet access in France, and is a major aspect
of the development of electronic commerce in
L'Hexagonne.
412 The Electronic Library, Vol. 16, No. 6, December 1998
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