Staff Reporters

BUSINESS and consumer confidence in electronic commerce will be enhanced with the recent formulation of an authentication council.

Americans, with their penchant for therapy speak would call it denial. We more plain speaking Australians would call it inexplicable, unfathomable contradiction.

In recent years the capital markets in Australia have been usurped by the federal government.

Perth businesses could be seriously underprepared for the introduction of the GST, a new survey has revealed.

AN AUSTRALIAN company has developed a real time credit card transaction technology that allows any web server or website to be turned into an electronic commerce gateway.

Perth-based junior mineral explorer Gallery Gold Limited has discovered a new gold province in a style similar to the Yilgarn region of Western Australia.

Hotmix Group provides Internet Services squarely focused on the needs of business.

PERTH-based software solutions company BMIS will soon provide the University of WA with training for JADE programming technology.

Comet Resources NL plans to expand output from its Ravens-thorpe nickel project by 40 per cent, increasing capital development costs to $870 million.

BUSINESSES that are involved in e-commerce need to improve customer service levels to make an impact on the marketplace, says Sybiz managing director John Krokosz.

THE WA taxi industry is in need of sweeping reforms, according to an independent review undertaken by BSD Consultants.

Internet transactions of some US$12.2 billion have been prdicted for the fourth quarter of 1999 by market researcher Dataquest.

Despite a drop in technology stocks, those in the industry still have what it takes to reach the billionaires’ list.

The recent downturn in the resource sector has been reflected in the balance book for mining services and rock-breaking contractor, Brandrill Limited.

THE worldwide release of free training videos featuring the Netscape 4.6 program recently began in Perth.

TIES between the meat industry in WA and Egypt were strengthened by a recent visit from Egyptian delegates.

OBSERVATIONS can be made from the UK experience of VAT to help Australia avoid mistakes when introducing the GST, according to a UK tax expert visiting Curtin Business School.

The $3.8 billion Australian stationery products market is set for tough times or even extinction according to a new study by BIS Shrapnel.

The 1999 edition of the Joint Ore Reserves Committee’s Australasian Code for Reporting of Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves (JORC Code) became effective at the beginning of September.

PERTH telephone customers can save up to 80 per cent on overseas telephone calls thanks to new telecommunications company Global Dial.

EMAIL in the workplace is an area fraught with legal issues, says a Seek spokesperson.

INSURANCE fraud is on the rise in WA and many in the industry believe law enforcement agencies are not doing enough about it, according to a recent Phillips Fox survey.

The Ralph Review heralds a sea change in the way small business interacts with the tax system, according to the Australian Society of Certified Practising Accountants (ASCPA).

THE PERTH facility of Software Engineering Australia has opened at Technology Park in Bentley.

A gas strike made by the Department of Minerals and Energy in the Officer Basin in WA has set a precedent – it is the first recorded occurrence of gas in that area.

TPG Internet has become the third largest national ISP in Australia by providing the most cost-effective services, not only in capital cities, but also in regional centres.

AD SERVING provider Sabela Media has signed a deal with IDG Communications to deliver all ads for the company’s web services.

THE WA opposition’s change of tack on workers’ compensation should stop insurance premiums from rising.

Titan Resources NL has chalked up its first profit in six years, described as a major turnaround for the company which last year had a $11.9 million loss.

COMDEK network services manager Josh Bovell believes that electronic commerce can make an office truly paperless.

Doing business in the online economy requires an effective website. However, building a great website is only the first step. For a commercial website to be successful it must attract users, or in web-parlance, traffic.

If you are dealing with a mainstream ISP company, Comdek believes the answer is probably “no”. eBusiness requires far more than just a connection to the Internet.