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SFSU Public Affairs Press Release

Published by the Public Affairs Office at San Francisco State University, Diag Center.

#036
Contact: William Morris
phone:(415) 405-3606
e-mail:wmsalcie@sfsu.edu

SFSU's College of Business launches new Center for Electronic Commerce

Announcement comes at Center's first official event, a conference on "Putting E-Commerce to Work for Your Business"

SAN FRANCISCO, October 6, 2000--San Francisco State University's College of Business has created a Center for Electronic Commerce (CEC). The Center's goal will be to promote and disseminate applied research on electronic commerce that leads to tangible improvements in the field. The Center was announced at its first official event, a conference on e-commerce held today at SFSU's Downtown Center.

To accomplish its mission, the Center plans to sponsor programs and activities that encourage, support and present individual and collaborative research related to electronic commerce by faculty, graduate students and practitioners.

"We anticipate that the Center will grow into a valuable resource for both the university and the local business community," said Ray Maghroori, dean of the College of Business. "Since so many of our graduate students move on to careers with Bay Area companies that have an electronic commerce component, it seems natural for us to promote research in this particular field."

"The Center will encourage faculty and students to become more involved with research," said CEC Director Robert C. Nickerson, an SFSU professor of information systems who specializes in electronic commerce and global information systems. "Our hope is that that research will especially involve collaborative projects with local businesses."

According to Nickerson, some of the programs and activities that the CEC will be involved in include: an internship program with local businesses for students concentrating in electronic commerce; an annual book of resumes of new College of

Business graduates with concentrations in electronic commerce; a database of faculty, graduate student and practitioner research interests and experience to help coordinate collaborative projects; a semi-annual newsletter; a public Web site with Center information; and a secure Web site with special information for member organizations only.

The Center also plans to make today's conference an annual event, bringing in practitioners to discuss the current and future state of electronic commerce. This year's keynote, "Putting E-Commerce to Work for Your Business: Promises and Pitfalls," was given by Carl Bass, CEO of Buzzsaw.com. Buzzsaw.com is an e-commerce company that offers design collaboration and project management tools to the construction industry, along with procurement and auction offerings and a goods and services exchange.

Two panel discussions took place after the keynote with participants from e-commerce involved businesses such as Visualize.com, Wells Fargo and Hummer Winblad Venture Partners. The first panel discussed "B2B, B2C and Marketing;" the second panel discussed "Security, Mobility and Venture Capital."

Conference sponsors included Acteva, Wells Fargo and Deloitte & Touche.

NOTE: Any interested business or organization can apply to become a member of the Center for Electronic Commerce. Benefits include copies of all CEC publications and free access to programs and activities hosted by the Center. Visit the CEC online at: http://online.sfsu.edu/~cec.

The College of Business at San Francisco State enrolls more than 5,000 students and has more than 120 faculty members. Business administration is the most popular undergraduate major at SFSU, chosen by nearly one in four undergraduates.

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Last modified October 13, 2000, by Office of Public Affairs