Katarina Stanoevska

Not long ago m-commerce was proclaimed as the next technological revolution and opportunity for companies to provide a new distribution channel for customers. But, first examples of m-commerce applications show that only those applications are accepted by customers that provide clear added value compared to the on- and off-line channel. But how can the suitability for m-commerce be assessed by companies? Concepts, guidelines and methodologies for the development of strategies for m-commerce are not available yet. This paper tries to fill the gap and provides guidelines for the design and implementation of m-commerce applications based on the media reference model.

Based on a Business Media Framework (BMF), this paper proposes an architecture for secure electronic contracts, which adhere to legal requirements and can be applied for an integrated management of market transactions. We propose the use of XML, digital signatures, and Java technology for secure electronic contracting. The resulting contract container can be applied for the support of an integrated information flow through the different services of an electronic market. In addition the container holds a control logic, that supports the management of the contract negotiation and the contract settlement. The concept provided in this paper was developed in the Secure Electronic Contracts (SeCo) project of the =mcminstitute of the University of St. Gallen and the University of Zurich, Switzerland, in cooperation with several business partners.