The internet is changing from an information society to a participating society – a boost for doing business electronically!

The ICT Agenda of the Netherlands was published in September 2004. Now the Dutch ICT infrastructure stands right at the top of the international stage. Partly due to the quality of its infrastructure, the Netherlands is ranked sixth after Denmark, Sweden, Singapore, Finland and Switzerland on the Networked Readiness Index 2006-2007, as recently announced by the World Economic Forum. Governmental policy is geared toward intelligent use of ICT. This not only contributes to solid, sustainable economic growth, but also leads to higher-quality products, services and service provision.

An additional positive development is that the Dutch business community is using the Internet both as a rapid means of communication with a wealth of available information, and as a participatory medium. This development affords a future outlook for electronic marketplaces. But there is still work to be accomplished in the “electronic storefront”. Notwithstanding suppliers or clients already familiar with concepts such as e-business, e-commerce, B2Cs, B2Bs, C2Cs, or e-marketplaces, the Netherlands is considered average in international commerce through electronic trade, in comparison with other Western European countries.

Electronic commerce and services are widespread in the Netherlands. Currently there are significant transactions occurring on the e-marketplaces of B2B's (business-to-business) and B2C's (business-to-consumer). The number of B2C shops is increasing. Within the e-commerce sector, one cannot underestimate the economic impact of C2C's (consumer-to-consumer). The on-line auction site www.marktplaats.nl is one example of this. Many freshly-minted businesses have begun with a C2C marketplace, doing business electronically, and now have their own webshops.

The government is similarly offering more and more online services. In 2006 a wide range of government organisations showed improved quality in their online services (e-Government - G2C and G2B). 75% of Internet users accessed an electronic governmental service. The total level of online government services to citizens amounted to 61% in 2006, and the service targeted at businesses stood at 62%.

The Forrester research institute forecasts a bright future for the Dutch e-commerce sector. According to their market studies, e-commerce in Europe will grow 21% annually until 2011. For Europe, this will mean a jump of 102 billion euro in 2006 to 263 billion euro in 2011. The Netherlands will grow by 28% to 11.8 billion euro in 2011. In this respect, the Netherlands represents one of the fastest growing countries for e-commerce.