have yet to respond to this demand. Currently, there are very few courses on mobile- business and m-business applications. How can we narrow this gap? One approach may be,again,to encourage partnerships between industry and academia, with industry play the vital role of guiding and directing the content and focus of m-business We believe there are two ways to do this: industry can work with universities to jointl determine the content, areas of emphasis, and outcomes of courses in m-business; indus- ry could provide training and software to incorporate into university coursesthe pri- mary outcome would be to render it less costly for universities to upgrade skills and software on an ongoing basis As part of the need to promote m-business, we believe that it is also important to explore issues of improving interface design for mobile devices [10]. Usability cannot be overemphasized. Simply stated, if m-business is to become the wave of the future, as many have suggested, devices must be usable on-the-move. Issues of how to pres- ent information to mobile users and to discover ways of interacting that are accessi ble to all users is a significant challenge in e-commerce Courses need to be develope hat explore these very important topics Emphasize training in e-business security. The growth and proliferation of -commerce for all types of applications, and in a variety of contexts (both stationary and mobile)demand that we focus on developing new ways to insure that data and transactions are as safe as possible, and that we respect the privacy of individuals [12] By implementing courses in e-commerce curricula that address security and privacy issues, we can begin to make this a priority. Managing e-business in a global environment. More e-commerce programs should emphasize the change management issues involving e-commerce in an increas- ingly global environment. In particular, new courses should focus on issues con- fronted by many public and private organizations(such as cross-border commerce, product delivery, trust, international monetary issues, government regulations, e-gov ernment, supply chain integration, and cross-cultural differences. Remain current in e-commerce technologies. Finally, e-commerce technologies are constantly changing. For example, a significant advancement in Web design and use in recent years has been the concept of the semantic Web[2]. Using XML to pro- vide syntax and structure, the semantic Web attempts to create an environment in which data can be shared and processed by automated tools, as well as by users. It is halle nging, but important, to equip e-commerce graduates with knowledge of these latest technologies-particularly for those e-commerce programs emphasizing the technology track. ncreasing their focus on these issues and continually updating their curricula, we believe that universities can continue to narrow the gaps between skills provided in their e-commerce programs and courses and the needs of business and industry References 1. Bartholome, L. W, and Olsen, D. H. A practical approach for implementing e-commerce programs in business schools. Commun. ACM 45, 1(2002), 19-2 2. Berners-Lee, T, Hendler, J, and Lassila, O. The semantic Web. Scientific American 284, 5 (2001),35-43 3. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Occupational outlook handbook-Systems analysts,computer scientistsanddatabaseadministratorswww.bls.gov/oco/ocos042.htm(2002) 176 December 2003/ol.46. No. I2ve COMMUNICATIONS OFTHE ACMhave yet to respond to this demand. Currently, there are very few courses on mobile￾business and m-business applications. How can we narrow this gap? One approach may be, again, to encourage partnerships between industry and academia, with industry play￾ing the vital role of guiding and directing the content and focus of m-business courses. We believe there are two ways to do this: industry can work with universities to jointly determine the content, areas of emphasis, and outcomes of courses in m-business; indus￾try could provide training and software to incorporate into university courses—the pri￾mary outcome would be to render it less costly for universities to upgrade skills and software on an ongoing basis. As part of the need to promote m-business, we believe that it is also important to explore issues of improving interface design for mobile devices [10]. Usability cannot be overemphasized. Simply stated, if m-business is to become the wave of the future, as many have suggested, devices must be usable “on-the-move”. Issues of how to pres￾ent information to mobile users and to discover ways of interacting that are accessi￾ble to all users is a significant challenge in e-commerce. Courses need to be developed that explore these very important topics. Emphasize training in e-business security. The growth and proliferation of e-commerce for all types of applications, and in a variety of contexts (both stationary and mobile) demand that we focus on developing new ways to insure that data and transactions are as safe as possible, and that we respect the privacy of individuals [12]. By implementing courses in e-commerce curricula that address security and privacy issues, we can begin to make this a priority. Managing e-business in a global environment. More e-commerce programs should emphasize the change management issues involving e-commerce in an increas￾ingly global environment. In particular, new courses should focus on issues con￾fronted by many public and private organizations (such as cross-border commerce, product delivery, trust, international monetary issues, government regulations, e-gov￾ernment, supply chain integration, and cross-cultural differences.) Remain current in e-commerce technologies. Finally, e-commerce technologies are constantly changing. For example, a significant advancement in Web design and use in recent years has been the concept of the semantic Web [2]. Using XML to pro￾vide syntax and structure, the semantic Web attempts to create an environment in which data can be shared and processed by automated tools, as well as by users. It is challenging, but important, to equip e-commerce graduates with knowledge of these latest technologies—particularly for those e-commerce programs emphasizing the technology track. By increasing their focus on these issues and continually updating their curricula, we believe that universities can continue to narrow the gaps between skills provided in their e-commerce programs and courses and the needs of business and industry. References 1. Bartholome, L. W., and Olsen, D. H. A practical approach for implementing e-commerce programs in business schools. Commun. ACM 45, 1 (2002), 19–21. 2. Berners-Lee, T., Hendler, J., and Lassila, O. The semantic Web. Scientific American 284, 5 (2001), 35–43. 3. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Occupational outlook handbook—Systems analysts, computer scientists, and database administrators; www.bls.gov/oco/ocos042.htm (2002). 176 December 2003/Vol. 46, No. 12ve COMMUNICATIONS OF THE ACM