Government's Throne Speech included a statement of intent to produce a national plan for e-business.

The plan outlines the strategy, policy and actions required to place Bermuda at the forefront of global e-business - but compared to other countries the Island has been 'dragging its feet on the issue', according to one expert.

Nigel Hickson, e-commerce consultant to the Ministry of Telecommunications said that the plan was currently being drawn up and would be presented to Parliament next year.

Although he could not comment on specifics of the plan, Mr. Hickson described it as a "live document" that was constantly adapting to the changing business environment, especially since September 11.

An e-business plan has been in the works for several years he said: "It is something that you don't want to draw up in advance as things are constantly changing, such as the economy and business."

He said that the public sector had been involved in creating the document, largely through the e-Commerce Advisory Board (ECAB), which has been working on the plan for some time.

"Essentially, the national plan is to outline how e-business should move forward, what type of business Bermuda is trying to attract, what we are good at and how we can improve."

William Storey, an e-commerce consultant on the Island says he has seen a draft of the e-business plan and said: "It is headed in the right direction, but it has a long way to go."

Mr. Storey was involved in discussions to create a national e-business plan about two years ago but said that since then, the Island has been dragging its feet, and should perhaps learn from other jurisdictions such as the Isle of Man who envisaged, created and launched their own e-business strategy in approximately four months.

Mr. Storey said the Isle of Man plan was very good, and also pointed to Dublin as another jurisdiction that had created a very good plan.

He said Bermuda should have launched a plan about 18 months ago and questioned exactly what role ECAB would have in drawing up the document, saying that it was only an advisory board and not a policy-making board.

He said the most important thing was that: "The Minister of Telecommunications has to clearly define strategy and guidelines and by all means take advice from ECAB, and others in the industry."

He said what was needed were guidelines setting out what type of business the Island promoted and from what jurisdictions.

When asked if the lack of a plan was hampering business setting up on the Island, Mr. Storey did not think this was a major problem but said there was nothing to put out there from a national level to help promote business.

He said the national plan should be the document that allows those in the private sector to attract business to the Island. "Government doesn't have to do it," he said.

A comparison of the e-commerce information on the Bermuda Government website and the Isle of Man website highlights Mr. Storey's concerns.

While the Bermuda website contains limited information about the Ministry of Telecommunications and their e-commerce initiatives, the Isle of Man website is very comprehensive.

In December 1999, the Isle of Man Government awarded a contract to Charteris Ltd. to "undertake a study to establish the most appropriate means of developing and implementing an effective environment within which electronic commerce can flourish in the Isle of Man".

The study also examined the Isle of Man's position in relation to other competitive e-commerce jurisdictions and identified the structures and incentives that would need to be put in place to allow the Island to capitalise on this new and emerging economic opportunity.

A quote from the Charteris report under the headline: "What is the Isle of Man Government doing already to promote e-commerce?" reads: "In terms of the rest of the world, our research indicates that the USA and Singapore appear to lead the field in e-commerce. Canada, Ireland the U.K. and Bermuda are adopting a proactive approach, as is the European Union, but each is developing on a different time scale.

There is therefore, an opportunity for the Isle of Man to move quickly to implement new legislation and make changes to existing legislation as necessary. The Island is capable of responding quickly to such opportunities and can gain a competitive edge if it takes the initiative, rather than waiting to follow what is eventually decided upon in , for example, the UK or the EU."

The website also provides extensive information about e-commerce advantages, legislation, telecommunication policies, service providers, rights protection and many other resources.