From: Rohit Khare (rohit@uci.edu)
Date: Wed Apr 26 2000 - 13:22:47 PDT
>See also http://e-markets.www.media.mit.edu/projects/e-markets/prospectus.html
>
>
>MASTERCARD DONATES $5 MILLION TO CREATE NEW ELECTRONIC TRANSACTIONS LAB AT
>MIT
>
>PURCHASE, NY, April 25, 2000 -- Ensuring that payment choices keep pace
>with sweeping changes in technology and lifestyles -- both now and in the
>future -- will be the focus of new research, as MasterCard International
>today announced a $5 million grant to establish the “MasterCard Future of
>Transactions Laboratory” at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
>Media Lab in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
>
>The “MasterCard Future of Transactions Laboratory” will be a core resource
>for MIT's new e-markets special interest group (SIG), composed of
>manufacturers, distributors and technology companies who will study the
>future of commerce. The work in the laboratory will include the development
>of innovative technologies that help consumers, businesses, and retailers
>conduct transactions easily, efficiently and securely.
>
>In addition to MasterCard's agreement with the Media Lab, MasterCard will
>also become a high-level sponsor for the Center for eBusiness at MIT's
>Sloan School of Management. While Media Lab researchers focus directly on
>technology, Sloan faculty will research complementary issues -- new
>business models for e-markets, pricing structures, consumer shopping
>behavior and attitudes.
>
>“We feel confident that our collaboration with the MIT Media Lab and MIT
>Sloan School of Management will help keep MasterCard at the leading edge of
>important technology changes, making sure we remain the best way to pay in
>the future,” said William I Jacobs, senior executive vice president,
>Strategic Ventures. “Through this partnership, we believe there is much we
>can accomplish for our member financial institutions and their cardholders.”
>
>“The technologies we will be pursuing in the new laboratory will touch the
>lives of the average consumer,” explained Nicholas Negroponte, director and
>co-founder of the MIT Media Lab. “Buying and selling is an essential part
>of our everyday lives. Making the process more flexible, more convenient
>and more secure will have significant benefits to both consumers and
>businesses.”
>
>The “MasterCard Future of Transactions Laboratory” will explore a number of
>technologies in the payments and electronic commerce process, including:
>
>- Remote devices, such as transponders, used increasingly in payment
>transactions
>
>- Electronic authentication technology, including biometrics, for buyers
>and sellers
>
>- Mobile phones, pagers and palmtop PCs, which provide an alternative
>delivery system for Internet access, as well as web phones and wireless
>data services
>
>- Infra-red technology that allows point-and-shoot data transfer among
>notebook PCs, PDAs and client systems, as well as signaling systems that
>won't even require a direct line of sight between the two communicating
>components
>
>“Consumers, merchants and banks are interacting in increasingly diverse
>ways, which involve the use of a number of different computing devices in
>virtually any type of network environment,” said Art Kranzley, senior vice
>president, Electronic Commerce and Emerging Technologies, MasterCard
>International.
>
>“The integrity of payment, transaction privacy, customer satisfaction and
>consumer loyalty are all intimately connected, fundamental parts of the new
>remote transactions technology environment. MasterCard's role as the
>enabler of any type of transaction between the merchant and customer means
>that our organization must help our member financial institutions lead the
>way in defining and designing the best possible world for consumers,
>businesses, and retailers to operate,” said Kranzley.
>
>MIT's Media Lab and Sloan School of Management will research issues such as:
>
>- Mobile Shopping: Exploring the use of mobile personal devices, such as
>mobile phones, palmtop computers, and pagers to provide consumers the
>ability to shop anywhere, anytime.
>
>- Electronic Exchanges: Examining techniques for creating marketplaces in
>which buyers and sellers can be brought together on issues concerning more
>than just price. For instance, the marketplace of the future might allow
>buyers to trade off the price offered for an airline ticket against the
>quality of the flight.
>
>- Software Agents: Like electronic travel agents, software agents offer an
>opportunity to automate all or some of the steps of the transaction,
>including: suggesting which product to buy, which vendor to purchase from,
>and the terms of the transaction.
>
>- Profiling and Privacy: Researching issues such as the representation of
>the e-profile (its format, look, etc.), privacy of e-profile data, storage
>and location of the profile, user control of the data and personalization
>of the customer relationship.
>
>- Trust, Brand and Reputations: Examining mechanisms for building and
>maintaining brand equity and trust in the electronic environment,
>researching the role of reputation in differentiating among merchants and
>increasing transaction volume, as well as setting competitive price points.
>The faculty's work involves reputation algorithm research, study of
>consumer attitudes toward trust of merchants, and simulation of the effects
>of the use of a variety of brand- and trust-building mechanisms.
>
>Since opening its doors in 1985, the MIT Media Lab has helped pioneer a
>vision of a digital society. The lab is currently exploring such areas as
>electronic paper, “intelligent” software agents for the Internet, “smart”
>clothing that can recognize and respond to the wearer's needs and state of
>mind and new “toys to think with.” The Media Lab operates on an annual
>budget of $35 million. More than 90 percent of that funding comes from
>approximately 170 corporate sponsors, and the balance from a number of
>government agencies and individuals.
>
>
>
>###
>MasterCard International has the most comprehensive portfolio of payment
>brands in the world. More than 1 billion MasterCard®, Cirrus® and Maestro®
>logos are present on credit, charge and debit cards in circulation today.
>An association comprised of 22,000 member financial institutions,
>MasterCard serves consumers and businesses, both large and small, in 210
>countries and territories. MasterCard is the leader in quality and
>innovation, offering a wide range of payment solutions in the virtual and
>traditional worlds. With more than 18 million acceptance locations, no card
>is accepted in more places and by more merchants than the MasterCard Card.
>In 1999, gross dollar volume exceeded US$727 billion. MasterCard can be
>reached through its World Wide Web site at http://www.mastercard.com.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>John Muller
>johnmuller@earthlink.net
>jmuller@brobeck.com
>"The revolution will not be monetized"
>
>
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