Adapt for brave, new Internet world -- Gates
AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE

TOKYO, JUNE 15: Businesses face an enticing new world as the Internet develops in the next few years but must ensure they are ready now to seize the advantage, Microsoft founder Bill Gates said Thursday.

The role of corporate websites will have to adapt with electronic commerce set to assume a far-reaching presence in everyday trade, he told a technology symposium in Tokyo. ``You need to set your sights very high in terms of the number of transactions and enquiries that will be coming into the system,'' Gates told Japanese business leaders. ``The good news is you may often be surprised by how popular your website is,'' said the Microsoft chairman, who made no mention of his company's legal travails against US government trust-busters. ``But that means you have to plan ahead and have that extra capacity.

One big change already underway was that desktop computers and keyboards were losing their central place in the Internet revolution. It'll be people (accessing the Internet) through their TV set, people through their cell phone, people through the wireless connection in their car a wide variety of devices that will be driving the transaction levels on your website,'' Gates said. ``The whole economy will move in this direction, and that's not going to happen overnight,'' he added. It will occur in a longer time-frame of about 10 years and ``companies that get ahead on this will be the ones that make their plans now'', Gates said.

Firms must adapt not just their information-technology departments but also sales, marketing, planning and communications to meet the challenge, he said.

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