Engendering Trust in a Collaborative E-commerce Solution

The Internet has brought widespread deployment of electronic commerce (e-commerce) and is
rapidly changing the way buyer and seller supply-chains transact business over the Net. As e-
Markets evolve to support multiple trading partners by forming an extended value chain (e-
ValueChain), it is vital to build trust among the partners. Virtual Enterprise is one example of an
e-ValueChain that enables collaborative e-commerce, allowing business in e-Markets to rapidly
form dynamic coalitions, pursue market opportunities, and then dissolve. Virtual Enterprise
Builder (VEB), discussed in this paper, is a collaborative e-commerce solution that supports the
formation of Virtual Enterprises. Business transactions hosted by the VEB solution are often
highly confidential, with the potential for legal consequences. To mitigate risks and engender
trust, establishing a security framework such as the public-key infrastructure (PKI) is essential.
With its added security, a collaborative e-commerce solution enables business partners to trust
one another in business transactions and share appropriate resources effectively. Thus business
partners in the Virtual Enterprise can collaborate seamlessly and compete better in the
marketplace. VEB builds trust by integrating digital certificates into the business registration
process and securing the electronic business transactions by signing them with the digital
signatures, which supports the non-repudiation of business transactions.