Challenges of smart business networks - Five perspectives

At the start of the Vanenburg Science Seminar, during dinner on the first evening, participants were seated at five tables. Each table group was asked to define the phrase Smart Business Network (SBN); to choose one aspect of the design, implementation or use of a SBN; to predict what would be the status of that aspect in years 2010 and 2015; and to list the few most significant barriers to achieving the predicted status. Each group continued to work on its document during the days of the conference, then finalised it in the days that followed. The year 2015 is only ten years hence - a distance that is within grasp, and is not too far at all. Two groups chose to deal with the design of a smart business network, two chose to deal with the governance, and one group chose to deal with the business opportunities enabled by a SBN. The groups spontaneously chose subjects that cover the spectrum of important issues that lie ahead, and their reports show different perspectives on similar issues.