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By Tony Hallett, 3 July 2000 00:30

COMMENT Business-to-business e-marketplaces have been big news so far this year. Software vendors like Ariba and Commerce One have reported booming revenues (though not yet profits) supplying the infrastructure that supports them, and these markets are being established by companies in sectors as diverse as automotive, pharmaceutical, paper and even computing. But a deal by the Commonwealth to create an e-marketplace for its 54 member countries changes the landscape. The goods bought and sold in this market aren't limited to a certain sector, so in theory it's worth up to $2tr per year, equivalent to over a quarter of all world trade. The Commonwealth Business Council (CBC) - the organisation behind this drive - has made the right move. It reckons it should be able to help smaller businesses trade with bigger ones around the world with a degree of certainty, through, for example, the use of digital certificates. At the same time, procurement costs should fall. Furthermore it has brokered a deal with technology provider elcom.com that doesn't see the vendor take a percentage of transactions. Rightly so. As analysts at Frost & Sullivan wrote last month: "Transaction-based pricing policies employed by software vendors will be short-lived as traders exert price pressure in order to make their trades profitable." But more than this, the Commonwealth - while open to co-operation with countries outside its membership - is acting ahead of e-groups bound to emerge from the EU, NAFTA or elsewhere. The Commonwealth is the legacy of a now distant empire, but initiatives like this demonstrate the relevance such an organisation can have in a world dominated by electronic everything.