E-commerce for Western Victoria

28 February 2000

MainStreet.au will provide an online directory of businesses throughout the region The Chamber of Electronic Commerce - Western Victoria will hold a briefing and networking session at Greenhill Enterprise Centre tomorrow. More than 70 people representing government, education, council and information technology sectors will be at the session from 10.30 a.m. The agenda includes a preview of Western Victoria's regional Internet portal MainStreet.au and an address by John Barrett from Learning Business Links in Kent, England. Leaning Business Links identified business opportunities for Kent businesses - using e-commerce - that came under threat from exports. The program enable Kent based business to identify opportunities of their own.

MainStreet.au project leader Helen Thompson said that initiatives adopted by Kent businesses could be replicated by Ballarat regional industries. MainStreet.au will provide Internet users, community groups and businesses with a comprehensive online directory of businesses throughout the region. Ms Thompson, who is also a project officer at the Centre for Electronic Commerce and Communications, said that MainStreet.au offered a diverse range of information. "The objective was to draw all sectors and the whole region together," she said. MainStreet.au will provide an umbrella for regional websites and include information on weather, news and regional events.