By SARA BRUECK
E-revolution has reached BYU, and students are being urged take part in it through involvement with BYU’s newly-created eBusiness Center.
In a meeting Thursday, March 2, Owen Cherrington, director of the eBusiness Center, and three master’s students from BYU’s school of accountancy and information systems explained the importance of e-commerce and the need for students to be active in helping to implement the vision of the center.
“There are some things that are unique to e-commerce, but there are a lot of areas in business that are also affected by e-commerce,” Cherrington said.
He told students that businesses will still buy, sell and market, but the Internet has changed how it is all done. Cherrington also spoke on the brief history of the center and how he hopes it will allow the creation of a four-way partnership between the center, students, venture capitalists and e-businessmen.
Following his presentation, several graduate students involved with the center and e-commerce challenged other students to take part in the “e-revolution” regardless of what they were studying.
“No matter what your background is, you can participate and contribute valuable information,” said Milen Marinov, 23, a first-year master’s of information systems candidate from Sofia, Bavaria.
Steven Tedjamulia, 24, a first-year master’s of information systems candidate from Sao Palo, Brazil, described the vision he and other students have for the center and the direction they hope it will take.
The vision they spread to the faculty and business members involved in the center includes developing a place that allow students to generate new ideas, gain real-life experience in school, work with the latest technology and conduct meaningful research.
Tedjamulia emphasized the importance that students will play in the design of the eBusiness center.
“Right now you’re entrepreneurs for the center,” he said. “Get involved in the center as much as you can now. Let’s have this vision grow and do all we can with it.”
Brian Carini, 25, a second-year master’s of information systems candidate from Connecticut said he agreed.
“We’re onto something new,” he said. “We’re part of the future. A lot of this is self-initiative for now. We really need to take charge.”
According Carini, the explosive growth of the Internet has made a significant mark in history.
“It’s not going to be remembered as the days of Internet craze,” he said. “It will be known as the Internet revolution.”
Carini described how students can become involved in this revolution by gaining a broad exposure to technology, researching and getting hands-on experience — in essence, becoming e-business experts. Carini’s description of how to become involved was an outflow of the eBusiness Center’s vision Tedjamulia described.
All three students commented on the great potential that lies ahead for students as a result of the e-Business Center.
“The e-center will bring the outside world, market, faculty and students together and provide us with a knowledge base,” Marinov said.
Students who would like to become involved with the center should contact Cherrington for information on how to apply for the student advisory board.
