User:Devinjck/sandbox

I am doing my article draft on "E-services.'" One part of this article talks about the practicle example of E-services in the developing world. I would like to add a section about examples of e-serives in well established, thriving countries such as the United States, China, and others.



E-services in the United States of America
In America, citizens have many options and opportunities to follow and understand government actions. The concept of E-Government continues to grow and evolve in America. Government 2.0 (Gov. 2.0) is currently in place to bring the people and governments together to learn new information, increase government transparency, and better means for communicating to one another. Gov. 2.0 offers increased citizen participation through on-line applications such as social media and other apps. Through the internet, an individual can accomplish many things as it pertains to government. Using a website such as USA.gov, an individual can: contact elected officials: find information about the work force such as retirement plans and labor laws: learn about money and consumer issues such as taxes, loans, and welfare: learn about citizenship and obtaining a visa or passport: and other topics such as health and welfare, education, and environmental issues.

E-commerce is another growing E-service in the United States. E-commerce sales are projected to grow 10 to 12 percent annually. Amazon.com is the largest on-line marketplace in the country with annual sales of $79 billion. Wal-Mart is also a widely popular retailer. They have grown their business by having electronic services. Wal-Mart’s sales for E-commerce in 2015 was roughly $13 billion. Apple develops and sells a wide variety of technological goods and services such as cell phones, music players, and computers. Apple’s sales for E-commerce in 2015 was $12 billion. E-commerce is not only booming with big businesses, but it is also flourishing with small business as well. It has never been easier for small businesses to reach new clientele with the continuing growth of on-line services. Companies such as eBay and Etsy make it easy for sellers and buyers to solicit with each other on a global scale. EBay, founded in 1995, prides itself on creating economic opportunity for people throughout the world to profit from goods that they make or no longer use. With 169 million active buyers and over one billion live listings, eBay lives up to their credo of "if it exists in the world, it's probably for sale on eBay. As it is one of the most visited on-line shopping sites in the country, eBay posted a net income in 2016 of nearly $9 billion. The majority or eBay's business is conducted in the United States but it does a great deal of international business including the United Kingdom and Germany. Etsy is another on-line marketplace that enables users to buy and sell homemade goods such as clothes and jewelry. With over 1 million sellers and 19 million buyers, Etsy is place where small businesses can thrive. In 2014, nearly $2 billion in sales took place on Etsy and they profited roughly $200 million. To post items for sale, it costs sellers 20 cents per item with a 3.5% fee of sale value for each transaction. The global reach of Etsy is seen in nearly every country in the world with 31% of gross merchandise sales occurring outside of the United States.

E-services in China
China’s recent realization of the continuing growth of internet usage has caused the government to recognize the need to expand their E-government services. Some steps the government wants to take in order to increase their E-government services are to develop more online functions, use government sites to integrate on-line services, have supplementary open data available to citizens to further government transparency, and to combine services from local and country-wide governments for convenience. China’s plan of action to incorporate the internet into everyday business and grow the economy is known as “Internet Plus.” The government plans to have this plan in full effect by 2025 to be the main driving force for economic and social improvements. Internet Plus will help to grow the job market as the government plans to use local citizens for development, and to generate more areas dedicated to technological growth such as Zhongguancun. Because of the large population, China has the most internet and cell phone users in the world.(consider rewording) This causes a need for technological growth and a demand for increased E-services. In 2016, Chinese consumers spent more money for on-line goods and services than the United States and United Kingdom combined. There is(are) a wide variety of reasons as to why E-commerce flourishes in China including easy access to mobile internet, low cost of shipping, and a vast selection of cheap, unbranded products. Alibaba is China’s largest on-line marketplace with an annual revenue stream of $16 billion. Its services are globally available in Russia and Brazil through AliExpress. Tencent is another internet company with an annual revenue income of $16 billion. Tencent is used mainly for instant messaging but has other applications as well including mobile games and other digital content. By the end of 2015, Tencent’s WeChat messaging app reached around 700 million users. The biggest competitor for Tencent is Facebook’s WhatsApp. Baidu Is the most visited website in the country and it is used as a search engine and has an annual revenue of $10 billion. In March of 2016, there were roughly 663 million users. Google challenges Baidu as the major internet search engines in the world. Huawei is a tech company that produces phones, tablets, and develops the equipment used in fixed-line networks. Huawei has an annual revenue income of $61 billion. It is currently located throughout 100 countries worldwide and in 2015, it filed 3,898 patent applications, more than any other country in the world. The biggest competitors to Huawei is Apple and Samsung.