There is a number of emerging scientific issues in electronic commerce that bear examination in the context of a workshop, to determine whether and how NSF should support near- and medium-term future research in the area. Some of these issues include the development of trust, potentially supported by new technologies, dynamic but limited-information assessments of quality; automated contracting, intermediation, tractable algorithms for electronic markets, and the links between electronic commerce and the building of relationships, including communities, organizations, etc. This workshop will survey and identify strategic, timely and pressing research areas in the application of information infrastructure to commerce; develop a set of research priorities; build consensus on how the various research components of electronic commerce can best be leveraged against one another and collaborations built; and disseminate the results widely.
