The e-markets special interest group (SIG) provides an interdisciplinary approach to understanding electronic marketplaces. The SIG draws on faculty at the Media Lab, Sloan and the MIT community. e-markets central topics include: personalization, profiling and privacy, recommendation systems, decision support for buyers and sellers, agents that buy and sell, negotiation protocols, markets for goods and services, new payment systems, just-in-time economic organizations, mobile devices for shopping, tagging technology, new technologies for shopping and entertainment media, "click and mortar" technologies, smart homes, markets as a resource distribution mechanism and, finally, cost-appropriate and self-sustaining technologies for e-commerce and sustainable development.

The program has three cornerstones:

e-markets sponsors are a select set of top-tier global players in the future of electronic markets, including hardware, software, services and content companies. We restrict membership to a relatively small number of companies, and expect to work closely with these companies in developing techniques and prototypes, and in conducting field tests.

In addition to close collaboration on research projects, e-markets holds semi-annual, members-only workshops to exchange ideas, highlight work done during the previous six months, and identify opportunities for collaboration. Sponsors have access to the website, to source code of projects, all the intellectual property (IP) developed at the Media Lab during the period of sponsorship (both in this SIG and elsewhere at the Media Lab), and advance copies of papers and theses. Most importantly, sponsors become the Lab's closest allies in defining the future of transactions.

The e-markets SIG is lead by Professor Dan Ariely who runs the eRationality group at the Media Lab and has a joint appointment at the Sloan School. If you are interested in joining the e-markets SIG, please contact Deborah Widener.

 

Last modified 11 October, 2002