Honours Project Proposal Developing Country E-Commerce Portal Konstantin MasalovShiraaz Moollatjie Supervisors: Prof. Ken MacGregor Tiro Sethate

1.Problem statement 2.Objectives 3.System description 4.Research and scope 5.Key features 6.Risks 7.Project plan Presentation structure Kosta Masalov Shiraaz Moollatjie } }

Problem Statement  Botswana is a developing African nation with a growing wireless communication infrastructure  However, IT and mobile communications literacy in the country is quite low  The country’s merchants are limited to selling their wares within the city and the country  There is a lot of economic potential which can be realised through this project

Objectives  To create an online e-commerce portal through which Botwana’s merchants can sell their wares to the whole world and make more profit  To improve the IT and mobile communication literacy in Botswana  To create a generic design or template for other e- commerce portals in developing countries

System Description  E-commerce website  Online transaction security system  Product, customer and merchant database  Content management system (CMS)  Data security system

System Description

E-commerce Website  Will provide online shoppers with prices, stock availability and descriptions of goods that can be purchased on the website.  Will communicate securely with the CMS and with the internet.  Will allow shoppers to purchase online using their credit card.  Will allow shoppers to search for items of interest using a search engine.

Online Transaction Security System  Gives online shoppers a secure medium through which to make online purchases.  Allows only registered shoppers to make online purchases of goods.  Ensures that any transactional information is communicated to the internet or to the CMS in a secure manner.

Product, Merchant and Customer Database The database stores information about:  Products that are sold on the website: prices, product descriptions, photos of products.  Merchants that sell goods on the website: banking details, contact details.  Customers that purchase goods on the website: credit card information, contact details, shipping address.

Content Management System  Manages the customer, merchant and product information database.  Processes merchants’ SMS/MMS requests and adds, removes or updates products from the website.  Handles any changes made to the database as a result of transactions on the e-commerce website.

Data Security System  Allows data to be securely transmitted between various components of the e-commerce portal.  This includes transmission of product, merchant and customer information from the content management system to the website.  The transmission of transaction data from the website to the content management system.

Research  The following topics will make up the research component of the project: -Mobile phone coverage and SMS/MMS service availability in Botswana -HCI principles for designing cell phone and website interfaces for developing countries (Dr. Marsden’s speciality) -Commonly-used security systems in e-commerce websites and Content Management Systems -Design principles of e-commerce websites and commercial databases

Scope of Project  The e-commerce website will not handle shipping or tracking of ordered products.  The implementation of this project will be limited to Botswana.

Key Features  An online shop that will allow online shoppers to buy goods from Botswana’s formal and informal merchants.  A search engine on the website to allow customers to find specific types of merchandise  A secure online transaction system that will allow shoppers to purchase goods safely using their credit cards.

Key Features  A database of merchandise with photos, product descriptions and stock information  A content management system that will process SMS and MMS commands sent by merchants  A data security system that will ensure that all data that is transmitted between various system components is secure.

Risks  Hardware failure leads to loss of code and documentation -Keep multiple backups of the work.  Team member falls ill and cannot work -Keep each other up to date so one may temporarily take over the other’s work.  Risk Mitigation Strategy -Regular meetings between team members to resolve issues that might cause delays in the project. Prevention is the best solution!

Project Plan  The project is expected to run for approximately six months. -Doing research and literature reviews -Planning, designing, developing and testing all the e-commerce portal components -Writing report -Creating posters and the project website

Workload division amongst team members  Konstantin Masalov -E-commerce website -Online transaction security system -Product, merchant and customer database -Project website  Shiraaz Moollatjie -Content Management System -Data security system -Project poster

Project Milestones 1.Completion of designs and planning for the e-commerce portal. 2.Completion of CMS and data security components. 3.Completion of the e-commerce website and online transaction security components. 4.Completion of the product, merchant and customer database. 5.Successful integration and testing of all the system’s components. 6.Demonstration of the final e-commerce portal. 7.Final project presentation and the end of the project.

Project Schedule

Thank you Any questions?