ACTIVITIES :: eTen :: Projects :: Projects of the Month :: edispute©

December 2005 Project of the Month: edispute©

Electronic Dispute Settlement for SMEs

Issues being addressed

Arbitration/Mediation is a well-established alternative to contentious courtroom litigation for the resolution of commercial disputes. It is quicker, simpler, and incurs lower costs without disadvantaging the parties.
The edispute© system will assist SMEs to resolve business disputes efficiently and professionally.

Objectives of the project

The edispute© project will establish a rapid and effective arbitration procedure of particular benefit to SMEs engaged in international trade. Information technology can give them rapid access to appropriately qualified, but remote, arbitrators and it can ensure that the relevant information is circulated quickly and accurately to all parties in a dispute. The project is tested in three different environments: Chambers of Commerce, consumer associations and health services. The user communities are SMEs, consumers and health practitioners.

The project will analyse and define for the user communities involved, the requirements, the necessary infrastructure and the regulatory framework for establishing and co-ordinating an internationally distributed arbitration tribunal using networked computers as their primary means of communication. Once the requirements are defined, the service enables all parties to exchange documents, review them and, with the help of the arbitrator, reach a settlement. If a settlement is reached, it becomes binding to all partners.

The Consortium

The edispute consortium expects to achieve a market penetration in the order of 10% in the fifth year after product launch, depending on evolution of the Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) market and other circumstances.

Expected benefits

The edispute© system platform is a tool that can be implemented at anytime during claim or dispute proceedings, which benefits all concerned by reducing communications problems while allowing the use of different languages, keeping the negotiations moving, saving litigation costs, and -most importantly- by quicker financial settlement following claims and dispute resolution.

Achievements

edispute preliminary Business Plan completed.
Arranged trials at Royal United Hospital, Bath, Kingston Primary Care Trust and St. Helier Hospital in UK.
Organisation of meetings with the Chambers of Commerce of Emilia-Romagna ADR officers in Italy.
Participation to CER2005 Exhibition in Brussels in November 2005.
Participation to the European Invest. Forum in Berlin.

Reference Data

http://www.tiga-technologies.com/eDispute
Contract Type: Market Validation
Start Date: 01.07.2004
End Date: 28.02.2006
Duration: 20 months