16 It is a tool of both access authorization and control. Taking a closer look at the development of public services in various parts of the world, one can get an impression that e-administration is well-present in everyday life, has been wellorganized, thoroughly analyzed, and in a conscious and consistent way improves the quality of public services in highly  10  IVR – Interactive Voice Response – a phone technology that provides the user with an ability to contact a database over the phone with tone dialing function. Thus, the user can obtain requested information from the database or enter relevant data to the database. 11  “Leasership In Customer Service: New Expectations, New Experiences”, op. cit., Ain Järv presentation entitled “e-Economy and e-Government in Estonia” held on January 5, 2006 at the National Bank of Poland. 12  The system was launched in mid 2005 for the customers of the second biggest mobile telephony operator in Finland – Elis. More information can be found at www.pstm.net/article/index.php?articleid=707  13  http://My.eCitizen.gov.sg. 14  “eGovernment In the Member States of the European Union”, IDABC, November 2005. 15  “RFID tracks fever cases in Singapore hospital”, www.pstm.net/article/index.php?articleid=788. 16  “You will not enter without Chip. ID under the Skin,” Gazeta Wyborcza, February 16, 2006. 4  BIS Review 23/2006  developed countries in Europe and North America, whereas in the developing countries of Asia, a higher growth momentum and courage in implementing innovative solutions can be observed.
The progress in the ICT is also one of the main factors explaining why the American economy has developed at a far faster rate than the economy of the euro area in the past ten years. The research results available 3 show that labour efficiency in retail and wholesale trade in the United States has grown many times faster than in Europe, inter alia due to the use of the ICT in those sectors. The American Wal-Mart, the biggest global supermarket network, has implemented the new radiofrequency identification technology (RFID) for the purpose of further enhancement of the network performance and reduction in the logistics-related costs. So will have to do most of Wal-Mart’s suppliers. The above examples demonstrate the way that the progress in the e–economy facilitates global optimization of the manufacturing process, this contributing to a rapid growth in efficiency, improved quality, and reduced prices, and thus offering far-reaching benefits to consumers. It has turned out that although Poland is at the bitter end when it comes to readiness to implement the e-economy, the position of the Polish economy is high in most of the rankings concerning the investment or offshoring 4 attractiveness, whereas our chief advantages include a favourable location, a large market, and well-qualified and relatively cheap workforce. Therefore, owing to the process of globalization of manufacturing and services, Poland may stand a chance of rapid growth, provided that our chief shortcomings, including the poor advancement in e-economy and e-administration, are remedied.