The advances made in information and communications technology in recent years have opened up opportunities unforeseen in the early days of international commercial arbitration. The world has been brought to our finger tips, knowledge has become easily and instantly accessible and correspondence now takes place with unprecedented speed. These changes have inevitably had an impact on our working practices, creating new expectations to which we are required to adapt.

In the field of dispute resolution, as in any other field, it is important that this adaptation should be undertaken with due care and reflection so as not to undermine the fundamental principles of the process. The use of new technology brings risks as well as opportunities. Parties may not be equally well equipped or experienced, resulting in a disparity that could be detrimental to due process. The ease and speed with which communications take place could lead to misunderstandings, omissions or even errors. Also, attention should be paid to preventing automation from overriding party autonomy in international arbitration.

In recent years, there has been much reflection on how to respond to the call of technology in international arbitration. A number of schemes have been devised and put into practice. Some of these, originating in the context of a burgeoning ecommerce, aimed to offer a procedure specifically designed for resolving disputes online. Most were used for consumer disputes and applied to matters of limited scope and complexity. Given the variety and complexity of the business disputes referred to international commercial arbitration, rather than propose an online procedure, ICC has chosen to offer parties and arbitrators a facility called NetCase enabling them to conduct aspects of their proceedings in a secure online environment, if they so wish.

We have pleasure in publishing in this Special Supplement to the ICC International Court of Arbitration Bulletin a selection of articles by online arbitration specialists, looking at some of the practical aspects and implications of using technology to resolve disputes. They include an analysis of some of the initiatives already taken in the field and pointers for the future. The volume also contains a presentation of NetCase and the results of work undertaken by an ICC task force created in 2002 to study and make recommendations on the use of information technology in arbitration proceedings.

The question of whether and to what extent modern technology will be used in a given arbitration will of course be a matter for the parties and arbitrators to decide in consultation with each other. Although the advantages offered by modern technology are strongly persuasive, there is no suggestion that they should be imposed against a participant's will. It is hoped that the contributions in this Special Supplement will give readers a greater awareness of the issues involved so as to be able to make informed and appropriate choices.

Robert Briner

Chairman

ICC International Court of Arbitration