According to In-Stat, the city of Glasgow, Scotland, is in the world news because of last week's meeting of global heads of state, but the city has other reasons to "crow." Glasgow is known as a city with a proactive approach to growth, and they are making innovative investments to raise awareness and attract visitors from around the world. They've become the first city to launch a 24-hour TV service that delivers a wide range of features and prerecorded "Content" to anyone with a broadband Internet connection and can play Windows Media. The site is becoming a destination not only for people who are interested in all things Scottish, but also as an example of how the broadband Internet is changing the concept of Television. Normally, it takes a full-time staff of dozens of technicians, producers, directors and talent to create a TV channel and keep it on-the-air around the clock. But Glasgow TV uses low-cost, off-the-shelf technology and local volunteers videotape and edit most of the content. A few local city employees ingest the content and feed it into an automated management and play-out system called "TV Station In A Box." The www.glawsgow.tv site also sets up an automatic link to the City of Glasgow's official web site, which provides a more traditional Internet experience, lots of detailed information about the area, and automatic links to other URLs.
For decades, the story of digital commerce has been one of incremental improvement: better search, faster checkout, smarter recommendations. But something more fundamental is now underway. The emergence of agentic commerce, in which AI agents autonomously search, evaluate, and execute purchases on behalf of buyers, represents a genuine architectural shift in how commerce operates. Whether it becomes the revolution its proponents promise, or another technology that peaks at interesting pilot project, will depend on how effectively the AI industry addresses the structural challenges it faces. Agentic Commerce Market Development Agentic commerce involves deploying AI agents to handle the full purchasing cycle. Rather than browsing a website and entering card details yourself, you grant an AI agent the authority to act on your behalf, within defined parameters. The agent handles product discovery, comparison, negotiation, and payment execution. It draws on your procurement preferences, pur...