Strategic planning for Internet applications in mining

The Internet represents a significant opportunity to develop the next generation of mining systems, based on information systems and intelligent processing. Potential Internet applications fall into three categories: commercial, operational and social. The first priority must be fundamentally to understand the nature of information and what it means to operations and business. The second is to understand the technology itself and where it is going. It should then be possible to develop a corporate strategy that benefits all partners, enhancing both competitiveness and sustainability.