In recent years the growth of the Internet has pointed out that electronic markets - despite of problems and consolidation movements - have gained considerable impact in most areas of our economy. In contrast to physical markets, electronic markets do not evolve: they have to be explicitly designed, implemented, and operated via the Internet. Almost all divisions of a company have to adapt their conventional business processes to meet requirements of web-based platforms. This progress calls for open and flexible platforms as well as adequate standards and information services. For those complex tasks of Market Engineering - i.e. the holistic conception, implementation, initiation, further development and integration of market-oriented platforms as well as designing a legal general framework - a structured and systematic approach is indispensable.
Many participants are affected by prosperity or failure of a new market-idea: many of them acting immediately or indirectly on its success. Beside market operators and designers there are parties requesting and providing goods and services, component suppliers, service providers for IT, logistics and financial services, legislators and regulatory authorities. Therefore, reasonable market engineering initiatives have to rely on at least the three disciplines economic sciences, computer science and jurisprudence.