  We discuss the impact of precision measurements of $\sigma(e^+e^-\to
{hadrons})$ in the center-of-mass range between 3 and 12 GeV, including
improvements in the electronic widths of the narrow charmonium and bottonium
resonances, on the determination of parameters of the Standard Model. In
particular we discuss the impact of potential improvements on the extraction of
the strong coupling constant $\alpha_s$, on the evaluation of the hadronic
contributions to the electromagnetic coupling $\alpha(M_Z)$, and the
determination of the charm and bottom quark masses.
