European Telework Information Day Brussels - 28th May 1998 Report By Jeremy Millard ETD Project Manager

European Telework Week 1997

European Telework Week is the focal point of many activities that go on throughout the year promoting the understanding of telework and its considered implementation. There are many other activities that seek to attract the attention of the public and the media alike, so focusing telework actions into a single week enables participants to reinforce their message at several levels. It was to support industry, administrations, and other interested organisations in their activities that DGXIII launched the first European Telework Week in 1995.

In 1997, as well as its usual support from the European Commission, DGXIII, European Telework Week received European level sponsorship from Siemens and Toshiba. In 1998, European sponsorship is being provided by CISCO, France Telecom, Siemens, Telecom Italia and Toshiba.

For the first time in 1997, a series of European Telework Awards was instituted, culminating in an award ceremony in Brussels on 7 November 1997. There were winners in five categories (presentations by the first three are also summarised in 7.1 to 7.3 below):

1. European competitiveness - IBM, Belgium/Luxembourg.
2. Sustainability - Rijkswaterstaat, (the Dutch Ministry of Transport).
3. Most original telework scheme - ISdAC, the Information Society disAbilities Challenge.
4. Best technological contribution - Siemens, Austria.
5. Best media coverage - Teleworx magazine, Germany.

Award Winner 1997 for Best Contribution to Sustainability

Hans De Jong, the Netherlands Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management

In 1990 the Dutch government began its first trails with teleworking at the Ministry of Transport, originally in order to develop transport policy by exploring the possible impact on traffic congestion.

Two years after these early experiences, the Ministry of Transport started to widen teleworking to encompass all interested directorates. By 1995, the original pilot involving 2 directorates with a total of 60 volunteers had expanded to 17 directorates and more than 600 teleworkers. More than 25,000 commuting kilometres, equal to almost 500 hours, were saved per week. In addition to these environmental benefits, productivity rose by 10-15% and the quality of work increased for everyone in the organisation.

The Ministry project in the north of The Netherlands was particularly successful in addressing the commuting problem which had got worse after the merger of three geographically dispersed Northern directorates. The strong support given by management, and the high interest shown by many in the organisation, has led to a good practice example which is now used by many administrations and other large organisations looking to implementing telework themselves.

The project has successfully demonstrated beneficial environmental impacts on sustainability and has been actively engaged with other organisations in the region, resulting in a multiplicity of well visited events and seminars and positive press coverage. From the outset, the project was carefully planned and implemented with an effective project management and has been continually monitored and evaluated. A communication plan was built into the project which ensured that all interests were kept informed and invited to provide feedback. In many other European countries this project will thus serve as an excellent example of best practice.

As a result of these benefits, the project was awarded the European Telework Award for the Best Contribution to Sustainability.

Contact: Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water management
Rijkswaterstaat Directorate North Netherlands
Mr. Hans de Jong
E-mail h.j.djong@dnn.rws.minvenw.nl

Award Winner 1997 for Competitiveness

In 1994, IBM Belgium/Luxembourg implemented its Shared Office Concept with the aim of covering the entire working environment. Sixty per cent of the staff (1,050 employees) participate in the project, each one using portable equipment and choosing the most convenient working place when arriving at the office. All participants also have the option to work from other locations, such as from their own home or the customer's premises.

In order to ensure the effectiveness of this new way of working, changes were made to the organisation of both secretarial staff and management staff, for example the latter adapted to the new way of working by taking on a larger coaching role. All participants in the project, although having complete freedom to chose their own place of work, were asked to check into the office on a regular basis.

This shared office concept demonstrates full flexibility in determining the place of work in a very cost effective manner. Building on experience gained over many years, the management and all working processes have been carefully adapted, leading to positive impacts on productivity, costs, flexibility and other factors promoting competitiveness.

In addition, the outsourcing of project evaluation has resulted in increased value for IBM, since the view of the evaluators was less determined by IBM culture. This has also been an advantage for other large organisations with a wide geographical coverage, as they can clearly see the success factors that made this best practice case the winner of the 1997 European Telework Award for Competitiveness.

Contact: J Goffin
IBM Belgium/Luxembourg
E-mail: jos_goffin@ibm.be

Award Winner 1997 for Originality

The Information Society disAbilities Challenge, ISdAC, believes that the full participation of disabled people in the Information Society should be driven by the disabled themselves with the support of others, such as the European Union and the Member States. A Project Programme Office has been established in order to co-ordinate and drive the efforts needed to make such integration a reality. In reaching its goal, the Project Programme Office of ISdAC has addressed issues such as developing a strong and inclusive network that includes disabled and non-disabled supporters.

The Project Programme has, where necessary, identified barriers to progress and initiated actions to address them, including the affordability of telematics and training, credibility and acceptance. The Project Programme is also addressing issues such as awareness raising of the opportunities and the requirements in political circles and in industry. Effort is also being put into identifying projects for disabled people to participate in and to develop new such programmes. In starting these efforts, the goal was no longer simply to show possibilities and to experiment, but to move to decisive action on a widespread scale.

The ISdAC initiative focuses on a very important and less prioritised group in society. The concept of initiating a project run by disabled persons themselves is very important. The project is a significant contribution to the Information Society in that it enables disadvantaged people to act in virtual teams all over Europe and increases knowledge and experience among disabled persons in building durable networks.

Contact: Information Society disAbilities Challenge (ISdAC), Carlos Velasco, Co-ordinator of Virtual Team
E-mail: velasco@globalmail.net