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ETD News - March 1998 Page 1 Of 4 ETD News Editorial The main telework news this quarter is of the third European Telework Week (ETW '97) that took place during 3-10 November 1997. It brought together over 7,000 people at 147 registered events, all over Europe. We bring reports on the highlights below and further coverage in our Country Roundup. ETW '97 demonstrated the growing maturity of telework, but still surfaced some erroneous perceptions and lack of awareness of its potential among several important groups. As discussion on the etw-forum shows, many individuals want to telework, but cannot get the help and support to do so. We all hear of employees who want to telework but whose employers won't let them. A bizarre example is the message I received from an employee of a large IT firm, that you would have thought would have been more supportive. He would like to telework to avoid the 250km a day round trip car journey to work, but his boss won't let him. Fortunately, he says, he manages to telework from home for about one day a week without arousing too much suspicion, by making use of technology: "our voicemail system means that people can contact you without being aware of where you are". ETD is now at the mid point of its three year awareness programme. Our aim, as always, is to keeps you aware of significant developments in the European telework scene. We look forward to your feedback and contributions. David Skyrme Editor, ETD News. European Telework Week 1997 From 3-10 November 1997, telework events, both real and virtual, took place all over Europe. Particular aims of this Telework Week, the third, were: To provide a focal point for grass roots organisations to co-operate in their promotional activities. To shift public, business and media perceptions of telework towards that of a normal and desirable business practice that can enhance competitiveness To establish links between telework and the development of Electronic Commerce To reinforce the link with sustainable development and build initial links to local network initiatives. As well as its usual support from the European Commission, DGXIII, European Telework Week received European level sponsorship from Siemens and Toshiba. Ian Culpin, coordinator of European Telework Week, expressed general satisfaction with the results: "There can be no doubt that European Telework Week in 1997 represented a major increase in telework activity awareness activity across Europe, and even spilling well beyond its borders. Whilst it would be unfair to highlight any one country's contribution to ETW '97, we can observe from the table below substantial activity in terms of events across Europe. We also observed a broadening of the nature of events: internal seminars by companies, showing a growing maturity of the approach to telework; large scale national conferences with several hundred attendees; demonstrations of telework witnessed by millions of listeners on the radio; as well as hands on demonstrations of practical teleworking, and the appreciation of best practice demonstrated in local and international telework awards. Work has already begun on Telework 98, with a focus on gaining even more attention from the media, and persuading them to focus on the real implications of telework, highlighting best practice and even those areas where telework does not fit the business or the individual concerned." Summary of ETW '97 Events Country Reported events Attendance Austria 10 685 Belgium 4 150 Denmark 7 212 Finland 5 344 France 9 1030 Germany 13 895 Ireland 4 101 Italy 21 2256 Luxembourg 5 150 Netherlands 1 250 Sweden 28 900 UK 3 300 Distributed 235 ..... Total 345 7273 ETW '97 Country Reports Austria | Denmark | Finland | Germany | Ireland | Israel Italy | The Netherlands | Spain | Sweden | United Kingdom Three pan-European activities are worthy of particular mention: The European Telework Awards (see below) European Telework Week telephone cards (see feature on page 17 in the ETHOS Newsletter, December 1997). Telecom operators Telecom Italia, France Telecom, Belgacom, Telia, Cabitel (Telefonica) and TeleDanmark issued these cards. The ongoing translation into several languages of a Teleworking Handbook first issued by the TCA in England and Ireland. ETW '97 saw the launch of the Italian version and the second edition of the English handbook. Versions for Spain and Austria/Germany are in preparation. European Telework Week '98 runs from 2-9 November 1998 Information about Telework Week, past present and future can be found at http://www.eto.org.uk/ European Telework Awards 1997 These took place in Brussels on 7th November. The award winners were: European competitiveness - IBM, Belgium/Luxembourg. The award recognises the significant penetration of new working practices, ensuring that telework is now the norm for 60% of their workforce. In addition they had documented and evaluated the project so that others could benefit from their experience. Sustainability - Rijkswaterstaat, (the Dutch Ministry of Transport), for their internal telework programme. The judges considered that this example, if followed elsewhere, would have a profound impact on environmental and social sustainability. Productivity and quality of service had improved and 26 employees were saving 3,500 km in commuting travel each week. Most original telework scheme - ISdAC (the Information Society disAbilities Challenge). ISdAC are a pan European group of disabled people launching an initiative that could bring many of Europe's millions of disabled into a more productive activity. See the article on page three. Best technological contribution - Siemens, Austria. The judges recognised the diverse application of telephony - flexible call routing and following, network independent "one number services", that are key to the successful implementation of ad hoc, periodic, and mobile telework. Best media coverage - Teleworx magazine, Germany. Teleworx gained this award despite being new to the telework arena. It narrowly defeated its UK counterpart (The Teleworker) by virtue of its broader circulation, and a slight edge in portraying best practice. It reaches 25,000 - 35,000 readers and is produced by freelancers using the telework technologies of email, Internet and videoconferencing. http://www.martech-intl.com/awards/ European Telework Development (ETD) is an initiative supported by the European Commission (DGXIII) as part of the Advanced Communications Technologies and Services (ACTS) programme. European Telework Development News Editor: David Skyrme E-mail: david@skyrme.com Tel/Fax: +44 1635 551434 Web: http://www.eto.org.uk/etd/news/index.htm Read The Next Page Return To Contents List