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ETD News - June 1998 Page 2 Of 2 New Telework Initiatives Telework and Local development in Naples Patrizio Di Nicola, ETD National Coordinator, Italy (Email: dinicola@mclink.it) A new project promoted by the Municipality of Naples in partnership with Società Italiana Telelavoro, Olivetti Ricerca, New Com, S3 Acta, Società per l'Imprenditorialità Giovanile, Dipartimento di Sociologia dell'Università di Napoli `Federico II' provides for the implementation of an experimental model of teleworking in the Municipality of Naples. The model focuses on two key points: Municipality as an agent capable of generating job opportunities; also by outsourcing its primary and secondary activities Development of a direct communication linkage between the Municipality and its citizens in order to achieve a market-oriented management of the public services provided. The Municipality of Naples is the largest public administration in Southern Italy. The aim of the project is job and enterprise creation through teleworking (outsourcing, telenterprising, etc.). A transnational consortium including participants from Wales, Holland and Greece will provide the national project with innovative training packages, telework facilities, and various support activities. A further aim of the project is the development of a teleworking model that can be exported and implemented in other administrations. News from ACTS GSM Progresses Strongly The 12th Annual GSM World Congress held in Cannes, from 17-19 February confirmed the strong growth in the use of GSM. There were over 68 million users of GSM Networks at the end of 1997, double the number of the previous year. During 1997 49 new networks were created. The interest now is on new applications and convergence between GSM and Internet technologies. In addition Europe is well placed to contribute to successor standards based on UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) technology. New intelligent networks will increase data transfer rates from 9.6kbps to 64kbps, making mobile Internet working more viable. Terminal innovations will also increase the functionality of mobile multimedia services. At the moment teleworkers suffer from dual standards in different parts of the world. However, new developments should allow `seamless roaming' between those networks that use GSM and those that use other standards. Vienna Calling - A Distributed Conference `Vienna Calling', held from March 26-27 in Vienna, used teleconferencing technology through the auspices of the NICE project to connect audiences in Berlin, Budapest and Ljubljana. Telematics developments were discussed by experts from each of the participating venues. Participants at all sites could follow the presentations, ask questions, and participate in the discussions. Most attendees were impressed by the improved quality of video and audio. The technical platform was based on the ISABEL teleconference application with 6 Mb/s terrestrial ATM connections between the different locations. Source: ACTS Newsclips, Nos. 34 - 45. For details: http://www.at.infowin.org/ACTS/IENM/NEWSCLIPS/ A full list of ACTS projects can be found at: http://www.infowin.org/ACTS/RUS/PROJECTS/ The European Telework Agenda In March the European Telework Agenda was announced to the press. This is an online summary of key events and activities in the European teleworking arena. It can be found at: http://www.eto.org.uk/agenda/telework/ Each of the activities listed is linked to a short description, and where available, to the activity's own web site or other contact. This online facility will allow those interested in European policy and programmes with regard to telework to remain up to date as new events are announced or additional information about the events becomes available. The Agenda is being maintained through the European Telework Online calendar service. Event organisers are encouraged to add any relevant additional or amended information directly online. The following Events Calendar is created directly from The Agenda. 28 May - European Telework Information Day, Brussels. A briefing day at which the European Commission outlines its current and planned telework activities and discusses policy issues with interested parties 8-10 June - Online Collaboration 1998, Berlin. The 2nd International Conference on Teleworking, Knowledge Management and Electronic Commerce, supported by ETD. On the 8th is a workshop for suppliers http://www.online-work.com 4 Sept - Teleworking Environments: The third International Workshop on Telework - Turku, Finland. In-depth discussion of key contemporary issues in Teleworking and other forms of virtual type of work. 23-25 Sept - Telework `98. Fifth European Assembly on Telework and New Ways of Working, Lisbon. Europe's main annual telework conference, supported by the European Commission. 2-9 Nov - European Telework Week 1998. Includes European Telework Awards ceremony (6th Nov) for innovation and best practice in teleworking. 30 Nov/2 Dec - EITC98 (ESPRIT flagship event), Vienna. The European Telework Agenda, together with other events relating to telework, teletrade and telecooperation, are online at http:/www.eto.org.uk/events/ European Telework Online (ETO) http://www.eto.org.uk Recent New Pages Several new FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) have been added: "Why doesn't the European Telework Online web site provide a directory of teleworkers or a registry for teleworkers?" http://www.eto.org.uk/faq/faqtwreg.htm "How to introduce Teleworking (in a university context)" http://www.eto.org.uk/faq/faq-univ.htm "What are the basic requirements for teleworking at/fromhome?" http://www.eto.org.uk/faq/faq-home.htm Three new sets of country pages have been added: Poland - Information on National and International Organisations, Online Information for Poland, Internet Service Providers, Other Sites http://www.eto.org.uk/nat/pl/ Switzerland ('Telearbeit in der Schweiz'),- Projects, Studies, Publications, Articles, Associations http://www.eto.org.uk/nat/ch/ Mediterranean Countries http://www.eto.org.uk/nat/med/ These join the telework pages of most EU countries and those of Bulgaria and Russia, making ETO the most comprehensive site of telework information for Europe. 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