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ETD News - September 1998 Page 2 Of 5 European Telework Information Day, Brussels, 28 May 1998 Jeremy Millard, ETD Project Manager Building upon a very successful event in 1996, a European Telework Information Day was held in Brussels on 28 May 1998. The day provided an opportunity to be updated on the European Commission's policy, information and stimulation activities with regard to telework and to preview the European Telework Status Report 1998. It also marked the official public launch of Telework Week 1998, at which ambitious plans were revealed for an even bigger and more comprehensive programme than the record-setting 1997 Telework Week. A very wide range of people having a constructive interest in European telework participated in the Information Day. These included Commission staff involved in telework-related activities, regional activists, European and national project participants with activities related to telework, telework national event co-ordinators from previous years, and other key actors including suppliers working at European level and relevant officials of national administrations. Highlights are covered below. A full report is on-line at: http://www.eto.org.uk/agenda/telework/infoday.htm A paper copy can be obtaining by contacting Maarten Botterman of the European Commission, DGXIII-B Tel.: +32 2 296 6619, Fax +32 2 296 2981, Email: telework@postman.dg13.cec.be The European Policy Framework The first part of the day's proceedings consisted of an update on telework and related activities in Europe in mid 1998. Peter Johnston, Head of Programme Preparation and Evaluation from DGXIII-B, outlined the Commission's support for telework, now and in the future, and contended that 1998 marks a turning point in the development of these new working practices in Europe. Although definitions are very difficult in this rapidly changing field, current best estimates indicate that over 4 million Europeans, about 2% of the workforce, are involved in telework activities of one type or another; approximately a doubling over the last 18 months to 2 years. Thus, new ways of working are now starting to become mainstream features of European employment, and this poses major challenges to society, to business, and to public administrations. The Newark Declaration: the Information Society Forum Joan Majó, Chairman of the Employment and Job Creation Working Group of the Information Society Forum, outlined how the Group has been considering telework a great deal, even though it is not its main concern. The group originally had a broader remit across economic and growth issues but has tended to focus down strongly on employment and jobs because of the political concerns surrounding them. After the Amsterdam Treaty, the EU established a more dynamic approach to employment policies, including six-monthly high level summits on employment, and this has opened the possibility for a more productive relationship between the IS Forum and the European Union. The Forum has now created a parallel process in which every six months the working group issues an advice paper feeding directly into the summit schedule, and thus into the highest levels of policy development in Europe. These papers have come to be known as declarations, so that just before the Luxembourg Summit in December 1997 the Barcelona Declaration was issued as the Working Group met in that city in November 1997. Similarly in May 1998, the working group issued the Newark Declaration which fed into the Cardiff Summit in June 1998. The Barcelona Declaration concentrated upon explaining the new relations between growth and employment in order to counter the fallacy that growth alone will solve employment problems. Member States are currently spending about ECU 200,000 million every year on their employment policies. Based upon the legitimate political objective of solidarity, two thirds of this amount are spent on passive measures, which mainly consist of ensuring minimum levels of income for unemployed people. Progressively, awareness has increased and it is now acknowledged that public money is better spent on active measures that favour employment, trigger job creation and encourage people to acquire new skills or update their existing ones. The Newark Declaration contains policy recommendations. These are related to the necessary restructuring of education and training systems, the adaptation of the business environment to make it conducive to adaptive organisations of companies and favourable to start-ups, the need for incentive for training and better valorisation of up-dated skills in the unfolding of professional life, and the need for demonstrating best practice in the uptake of new ways of work. The Social Dialogue on Telework Vibeke Sylvest explained DGV's view that telework is a specific form of work organisation, the modernisation of which is central to our continued economic and social well being. The issue of the new organisation of work, including telework, must be dealt with in the wider context of European employment and social policy, and this approach has made remarkable progress in 1997 and 1998 across a variety of fronts. Firstly, the Amsterdam Treaty has taken the EU a significant step forward through the introduction of a new specific chapter dealing with employment, so that although responsibility for employment policies still lies within Member States, there is also now clear political will to bring about a new and better balanced employment policy. Second, the November 1997 Job Summit issued clear guidelines for Member States' employment policies in 1998 built upon the pillars of: entrepreneurship employability adaptability equal opportunities Third, and perhaps most important, in relation to telework, was the 1997 Green Paper on the Partnership for a New Organisation of Work, which has generated a debate of the highest quality on the future shape of working life in Europe. The purpose of the Green Paper was to assist Member States and the social partners to consider how best to effect the modernisation of the legal, contractual and institutional framework for the organisation of work, as well as to identify and help develop the role of the social partners in this process. Well over 150 detailed and well prepared responses, and this shows that a large number of people and organisations took its contents and purpose very seriously. For the future, the Commission has announced that in its Social Action Programme, 1998-2000, it will continue to consult the social partners on the need for Community action on the protection of teleworkers. As telework is a specific form of work organisation, this consultation process will be initiated after the communication on work organisation and adaptability adopted in October 1998. It is expected that a consultation document will aim to give an overview of the social dimension of telework within the European Union in order to identify the horizontal and specific problems of the legal and contractual framework of telework, especially in the fields of labour law, social security and occupational health and safety, gender issues, and trans-border work. The Fifth Framework Programme: New Ways to Work and Electronic Commerce Michael Arentoft, of DGIII and the ESPRIT Programme, provided a timely update on the forthcoming coming Fifth Framework Programme, 1999-2002. He explained that the present status of the work programme is as a proposal currently on its way through the Council and Parliament. The Information Society Technologies programme is one part of the Framework Programme, and is itself broken down into four key actions, one of which is New Ways of Working and Electronic Commerce. This key action can expect to have a budget of about 500 MECU over the next four years for supporting shared cost projects, in which the Commission would finance 50% of the work. If the present proposal gets a relatively smooth passage through Council and Parliament, the first call for proposals can be expected to take place at the end of 1998 with the first projects starting in the summer of 1999. Much emphasis will be placed upon projects which are able to share and communicate widely and to develop IST solutions which can build communities, including learning communities (or communities of practice), and communities of product design and delivery. These are communities which can respond flexibly to new market conditions and dynamics, typically made up of SMEs and virtual enterprises, where individual human factors coupled with external links and processes, especially those close to the customer, are at least as important as the internal processes of individual organisations. Three main areas will be looked at in the New Ways of Working and Electronic Commerce Key Action: 1. flexible, mobile and remote working methods and tools 2. management systems for suppliers and consumers 3. information security Despite the advanced planning of some of this work, it needs to be stressed that the Commission still very much welcomes the wide input of ideas and suggestions into this work programme as it is essential to make this a truly cooperative European venture. This will enable the Commission to channel investments into areas where the technologies developed over the next few years can optimise the opportunities for new work and for world trade in electronic commerce, particularly for the small business community. Inter-operability and open access is extremely important in this context, and this is especially critical for SMEs which have greater problems than the larger companies and multi-nationals. Status of European Telework In previewing the Commission's forthcoming European Status Report on Telework 1998, ETD's Project Manager Jeremy Millard illustrated how the great differences in the use of the word telework can make both understanding and measurement difficult. This is due to the long history of the term, the very rapid changes taking place and the fact that it conjures up both negative and positive emotions, depending upon personal experiences and media images. For example, there is still a widespread view, even amongst high-ranking politicians and decision makers, that telework means working at home a few days a week instead of commuting to the office. In this view, telework is a type of work organisation which may be useful for short periods for some people but which would place the individual at a severe disadvantage, because of physical isolation and the confusion of work with private life, if it became a dominant or normal mode of work. Telework has in reality, however, moved a long way from such a definition when it is thought of as giving choices to individuals to network electronically a well as physically with colleagues and partners, freed from place and time constraints. From this perspective, teleworking is not about being isolated or working at a distance, but about being enabled by the technology to organise and undertake work in a manner which best serves the changing needs of all the parties, as well as the particular task, concerned. The key message is that telework is never undertaken as an objective in itself, but rather because it adds value to a task, a business or an economy. All work in the Information Society is converging on the skills and characteristics found in telework, so that, once it is introduced, it catalyses changes throughout the organisation, including work performed at the traditional workplace. This is the way all beneficial work in the Information Society is moving, so what today we regard as telework will tomorrow be viewed simply as normal work. The Fifth European Assembly on Telework and New Ways of Working, Lisbon, 23-25 September 1998 The final presentation of the day was by Rui Cartaxo (Vice President of the Portuguese Telework Association) who introducted the forthcoming Fifth European Assembly on Telework and New Ways of Working to be held in Lisbon on 23-25 September 1998. One of the unique and noteworthy aspects of the Telework Information Day was that it was the first European level telework event to be webcast. This was achieved through cooperation between the ACTS Programme's ETD project with the TWEURO project of the Telematics Applications Programme. Using the overall theme of Rediscover life...Be there from anywhere, Telework'98 will be the opportunity for an informed discussion on the state of art of telework at a global level. Above all, it will be a privileged forum for evaluating the prospective architecture of work in the next century. During the five parallel sessions and two plenary discussions, a range of important topics will be discussed, including telemedicine, the technological and organisational environment, new working opportunities, the integration of disabled people enabled by teleactivity, the legal and contractual framework, and the future of the work society. For details of Telework 98 see: http://www.teleman.pt/telework98 Webcasting Cooperation between ETD and TWEURO project (part of the Telematics Applications Programme) enabled the Information Day to become the first European-level telework event to be webcast. The webcast archive is at: http://www.tweuro.com/etw Telework `98 The European Commission's Status Report on European Telework September 1998 marks the publication of DGXIII's fourth telework yearbook: Telework 98. The most comprehensive and authoritative yet, Telework 98 charts the fast changing world of telework throughout Europe. It provides a snapshot and overview of the status of European telework, and of European Commission activity related to telework, at mid year 1998. Prepared in cooperation with the European Telework Development project, Telework 98 draws upon a very wide range of inputs from both Europan and national activists and experts. The year 1998 marks a turning point in the development of new working practices in Europe. Although definitions are very difficult in this rapidly changing field, current best estimates indicate that about 4 million Europeans, about 2% of the workforce, are teleworking in one form or other. This is twice as many as 2 years ago. In addition, what we termed "telework" a couple of years ago is now considered a "normal" way of working. Telework is rapidly developing into a mainstream work practice. Following a short Introduction, in which the take off of telework in Europe is analysed, Telework 98 contains four substantive sections, each contributing to an overall description and analysis of European telework today, as well as anticipating future developments. Section 2 attempts to place European telework in its context, particularly in relation to the wider development of the Information Society and to the network economy. As part of this it provides a balanced overview of telework development in Europe in 1998 by assessing both opportunities and challenges. It sketches how telework is today instrumental in promoting environmental benefits, the integration of disadvantaged groups into the labour market, the harmonisation of work and family life, achieving business gains and efficiency, and integrating companies and economies into the global economy. It also pinpoints important challenges, ranging from social isolation to unsuitable employment legislation, labour market mechanisms and inhibiting tax and insurance regulations. Section 3 provides a status review of telework throughout Europe, including the latest quantitative estimates of the take up of telework in different countries and internationally. As well as a summary assessment at European level, this section examines the situation in each member state in the context of European and international developments. A round-up of major European telework events over the last year, including European Telework Week 1997 and the European Assembly in Stockholm in September 1997, is also provided. Section 4 examines the European Commission's role and its initiatives regarding European telework, both in relation to its research agenda (particularly the upcoming Fifth Framework Programme for Research and Technology Development, 1999-2002), as well as to its overall policy frameworks including the application of structural funds. For each of the Commission's major policy areas, activities related to telework are assessed and the stage of work and achievements are summarised. Section 5 looks to the immediate and medium-term future, and particularly at policy and market developments for telework and related tele-activities. Major events and initiatives for the rest of the year are highlighted, including the European Telework Agenda, the Telework Assembly in Lisbon in September 1998, and European Telework Week during the first week of November 1998. The annexes include more detailed and structured information, including reports on European Telework Week 1997 and overviews of telework-related projects, resources, publications and references. This is necessary for appreciating the wide ranging nature of telework activity in Europe and the significant contribution being made by many people all over Europe, together with the European Commission. Telework 98can be obtained free of charge as follows: Online: http://www.eto.org.uk Paper: Maarten Botterman, European Commission, DGXIII-B. Tel.: +32 2 296 6619, Fax +32 2 296 2981, Email: telework@postman.dg13.cec.be Read The Next Page Return To Contents List