ETO Home Contents Search Telework Teletrade Telecooperation Events Links Definitions FAQs Discussion Feedback Site Management   Page updated: 9 September 1999 Page owner: David J. Skyrme

ETD News - September 1999 ETD News Editorial Welcome to this last edition of ETD News. ETD (European Telework Development) formally ended at the end of June after three years of operation. Its primary goal was to stimulate awareness and take up of telework, teletrade and telecooperation, in order to make European businesses and individuals more successful in the global networked economy. How successful this has been is reflected by ETD Project Manager Jeremy Millard in his review below. From my own perspective as well as creating awareness through vehicles like ETD News and the European Telework Online web site (the world's most successful teleworking site), perhaps the most important contribution has been the creation of a network of collaborating individuals and enterprises across Europe, and beyond. This network has shared experiences, organised events, published and translated a teleworking handbook, and has collected and integrated information about the status of telework, which has been reported in telework status reports. Just because a programme ends, does not mean that its activities will not continue. The network, as mentioned above, will continue to stimulate telework activity in various countries. The Web site remains as a valuable resource for teleworkers, employers, policy makers and many more besides. Above all, the participants in ETD will continue to actively stimulate New Ways of Working - the theme of an activity in the 5th Framework programme - and many will continue to collaborate in various projects, and perhaps even some future European programmes. ETD's Programme Director, Horace Mitchell provides a perspective on teleworking that bridges the 4th and 5th Framework programmes. We hope that you have found ETD News informative about telework, and do continue to keep in touch with developments, and participate in ongoing discussion, by regularly connecting to the European Telework Online Website at: http://www.eto.org.uk Above all, we hope to see you at Telework '99: The Sixth European Assembly on Telework at Aarhus, 22-24 September (http://www.telework99.dk) or participating in one of the events for Europoean Telework Week (ETW99). David Skyrme Editor, ETD News E-mail: david@skyrme.com A Review of ETD Jeremy Millard, ETD Project Manager, Danish Technological Institute The European Telework Development (ETD) project, which has been supported by the European Commission's ACTS Programme under the Fourth Framework Programme for Research and Technology Development, is now drawing to a close. Whether or not the activities and support provided by ETD will be continued in the Fifth Framework Programme is not yet known. The web-site and all its associated services (located at http://www.eto.org.uk) will, however, continue to serve the large number of users in Europe and world wide. Please watch for announcements on this site! Over ETD's three year project life (1996-1999), it has become well established both within the ACTS community and as an important and influential actor in national, European and indeed international telework networks. The project has been very successful as a prime mover in changing the agenda of telework from one of debate to one of action and practice. Outreach has been effected through ETD's national activities programme, the stimulation of activities and support for interest groups including suppliers and user communities, and its on-line services and media campaigns and materials. It has done this by extending the coverage beyond telework to include teletrade (encompassing electronic commerce) and telecooperation by showing how telework, as a new way of working and of organising work, cannot be seen in isolation from wider market developments, or as part of the burgeoning demand from employers, organisations and the macro economy for greater efficiency and global reach. Achievements A few other highlights of ETD's achievements can be mentioned, including its: support for the annual European Telework Week held in November each year close cooperation with the European Information Technology Observatory and their yearbooks published in March each year close work with the European Commission, Eurostat and the OECD in developing appropriate statistical bases and data its development of a European Telework Agenda in order to focus Commission and other efforts on a series of events and activities each year in order to maximise impacts and synergies. Above all, ETD has stimulated the development of what is, today, the world's premier web-site devoted to telework and related topics. With a growing number of contributors from around the world, an extensive set of resources and links to related sites in many languages and countries, its popularity has increased significantly during the last year. Monthly requests have doubled to over 190,000, equating to over 20,000 user sessions from over 80 countries, downloading more than a Gigabyte (1,000 Megabytes) of information. Significant recent enhancements have been made with many pages, especially country specific pages, being added or updated and with the addition of new features including a query driven resources database, an easy to use web-based discussion forum, and copies of presentations. There are now 27 countries and two regions with their own telework pages, and 17 of these have local language translations. All this has been achieved whilst the number of European teleworkers has increased from about 2 million in 1996-7 to over 9 million in 1999. Although this is still less than the USA and there remain significant differences between Member States and between types of enterprise, Europe is starting to mainstream telework in many activities where it makes sense to do so from both the organisation's and the individual's point of view. ETD has clearly played an important part in these developments. Email: Jeremy.Millard@teknologisk.dk European Commission's Telework Information Day Jeremy Millard, ETD Project Manager, Danish Technological Institute The European Telework Information Day held in Brussels on 1 June 1999 presented the current European Commission's policy, and its information and stimulation activities with regard to telework, and a preview on the European Telework Status Report for 1999. Participants included Commission staff, regional activists, European and national project participants, national event co-ordinatorsand other key players including suppliers working at European level, representatives of the social partners, and relevant officials of national organisations. The first part of the day's proceedings consisted of an update on telework and related activities in Europe mid 1999. This included an introduction to telework and the Commission's support, now and in the future especially focussed upon the new Information Society Technologies Programme and Key Action II concerned with new methods of work and electronic commerce; a view from the Information Society Forum to the development of employment in the context of the emerging information society; a report on social policy developments from DGV, as well as inputs concerning Structural Funds support and the Fifth Framework Programme. In the afternoon, Telework Week 1999 (http://www.etw.org) and the call for nominations for the 1999 Telework Awards (http://www.etw.org/awards.htm) were announced. This was followed by an overview of technologies enabling telework arising largely out of the work of the Fourth Framework Programme now drawing to an end. Finally, introductions were given to two of the highlight events from the European Telework Agenda taking place in September: the 4th International Telework Workshop being held this year in Tokyo, Japan (http://www.teleworkfoundation.org), and the 6th European Telework and New Ways of Working Assembly being held in Aarhus, Denmark (http://www.telework99.dk). A full report on the Information Day, published by the European Commission DGXIII-C, can be downloaded from http://www.eto.org.uk. Highlights from key presentations follow. Email: Jeremy.Millard@teknologisk.dk The European Telework Agenda Synopsis of Presentation by Peter Johnson, Head of Unit "New Methods of Work", DGXIII-C There are now between 6 to 7 million Europeans engaged in new working practices, even though this is unevenly distributed across the Member States, with high levels of adoption in some countries contrasted with very low levels in others. We are now, however, at a stage that is both fascinating and extremely exciting in the sense that, in 1999, we are moving up a gear in terms of support for research and technology development. For the first time in a Framework Programme, the Fifth has now identified new ways of working as a main target for Research and Technology Development (RTD), rather than being an incidental concern of programmes focused mainly on other issues. Fundamental Change in Working Practices The level of 6 to 7 million Europeans presently using new working practices is almost certainly only the tip of the iceberg in terms of developments we can expect over the next few years. This will lead to the most substantial change in working practice in Europe for a very long time which will come to affect almost everybody in Europe at some stage in their working lives in the next decades. This is why the Commission is particularly concerned to combine the affects of the various policy and intervention measures available at European level. Hence the rather unusual initiative of constructing what we call the European Telework Agenda (http://www.eto.org.uk/agenda) which is designed to maximise the synergy effect of the RTD efforts together with the support available for structural change especially through the European Social Fund measures (such as the ADAPT Programme), and with the impacts of activities related to employment legislation and employment practice. This is quite a unique combination which can only be achieved at the European level and through the institutions in Brussels. We need to remind ourselves that the reason that there is such interest in new methods of work is not a fascination with the technology itself but a common concern about the still unsustainably high level of unemployment in Europe in general, as well as in some major countries. The picture is, however, far from being totally bleak, as the worst of the problems seem now to be past and the levels of unemployment are now beginning to decline, largely as a result of very substantial new job creation associated with the development of the Information Society and the emergence of very strong job growth in the service sector. Thus there is good reason for optimism and for believing that Information Society developments, particularly in their relation to employment and new ways of working in, for example service provision, are going to be at least part of the solution to unemployment problems. The objective of the RTD programme, agreed by the Council and the Parliament in adopting the Fifth Framework Programme, is very clearly stated as enabling European workers and businesses, in particular the smaller businesses, to increase their competitiveness in world markets, and, at the same time, to increase the quality of working life. 1999 Status of European Telework Jeremy Millard, Project Manager of European Telework Development, the Danish Technological Institute The take-up of telework in the European Union continues at a rapid pace with estimates gathered from each Member State showing that approximately 6.7 million Europeans (4.5% of the workforce) were, at the end of 1998 and beginning of 1999, practising telework in one form or another. This is an increase of over 40% on the year before and is in line with the European Information Technology Observatory mid-term estimates. Evidence from most countries also indicates, however, that these estimates are likely to be conservative, but that it is difficult to construct more precise quantitative data in the absence of commonly agreed definitions and trans-national surveys. Qualitative evidence from around Europe shows clearly that the main drivers and characteristics of telework continue the pattern set in the last few years: widespread telecoms liberalisation, and technical and market advance is driving down prices and driving up the quality and accessibility of basic technologies both formal and total telework is increasing in all sectors and sizes of enterprises the social partners are in many countries and sectors adapting to, and driving, the agenda the real benefits are becoming more obvious to employers, policy makers and the workers themselves. However, familiar problems still constitute significant barriers, including: large geographical variations in Europe, both north-south and east-west. there still remain some areas and sectors where technical infrastructures are not yet adequate in terms of availability, quality or price. inappropriate employment legislation and regulations are still the rule, geared to an industrial economy rather than an information society. restricted awareness and understanding amongst decision-makers at all levels and in all areas of economic activity. New Emergent Patterns In contrast to these somewhat familiar stories, however, European telework in 1998-99 is going through a period of profound change which is characterised not only by continued high levels of take-up, but which also marks the growth of different and contrasting forms of telework. Telework is now in flux; and starting to exhibit a wide range of characteristics and forms, entering a large number of different sectors and situations. It is now fusing with, and metamorphosing into, a whole range of other developments and innovations, such as electronic commerce, knowledge management, the globalisation of trade and markets, virtual teams and organisations, organisational learning etc., etc. Teleworking is catalysing change in all work and, as such has wide spill-over and dissipation effects. Four examples can be given of this. 1) Who you work with - work is attaching itself to people not the place. With the new technologies, location becomes less important. It is people and their relationships, not places, that now define an organisation, and this is becoming a shifting, semi-permanent, group of people determined by the changing needs of the task in hand and the market. 2) New work forms - the new technologies are fostering new kinds of organisation and new ways of organising work, such as virtual teams and virtual organisations. There are also free agents (people with unique or highly sought after skills) that have total flexibility in, and often total control over, how, where and when they work. 3) Transforming workplaces - a diversity so great that many of them are building opposing trends; for example, workplaces are becoming both more and less personalised. Many of the new tele-homeworkers are making part of the home into a personal office environment. At the other extreme, there are many cases of de-personalised work spaces, for example hot-desking, in which personal space is substituted by shared spaces. 4) The blurring of work, life, learning - breaking down of barriers between people, places, roles and activities where the new technologies play a crucial part. This creates opportunities for creativity and new forms of expression, wealth and welfare. It also presents threats because of the sweeping away of old secure certainties, of discrete units of time and space. Email: Jeremy.Millard@teknologisk.dk Technologies enabling telework: building on the 4th Framework results Horace Mitchell, ETD Programme Director, Management Technology Associates One of the methods we can adopt to understand technologies for enabling telework is to map across two dimensions: the degree of control of the environment: i.e. by people (individuals and teams) the degree of mobility of the individual. Some examples on the control dimension, from complete control to complete lack of control: at home: in complete control of the environment and fixed if in space only used for teleworking. in a private (i.e. own permanent) office: the individual usually has a high degree of control open plan office: here the control is less business class hotel room: again control is less airport departure lounge: example of least control Examples of the mobility dimension from fixed to mobile: sitting at own desk (wherever this is) is completely fixed walking within own office, for example using wearable and personal technologies on the road in own car, the degree of mobility depending on the supporting technology available. first class airline seat: very mobile but quite high control economy airline seat: very mobile with somewhat less control walking in a public place: complete mobility and lack of control. The point of these two dimensions is that it illustrates where (in the case of high mobility, low control) we are very dependent on infrastructure investment, or where (in the case of low mobility and high control) we are dependent here on individual and enterprise investment. The low mobility and high control technologies (mainly devices) have historically been dominated by US manufacturers, whereas the high mobility and low control technologies (mainly infrastructures) have been largely an area of European strength. However, right across the mobility-control spectrum, and when we consider what people need and how they behave, there are opportunities which we need to understand and grasp, not just in the infrastructure area but also in the devices area. A huge amount of money will be spent on technology devices for the homes and the office, and Europe needs to get its fair share of this, assisted by the work of the IST Programme. Europe has tended not to be so forward looking as the USA, but this is where the big opportunities lie. An enlarged Europe encompasses even greater differentiation than does the EU and this reflects much more closely the real global market than the US market which is largely monolithic. Europe thus has an immense opportunity here in the future, if we dare sometimes to be different and not look only at the so-called mainstream. It is also important in the IST programme not to ignore what has been done before, but builds on current research and knowledge, such as: The New Methods of Work Cluster (http://www.eto.org.uk/ ist-nmw), created by various paritipants in 4th Framework projects. The ACTS contribution to flexible working, published by the ACTSLINE project (http://www.actsline.org/sector/flexwork_intro.htm) useful links to telework and related projects (http://www.tweuro.com/tura/telework), the Telematics Applications Programme, especially in the Telematics for Urban and Rural Areas (http://eto.org.uk/resource/byname.cfm) The ETD project's own database (http://www.eto.org.uk/resource) into which people can input their own projects, and own experiences directly. Email: horace@mta.i-way.co.uk European Telework Week 1999, 1-7 November 1999 Ian Culpin, ETW Coordinator, Martech International Now in its fifth successive and successful year, European Telework Week is a framework for everybody throughout Europe to gain additional publicity, attention and synergy by scheduling their events and initiatives within a single time frame during the first week of November. It is more than just the main focus for teleworking and new ways of working in Europe, however, as the growing importance of Telework Week on a global scale is highlighted by the international audience it is attracting. As ever, European Telework Week is supported by DG XIII of the European Commission and details of this year's core partners who offer vital sponsorship will be made available as they confirm their support. European Core partners in 1998 were Toshiba, France Telecom, Telecom Italia, Cisco and Siemens. Telework Week could never exist without all those throughout Europe who organise events, support events or participate in activities organised by others. The focus of media attention for telework on this week makes it possible to ensure that more people become aware of the new opportunities in work and ways of working, every year. ETW'98 (European Telework Week) ran from the 2 to 9 November 1998. There were more than 150 events, directly attended by over 13,000 people. However, media coverage increased those exposed to 20 - 30 million Europeans. Expectations for ETW99 In 1999 the aim is again to address in principle as many people as possible with positive messages about telework. In order to focus efforts, however, special attention will be paid to: all Europe's SMEs business intermediaries European administrations at national, regional and local levels, as these are key in getting telework adopted and in promoting flexible and new ways of working generally the media are, of course, essential the individual who needs to get a better appreciation of the benefits of the new working environments. Regarding methods, we will be using the web-site http://www.etw.org including the newsletter in electronic form, the ETW web-ring with currently 14-15 members, a web-based discussion forum, an events listing routinely up-dated on the ETD web-site (http://www.eto.org.uk/events), web-casting, and NetPresenter, which enables people to register their desktops and receive regular messages in the form of a screen saver that is updated automatically each time they log-on. There will also be traditional information distribution, including newsletters, brochures, etc. We shall also consider events which are not necessarily traditional but reach out to prospective audiences not only in the big cities, for example on-line discussions via the World Wide Web. We are also expecting events and initiatives in Eastern Europe, in the Mediterranean area, as well as further afield. Any and everybody is invited to participate, either in organising or helping to organise an event or simply supporting events. European Telework Development News Editor: David Skyrme E-mail: david@skyrme.com Tel/Fax: +44 1635 25 35 45 Web: http://www.eto.org.uk/etd/news/index.htm Return To Contents List