PRESENT

Salah Al-Chalabi, Guidelines Secretariat
Mario Bonatti, HA Domain Chair
Maarten Botterman, EC DG13
Jim Clarke, BOURBON
Pedro Concejero, USINACTS
Jaime Delgado, TRADE
Roger Delit, GINA
Morgane Lesage, EPRI-COM
Jean Millar, EC DG13
Jeremy Millard, ETD
Horace Mitchell, ETD
John Nolan, EC DG13
Borgar Olsen, TERA
Sathya Rao, ACTSLINE
Hill Stewart, ACTSLINE
Michael Strintzis, PANORAMA
Christian Van Asbroeck, GAT Secretariat
Paul Van Binst, GINA
Frank Wilson, ACTSLINE

AGENDA

1. Appointment of new Chairman
2. ETD Presentation on Telework Requirements and Opportunities
3. Review and Discussion on Telework Activities for ACTS and IST

MINUTES

AGENDA POINT 1. The GAT chair being vacant since last June when DIPLOMAT terminated and Noel Hodson thus retired, Christian Van Asbroeck opens the meeting and presents:
1. a brief review of the chain activities in 1998 and the current status
2. the criteria used in the search for a new chairperson: active in ACTS RTD projects, involved in the telework marketplace, familiar with dissemination projects
3. the proposed new chairman: Prof. Dr Ir Paul Van Binst, head of Service Télématique et Communications at Université Libre de Bruxelles, project leader of GINA (NI Chain Group - Network Interoperability), partner on ACTSLINE, President of the Belgian Teleworking Association, etc.

The assembly approves Paul Van Binst as the GAT Chairman and applauds him. Paul briefly introduces himself and emphasizes the synergy that can be exploited with the NI chain group. From then on he chairs the meeting.

AGENDA POINT 2. Horace Mitchell makes a presentation of a " Market Assessment of Telework Requirements and Opportunities ". EC representatives insist on the requirement for added contribution to what Horace calls the " shopping list " (see copy of this paper at http://www.eto.org.uk/fp5/twreqs ).

Paul Van Binst announces Telework '99 to take place from the 22nd to the 24th of September 1999 in Aarhus, coupled with a similar event in Rio de Janeiro.

Maarten Botterman brings some news from Telework '98 in Lisbon, September 23-25, and
- confirms Telework '99 arrangements
- announces the 5th European Telework Week, during the first week of November 1999
- confirms the Telework Awards 1998 ceremony in Brussels on November 6
- announces that the EC status report Telework 1998 is now available
- informs of the ADAPT publication on their 100 projects related to telework

Maarten then switches to " today's priority ": the preparation of the 5th Framework Programme. The first call for proposals is planned in January 1999 and is likely to include Key Action 2. There are thus only three months to write proposals. Proposers are encouraged to
- monitor Cordis news
- attend the IST Conference at the end of November 1998, which will feature
     - sessions on " work nouveau "
     - cooperation between ACTS, TAP, ESPRIT
     - sessions on employment - recommended
     - presence of GAT - not yet defined

AGENDA POINT 3. Maarten Botterman makes a presentation on " Technologies enabling New Ways to Work - Contributions by the ACTS Community ". The aim is to write a text to be included in Telework 1998 status report, and Maarten calls for the collaboration of all ACTS projects concerned (see copy of his presentation in Attachment).

Finally, Paul Van Binst opens the questions/comments/AOB session and

• Horace Mitchell reports that at the HA Domain meeting with DG12 re Targeted Socio-Economic Research, it was suggested that HA and GAT should cooperate to organise, in conjunction with the next ACM, a one-day workshop focusing on " New Methods of Work " and bringing together relevant participants from ACTS and TSER programmes in FP4; ETD would offer support to organising this if agreed
  
  
• Sathya Rao reports briefly on this year's NI " distributed conference " scope (geographically and technically) and invites GAT projects to participate in next year's edition
  
  
• Frank Wilson asks GAT projects to read and comment on the first draft of the internal report on " Issues and Requirements for Flexible Working " produced by ACTSLINE, based on work done by ETD, the WISE forum and others (copy of the report has been forwarded by the GAT Secretariat to all Chain participants)
  
  
• Paul Van Binst proposes a joint GAT-NI meeting in January or February 1999 and will discuss it with Martin Potts, NI Chairman
  
  
• Horace Mitchell stresses again the importance of the GAT projects contribution to the proposed Telework Requirements and Opportunities, whether by adding to the " shopping list " or otherwise
  
  
• Michael Strintzis suggests that a compilation be made of ACTS projects results in the area of tele-education, such as the " costs and benefits of tele-learning " study made by OPTIMUM