European Telework Online

Trans-European Networks Programme (TEN): Networks for Telework and Other New Forms of Work

This is an initial page to draw attention of the telework community to the Trans-European Networks (TEN) programme and potential opportunities relating to Telework. The information provided will be enhanced as more insights are gained. Comments and contributions are welcome, please address them to eto-info@eto.org.uk.

About the Trans-European Networks Programme

This programme is central to the further development of the single market in Europe and strengthening of the overall economic success and social stability of the European nations and their union. There are separate programmes for Transport (enhancing the networks of road, rail and air links across Europe), Energy (for example pipelines for transmission of gas, oil and electricity within Europe and across the European boundaries, and (of course) Telecommunications.

The philosophy of TEN is that of partnership between the public and private sectors. Generally, the private sector is assumed to provide the majority of the capital cost of TEN projects, with the public sector playing an enabling and facilitating role and leveraging the risk and funding through vehicles such as the European Investment Fund.

TEN Telecom

Full details of the TEN Telecom programme can be found at the European Commission's own website, the home page for TEN Telecom is http://www2.echo.lu/tentelecom96/en/w3homep3.html.

There has been a Call for Proposals , which sets out a list of potential "project profiles", including, of particular interest to the telework community:

Trans-European Electronic Commerce for SMEs
Trans-European Networks for Telework and other Work Methods

Telework Domain

For convenience, we set out here the text of the brief for projects in the telework domain, extracted from the "background brief" at http://www2.echo.lu/tentelecom96/en/cfp/wp13-en.html.
WARNING: The document at this reference is 74k, do not attempt to download it unless you have a reasonably fast connection to the www2.echo.lu site!

Here is the text:

Flexibility both in time and space through a variety of forms of telework and other new work methods in the public and private sectors can make a major contribution to realising the benefits of a rapid transition to the information society :

flexibility in and support to the creation of employment;
business competitiveness;
satisfaction of social needs and improvement of the quality of life.

While there are already over 1 million European teleworkers, the operational obstacles to trans-border telework within the European Union are still numerous. The development of trans-European frameworks for telework and other new work methods is therefore a key to the further consolidation of the European market and to business competitiveness.

Project profile.

The objective is to establish a sound technical, operational and legal basis for a large number of businesses and other organisations to coherently integrate trans-European networks for telework and other new work methods.

The framework will be expected to support European networks of call centres/service centres offering employment near home in both urban and rural areas; European networks of business centres offering teleworking facilities to business travellers; and new work organisation in European enterprises with a dispersed workforce.

They will be expected to be open support frameworks for transborder telework, acceptable to the self-employed and businesses, with reliable and secure communications, and with appropriate provisions for data protection, insurance, social security and health and safety at work.

The framework will be expected to ensure multi-media access for individuals and SME's through interconnected digital switched net