The present status of telework in Europe, as a major item on the agenda of many decision-makers but as yet still only a minority practice, needs to be built upon in the future if its benefits to Europe's economic and social well-being are to be optimised. In particular, the major restraining factors, as mentioned in preceding sections, need to be tackled and the major drivers strengthened.
The European Commission has a major role to play in this, but this can only be successful in co-operation with other powerful actors, like the social partners, national and regional governments, employers and industry. In its recent Communication on The Social and Labour Market Dimension of the Information Society5 the creation of an adequate framework for telework is mentioned as one of the priorities. The objective of the Commission is to improve the conditions for the development of telework. For this the following Key Actions are envisaged. The Commission will:
Today, although still not a major type of work organisation, at least 2 million Europeans are teleworking in some form or other. The nature of telework has changed as both managers and the workforce are now becoming more aware of the benefits of being able to work where and when it seems most appropriate to do so, from both a commercial and a personal perspective.
Much of this has been driven by rapid improvements in the availability and affordability of advanced technologies, including in recent years the unprecedented growth of both on-line and mobile communications. The problems of working together over distance will be lessened, even more, in the coming years. Teleworking and flexible working are set to become easier, less expensive, and applicable to many more people. Even for those who are restricted to narrowband access, it will be easy to hold daily videoconferences with superiors, colleagues and customers, and to access audio, graphical and text information worldwide.
It is clear that available technology and its falling cost will stimulate further expansion of telework practices. Therefore, the need for a social and legal framework is growing every day.
Summarising the major initiatives of importance in 1997 and beyond, related to the further development of new ways of working in the Information Society and teleworking, mentioned in previous sections:
There is no doubt that the world is changing faster and faster. One of the concerns of the society of the future is that automation will increasingly put the squeeze on employment. And most of whatever work is left will be done at home. The home of the future will be different: as well as a telephone and cable or satellite television, almost everybody will have a personal computer connected to the Internet. Television sets will also access the Internet as the broadcast culture converges with the World Wide Web culture. People will use this equipment for their private needs:
communications - e-mail, initially text based, developing towards the transfer of multimedia documents including sound and real-time videophony
tele-banking
tele-shopping - already available in some parts of Europe, for example Albert Heijn supermarkets, "James" service in the Netherlands and Kays of Worcester in the UK, also "shopping on the Internet", downloading software or even CD-ROMs
tele-learning - much of it through the Open University but also eventually through correspondence courses, first only for up- and downloading homework, moving towards place-independent interactive learning and personal assistance
consulting databases - in the past mainly text-based through Minitel/Videotex, but increasingly via the Internet, including multimedia information
interactive entertainment
and for their work.
These developments are all taking place very quickly, and with the breakup of national telecommunications operator monopolies, the possibilities will increase even more rapidly. Major technology trends influencing new ways of working are the enormous take up of the Internet and the improvements in network access, both in terms of speed and availability.
The basic networking requirement of teleworkers is in theory very simple - overcoming separation in time and space! What does this mean in practical terms? It implies access to a high speed, open, global information highway, that supports real time audio and motion video as well as text communications. It includes fast access to the Internet and to employers' corporate networks from home or from local telecentres.
In order to better understand teleworkers' advanced network requirements, we need to look at the applications they will use. Figure 5.1 gives a summary of new generic applications for teleworkers that are not in widespread use today but could be by around 2002-2006. It is of course assumed that the existing tools - telephone, fax, e-mail, narrowband Internet/Web - will continue to be used as well. The bits per second figures in Figure 5.1 allow for the fact that improved data compression standards (e.g. MPEG-4, JPEG2000) will be in widespread use. Other possible applications, involving for example virtual reality or the tele-manipulation of objects, are not yet developed enough to allow comment on the bit rates required.
Worldwide interoperability Interoperability demands standard interfaces at all layers, from applications, through network switching, to physical transmission media. Outstandingly successful global examples today are the public switched telephone network and the Internet/Web.
Figure 5.1 New generic applications for teleworkers in 2002-2006:
Class of applications |
Examples |
Approx. bits per second required at the workstation |
| Conversational audio-visual | Videoconferencing, desktop to desktop, multi-person, with open interoperability and
instant conference set-up, including shared PC screen and keyboard, and shared whiteboard Virtual meeting rooms supporting videoconferencing Videophony |
128 Kbits/sec for low resolution, to 2 Mbits/sec for TV resolution Around 1 to 2 Mbits/sec 64-128 Kbits/sec |
| Non-real time interpersonal | Multimedia e-mail (with audio and video clips) Computer Supported Co-operative Working Transfer of high resolution graphics files (Computer Aided Design). |
128 Kbits/sec upwards 64 Kbits/sec upwards 64 Kbits/sec upwards |
| Retrieval and transactions | Access to Web and other servers supporting real time audio and motion video. | 1 to 2 Mbits/sec downstream to the workstation, 64 Kbits/sec upstream from the workstation |
Personal telephone numbers
The rigid numbering structure of most of today's public telephone networks places many constraints on people on the move and teleworkers. The way telephone sets are wired to fixed points in the telephone exchange ties up terminals with specific telephone numbers regardless of who is actually using the service. A short term solution is provided by the call redirection facilities that are currently available. This solution is not ideal because it involves having to remember to key in redirection codes. A long term solution is offered by UPT (Universal Personal Telecommunications) and other Intelligent Networks concepts, which permit the assignment of numbers to individuals rather than terminals. The personal number will travel with the user wherever he or she goes. To arrive to this point, it is necessary to restructure the current numbering system and to incorporate both mobile and fixed networks in a common numbering structure. The proliferation of competing networks introduces a new element of complexity regarding the numbering aspects and portability of terminal equipment due to the multiplicity of standards. Personal mobility is facilitated by the use of smart cards to register on another network through a terminal adapted to that particular network. Cellular networks are very advanced on this respect. The GSM system provides global roaming and more advanced IN features in a revised standard.
Evolution of the Internet
The Internet is a global interconnection of networks of data communications routers that use IP (Internet Protocol). The routers are interconnected by means of infrastructure provided by telecoms operators, such as leased lines, dial-up circuits and switched data services. Having originated as a research network funded by the US Department of Defence, the Internet is now largely commercially self supporting. It has become the predominant means of access to all on-line data services by home and small business PCs, and is now seen by the general public as the global data highway. Internet access is offered by hundreds of private enterprise Internet Service Providers. Major telecoms companies now offer Internet access. Extrapolating the growth rate of the past decade, the number of host computers on Internet is forecast to grow by a factor of 10 in the period 1997 to 1999, from 13 million to 130 million7. The number of users is larger than the number of hosts - estimates put it about 50 million currently.
The Web is a generic application software platform, using the Internet for communications. The phenomenal growth of the Web (from 100,000 to 230,000 Web sites in the first six months of 19968) has led to severe congestion in parts of the Internet. Demand for bandwidth has run ahead of supply (good news for telecoms operators!). The Web is moving rapidly towards greater interactivity and support of audio and real-time video, which will require a great deal more bandwidth. Commercialisation of the Internet is likely to solve this problem, as global operators deploy worldwide high speed Internet backbones, interconnected with the existing Internet.
User organisations are beginning to deploy Web servers for internal use; corporate networks of IP routers and Web servers are known as Intranets. They can provide employees and customers with ready access to corporate information which has hitherto been hard to find, and they can link seamlessly with the Internet. Intranets are in an explosive growth phase. The Internet protocols are being enhanced to carry real time audio and video, while the Mbone is an experimental subset of Internet routers that can emulate broadcasting. At the same time, development work is proceeding rapidly to enable Web servers to have greater interactivity using JAVA software, and to deliver real time audio-video streams. Standards for real time audio-video on the Internet and Web are still at the experimental stage but should be mature by the turn of the century. Security on the Internet is perceived as a problem, but the issue is being addressed as a matter of urgency by the Internet Engineering Task Force, as well as by banks and credit card companies. Leading credit card companies recently reached agreement on methods of payment across the Internet. Strong firewalls exist today at the entry points to corporate networks, to prevent unauthorised access.
For all its limitations, the future expectation for the Internet is that commercial backbones will help overcome bandwidth scarcity, and seamless interoperability with millions of Intranets will develop. Because today speed of access and availability of bandwidth are still very much limiting factors, real-time audio-video protocols are being developed.
Access Technologies
Access technologies already available are expected to become commercialised and more widely available within the coming 5 to 10 years, assuming ongoing liberalisation of the telecommunication sector and social acceptance.
Figure 5.2 Access technologies
Whereas the speed of modems has already gone up from 2.4 K to 28 or even 56 K, 2 simultaneous ISDN calls allow a speed of 128 K, and Cable and ASDL modems allow 1M or faster. Mobile access will become more integrated with the fixed network, and 3rd Generation Digital Mobile Telephony will allow mobile multimedia applications and services.
Assuming these technology trends will continue towards higher bandwidth, easier and affordable access, and social acceptance, setting up an "office environment" today would take the following elements into account:
The basic task of the European Union's research and technological development policy is to ensure that advances in knowledge and technologies serve the purposes of the Union and its policies. From this perspective, the two inseparably linked objectives of this policy, taken into account at the preparation of the 5th Framework Programme proposal from the Commission9, are:
Fifth Framework Programme: Criteria
Criteria related to social objectives The scientific and technological objectives selected must help to further major European Union social objectives reflecting the expectations and concerns of EU citizens:
|
Criteria related to economic development and scientific and technological prospects The scientific and technological objectives selected must correspond to areas:
|
Criteria related to the European "value added" and the subsidiarity principle The scientific and technological objectives selected cannot be achieved through private research alone and are more effectively pursued at the European level and can be achieved more easily with projects at that level:
|
Building on these criteria the Commission proposed activities in 6 areas:
and
Most relevant to development of new ways of working is the second of the three main themes: Creating a user friendly information society.
"The creation of the information society can make a significant contribution to renewed growth and the development of new forms of jobs in the Union: the development of information and communications technologies and their application will lead to the creation of several million jobs in Europe.
"The Union is faced with intense international competition yet concerned to preserve the cultural diversity which constitutes its wealth. It must therefore develop those technologies which will make it possible to create an original and user friendly kind of information society. The information society means fundamental industrial and social change: its establishment is opening up multiple possibilities for new activities, both for individuals and for companies, in the fields of trade, work, transport, education, health, and culture.
"The technologies associated with the information society at the same time penetrate every kind of industrial activity and all areas of society. Their economic and social impact by far exceeds that of the industries which directly produce information and communications equipment and services. In sum, these technologies provide a vital contribution to the key actions of the other two thematic programmes."10
This theme builds on the lessons that new technologies can only be useful to society if we succeed in embedding their use within our daily life. Four key actions are spelled out in this theme, and they are closely related to the priorities in the Rolling Action Plan:
For the first time, this Commission proposal for the 5th Framework Programme brings together in Key Action 2 all actions related to helping companies operate more efficiently, as well as in trading goods and services. The priority topics will be:
Close links with the third theme: Promoting competitive and Sustainable Growth, with a focus on the 1st Key Action on "products, processes, and organisation" will be ensured.
It is a long way, however, from Commission proposals to operational reality. Assuming the principles remain as they are proposed, the Commission's Services are well on their way in preparing for the Specific Programmes. In the absence of major disappointments, the first Call for Proposals under the 5th Framework Programme will be launched shortly after the Summer of 1998.
As the High Level Group of Experts on Social and Societal Aspects of the Information Society11 expressed in their interim report in early 1996:
"technology in itself is neither good nor bad: it is the way that we use it...".
The speed at which we succeed in adapting the new technologies to our social lives will determine the effectiveness of our society.
In order to be kept informed and play a part in the new developments, it is important for all to participate in appropriate networks of people with similar needs, rather than doing nothing and hoping for the best. Information on all the events mentioned below is available at European Telework On-line, the website of the European Telework Development project (http://www.eto.org.uk). As such the ETO website is supporting the emergence and existence of "virtual communities" by facilitating on-line discussions and providing information, and links to information, of interest to the regular visitors of the website.
This consultation is extensively described in section 4.2. The aim of the Green Paper is to stimulate the debate at European and national level on the organisation of work among all the actors involved. Telework is an important component of the organisation of work in the Information Society and is covered in this Green Paper, which also raises a large number of issues of direct relevance to telework.
The deadline for the submission of contributions is 30 November 1997. As an input to the debate on the issues raised by the Green Paper, it is planned to have an update of the debate available by the time of European Telework Week during the first week in November 1997.
DIPLOMAT is a consensus initiative leading to the development of a European Charter for telework by identifying applications for ACTS and other technologies, and widespread agreement on the charter. This is being undertaken by contacting up to 2,000 influential organisations through a discussion process leading to agreement, in order to solicit their views and inform them about telework, ACTS technologies and the Information Society generally, and to stimulate telework trials and the usage of ACTS technologies.
The European Assembly on Telework and New Ways of Working is an annual event, which started in 1994 in Berlin. The focus a year later, in Rome, was on participation of Trade Unions. Working towards a wider Europe, involving many interested people from central and eastern European countries, was the theme of the Assembly in 1996, which took place in Vienna. In 1997 the event is taking place in Stockholm, organised by NUTEK, the City of Stockholm and ECTF, again supported by the European Commission DG XIII, bringing together for the fourth time a growing number of politicians, industrialists, representatives from unions, telework organisations and telework pioneers. The 1997 focus will be best practice cases.
As in previous years, DG XIII B will support European Telework Week (ETW) during the first week of November 1997. ETW has grown into a major event, providing platforms for debate as well as leveraging awareness raising of new ways of working at local, regional, national and European levels.
ETW97 is the third such event. In previous years DGXIII and its telework constituency managed to bring together over 30 events, and to generate wide and positive media attention, including news clippings in EuroNews, the Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times, national TV and press, and regional press in several member states. This year even more attention is expected, since for the first time a partnership of organisations (including TOSHIBA and SIEMENS) is providing, through the ETW co-ordination office and the ETD Project, a common platform for coordination and support of all local organisers. As Mr. Lamers of the Belgian quality newspaper "De Tijd" said during the ETW reception of the Belgian Telework Association last year:
"This is what the citizen needs: events focused on local content, but in a European context, to raise awareness of the change that is upon us".
Other networks exist at both regional and national levels, bringing together people to discuss and explore new ways of working. For example, national Telework Associations organise their annual events and commercial event organisers initiate thematic events. Examples of large events with a mainly national participation but an international perspective include: the event organised for the last two years in conjunction with the European Telework Week in London with a focus on business applications; the springtime European Telework Festival in Sere Chevalier, France12, which has also now taken place two years running; and the intention to build a network around a yearly event in Berlin with the theme of On-line Cooperation where, for the second time this year, a multidisciplinary group of people from academia and practice, focusing on new perspectives on telework, will come together. And there is much more. Telework is now firmly on the conference agenda as a subject of continuing interest, in an environment that has become more stable, and serving a growing community of interest. This is substantiated by the fact that multiple, large, annual events on the subject seem to be commercially viable (including sponsorship from private and/or public organisations).
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