Proceedings of 8th European Assembly on telework (Telework2001)

115Towns should regain their another natural function – to be also the surrounding rural territorydevelopment centres providing mutual complement, diversified production, availability <strong>of</strong> services.Towns will play an important role in the establishment <strong>of</strong> rural infrastructure, support <strong>of</strong> business.They will also become rural intellectual centres providing all surrounding population the properopportunities to education, knowledge development, information services. Regional towns willimprove significantly their possibilities to provide the basic social services – health and socialassurance, cultural and recreational events.Telework as a tool for regional development includes many varieties in the context <strong>of</strong> definedstrategy: remote individual and group workplaces, satellite centres and bureaus far away from themain <strong>of</strong>fice, mobile work, public terminals and telecentres providing facilities for businesses andindividuals 4 . It means also a new style <strong>of</strong> work organisation that is based on telecooperation -virtual enterprises, dispersed teamwork, outsourcing services.Really teleworking principles are applicable to various activities that are based on processingand transmission <strong>of</strong> information, it means that we are speaking on typical knowledge workers.Sometimes part <strong>of</strong> these activities is performed in motion – basic indication <strong>of</strong> mobile workers. Inaddition the employee can act as a teleworker all working hours or part <strong>of</strong> time, e.g., several daysa week.Widespread telework will stimulate regional development and benefit society, it will result asopportunities for every individual and business:• creation <strong>of</strong> new and well paid jobs, work opportunities for unemployed or underemployedpeople; development <strong>of</strong> the advanced sector <strong>of</strong> the economy will be supported in province;• population growth in the rural territories by young high educated people; reduction <strong>of</strong> migration(brain drain) to Riga and other cities as well as abroad notwithstanding the increasing mobility<strong>of</strong> population;• diversification <strong>of</strong> economy, ability to combine traditional countryside businesses andopportunities <strong>of</strong> the new economy that will be especially important in the initial period;• increase <strong>of</strong> welfare’s level <strong>of</strong> everybody and thus encouragement <strong>of</strong> sustainable development,the economic and social cohesion <strong>of</strong> society.Hence major task <strong>of</strong> the state is to create necessary preconditions for teleworking, favourableenvironment, motivation for everybody to use opportunities if the individual will choose them.Regions that will provide better environment will enjoy significant advantages. Incentive factorscould be divided in two groups.Factors that are indispensable precondition for telework:• advanced infrastructure, access to telecommunications and data transmission networks as wellas availability <strong>of</strong> Internet services in the whole territory, reliable energy supply, quality <strong>of</strong>energy; for these purposes digitalisation <strong>of</strong> telecommunications network should be finished in2002 5 , national regulatory authority has been established, implementation <strong>of</strong> the universalservice is envisaged in telecommunications and energetics;4 See: A concept for development <strong>of</strong> E-business (in Latvian). http://www.lem.gov.lv5 Socio-economic programme eLatvia. http://www.lem.gov.lv