eWORK 2000 - European Telework Week

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New Ways to Work 2000European TeleworkThe overall theme of this session was about the future; what does it hold in terms of technology andinfrastructure challenges and how will these affect work? If there is one thing we can be sure of it is that thepace of technology change and the potential effects on the ways we work and do business will increase evenmore in the future. This is both an exciting and daunting challenge. Among many observations made were thefollowing:• the emerging access technology xDSL (more commonly known as ADSL) is ramping up much quickerthan its predecessor (ISDN)• new tools are emerging which enable knowledge workers to arrange documents in themes and views(virtually) while also allowing a degree of individualisation much superior to a normal browser• problems arise from many disparate legacy systems having to be interfaced together; a process whichcan cost more than the original system.• the physical barriers are not technical but attitudenal, spatial and cultural (in that order)• technicians speak of integration between industries, applications and devices while another, perhapsmore important, is integration between home, work and leisure• a summary of challenges of new ways of working:- technology main requirements: a secure VPN, smarter software, smarter people (well, more IT- andsystem-savvy people) and smarter government, i.e. better regulation of teleworking.- teleworking does not reduce the amount of time we work -- probably vice versa.- reduced social synergies, the need for special employee loyalty programmes and a new form ofdistance management were all important points- culture carriers are physical and this is in disharmony with teleworking.As well as the Telework ’99 exhibition and a full social programme, numerous side meetings and networkingactivities were held, including an opening press conference consisting of news, statements and discussionamongst the main sponsors and speakers. The latter included the announcement from the recent Europeantelework survey conducted by the ECaTT project that over 9 million individuals were teleworking in early1999. In addition, meetings took place of European Parliamentarians and of technology suppliers and therewas a well attended workshop on the IST Programme, particularly Key Action II on New Methods of Workand E-commerce.Media coverage included a first for Telework Assemblies to be transmitted via the narrow-band Internet as amajor webcasting event which itself attracted a substantial audience. Archived webcasts, as well as speakerpresentations, continue to be available on the Assembly website 39 . A webcast link was also made with theInternational Distributed Conference on Telework covering four locations in Europe organised by theACTSLINE project of the ACTS Programme. In addition, the Assembly achieved wide media coveragethrough TV, radio and newsprint, both in Denmark itself as well as via European telework channels.39http://www.telework99.dk- 128 -
New Ways to Work 2000European Telework7.3 ALTA Conference on "New Jobs in the Information Society"- 20-21 March 2000:LuxembourgThe following conclusions were transmitted to the subsequent European Summit in Lisbon:It is clear that Europe has a range of advantages and assets which will equip it to play a key role in the globalinformation economy. However building on these assets for the development of a dynamic information societycreates new demands on both the supply side and the demand side of the labour market.Some industries are experiencing a shortage of highly qualified workers in skills in key areas, particularlytechnical fields, and are having to recruit skilled workers from outside EuropeKey new knowledge-based industries require a higher level of ‘soft’ behavioural, communications, problemsolvingand self-development skills than traditional sectors. In some cases is estimated that these make up 70%of the requirement, as against 30% contributed by formal qualifications. The educational institutions are not,by and large, delivering labour market entrants with these skills.Other ‘opportunity gaps’ can be identified in relation to demographic variables (such as gender and age) andbetween ‘high growth’ and ‘low growth’ regions.It was the view of conference participants that a number of initiatives might usefully be developed to addressthese difficulties and speed up the transition to an inclusive information society. Some suggestions included:• Encouraging the use of IST tools such as distance learning and distance learning to bridge thegeographical gaps between education providers, employers and the workforce.• Advertising full employment as an objective of European policy, preferably supported by setting specifictargets (eg 6% unemployment by 2005 and full employment by 2010).• Consideration should be given to substituting a basic right to work to the basic right for a minimumincome in the European Charter.• Consideration should also be given to formulating a basic right to life-long learning, perhaps supported byspecific targets (eg 4 weeks study leave per year).• Prioritising the harmonisation of living and working conditions as a goal of employment policy within theframework of the Social Dialogue.• Adopting measures to ensure the full inclusion of older workers, women workers and people withdisabilities into the labour market and more specifically into the knowledge-based sectors of the economy.• The adoption of specific educational targets throughout the EU, with a particular focus on those regionswhich currently exhibit a skills deficit.• The development of strategies to encourage closer cooperation between employers and educationalinstitutes to ensure:• A balance between on-the-job practical and tacit learning with more formal accredited learning. In somecountries this may involve adaptations to educational delivery practices, curricula and accreditationsystems. It may also involve developing new models of co-operation between employers and educationproviders.- 129 -
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