eWORK 2000 - European Telework Week

New Ways to Work 2000European Telework5.10 LuxembourgIntroductionLuxembourg is enjoying healthy economic growth with low unemployment and inflation. The country isdeveloping strengths by diversifying in several sectors: finance, media, communications and industry.All sector plans engage in innovative information and communication technologies and are pioneering new e-business applications and services. To secure future economic performance, the Luxembourg Government isplacing strong emphasis on new job creation, improved education and professional training and internationalco-operation and business alliances.The Luxembourg economy has averaged a 5 per cent growth over the last years. The unemployment forecastat 2.7 per cent for 2000 is the lowest in Europe. The economic expansion has created attractive jobs prospectsin an increasingly sophisticated labour market strongly depending on cross-border workforce from neighbourregions.No reliable figures on teleworkers in the business community are available; estimates on PC penetration andInternet links in the private sector indicate 70 PC for 100 inhabitants, 40 PC for 100 households with 16%households having Internet access.Recent developmentsMany big companies are embracing e-business and should make an important strategic push into eWork. Inthe media sector, RTL Group, Europe’s largest television and radio broadcaster recently created by thecombination of CLT-UFA and Pearson Television is expected to become a major player in audio-visualcontent provision. The group is aiming to make the Internet with tele-shopping and e-commerce a newstrategic pillar of its activities.The banking and finance sector is moving to electronic banking and highly specialised online services in fundsmanagement. With e-banking coming to the customer, web-enabled and innovative financial products require asteady rise of highly qualified eworkers.SES, Société Européenne des Satellites, operator of the Astra satellite system, is due to launch this year itsbroadband interactive digital communication system, allowing users to receive high-quality multimedia contentdirectly to the PC. With stakes in AsiaSat, SES is expanding its footprint into Eastern Europe and Asia,covering 75 per cent of the worlds’ population.Key factors affecting eWork developmentPositive forces:- the high increase in Internet access and messaging,- the progress of in-house expertise in ework and e-commerce gained by many firms,- the impact of new standards (XML) in document engineering and management,- the emergence of new application service providers for collaborative business processes,- the benefit of the convergence of the Internet and mobile telephones (WAP).- 86 -