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Flexible Working Technology for Sustainable Development and Social Inclusion
Introduction
Sustainable Development - A Global Issue
Sustainable Development - Need for Flexible Working
Flexible Working - Benefits of Advanced Communications
Guidelines for Advanced Communications and Sustainable Development
Future Needs in IST for Sustainability and Social Inclusion
Social Inclusion - A Major Challenge for Sustainable Development
Summary Comments and Future Developments
References
This chapter aims to show how recent Advanced Communications Technologies and Services (ACTS) are already being used to advance Flexible Working, and to illustrate how two issues of global concern benefit greatly from the opportunities provided by new ways of working - namely Sustainable Development and Social Inclusion. Advanced communications technology and services are rapidly emerging as the platform on which business, political, administrative and social communities communicate, organise and transact all of the important relationships and exchanges which underpin the socio-economic life of our society. As such, ACTS have become a key determinant of how society is organised.On the global level two general concerns for society are identified - the need to identify and support reliable routes to sustainable development for the future society, and the need to ensure no one is excluded from the activities and benefits of future society (social inclusion). Social inclusion is often taken as an important item on the agenda of sustainable development, yet is also treated as a special area of social concern by established groups working for social reform. It is therefore given special consideration in this chapter. All of the work described below can be examined on-line, project by project and theme by theme, via the ACTSLINE website at http://www.actsline.org/ and also in the ACTS Information Window at http://www.infowin.org/
This chapter is organised as follows. A general overview of sustainable development is provided (section2) and then the need for flexible working (section3) to support its objectives is introduced. Consideration is given to the benefits of advanced communications in flexible working for sustainable development (section4), using a series of practical examples from ACTS. Section 5 then briefly describes the sustainable development guidelines being produced in ACTS in response to observed work, and the focus then turns to future needs in the Information Society Technology programme (IST) responding to perceived problems (section6). Section 7 then introduces the theme of ‘social inclusion’ and examines issues for minorities, older and disabled people, flexible working for people with disability and people in remote regions, and further exploitation of ACTS to solve access and contact problems for remote working and inclusion.
At the World Conference on Environment and Development in Rio 1992, Sustainable development was defined as the principle that current generations should meet their needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. The aims of sustainable development are so clearly valid that there can be few who would not, in principle, subscribe to them. Achieving a level of socio-economic development which allows all to move forward, whilst those lagging in development are enabled to catch up, and at the same time avoiding destroying the ecological and material resource inheritance of generations as yet unborn, is a set of aims with which industry, business, government, science and non-profit organisations can agree, as indeed can most citizens (ASIS 1998).This now widespread recognition that sustainable development is the responsible way forward is enhanced by the recognition that information and communication technologies (ICTs) are key drivers of socio-economic change and so have to be brought into focus as part of the equation. For example, Radermacher (1998) points out that "Modern information and communication technologies drive the worldwide economic system and the process of globalisation. In this process we see enormous growth worldwide with opportunities for overcoming poverty and promoting human rights but also with major threats to sustainability and to social justice".
The above perspectives demonstrate that sustainable development is increasingly important for all of society. While it has its roots in the ecology movement, it has developed into a global perspective on effective maintenance and management of all resources, including social, educational, environmental, physical, cultural and informational resources. The new ‘deep ecology’ recognises that necessary solutions to non-sustainable practice can utilise new ways of working to combat identified imbalances in how we operate within and upon our world of resources.
The ASIS conception of sustainable development cited above takes a broader emphasises than the purely ecological view, and is derived from the work of the GAD working group (generic access for sustainable development).Work in GAD has emphasised the use of ACTS to :
The above conception of sustainable development emphasises flexible working as a solution path. New ways of working are required to de-emphasise material consumption in the processes of social interaction, education, cultural exchange, and work, and to retain and enhance social, informational, and competence resources in society at large. Flexible working promises to allow people to co-operate despite separation of place/time, and so needs advanced communications designed to improve working practice - the internal impact on work systems. It also requires technology solutions tailored to meet the end objectives of flexible working as a positive social and economic contribution - the external impact of work systems.
Furthermore, social inclusion is emphasised relative to a distinct set of barriers which can be overcome by flexible working (this aspect of sustainable development is addressed in section 7).
If we accept that modern information and communication technologies (ICTs) drive the worldwide economic system and the process of globalisation, it is in the area of flexible working that the most immediate effects are being seen. Nowhere more so than in the ACTS programme which has mounted trials of new concepts, system designs, implementations and practice guidelines for new ways of working. There are many success stories which contribute to the evolution of flexible working and yet, as can be seen, there are significant barriers which still demand that solutions become more widespread.ACTS trials demonstrate effective use of new technologies but do not promote consumption of technology per se. Rather, they recognise that while technology is part of the solution, it is also part of the problem and we must beware of "rebound" effects. For example, solid state electronics vastly reduced the amount of materials and energy consumed by a computer but it was so successful that it made it possible to put a computer on everybody's desk. On a global scale, today's computers consume far more materials and energy than their ancestors of the 1950s and 1960s. So ACTS trials seek to show how new applications, or ways of working more effectively and efficiently, can be achieved by technological evolution for larger social benefit.
A good general example of social benefit is the ACTS project IBCoBN (Integrated Broadband Communications on Broadcast Networks). Here the participants developed solutions to allow existing (mature) cable circuits to be upgraded to full service networks to facilitate a new access network at minimal cost, while preserving the investment and operational infrastructure of municipalities, cable companies and service organisations across Europe. As part of their trial they implemented applications such as remote care, whereby high quality videotelephony was used as the access medium allowing 'on demand' attention and service between residential users (e.g. elderly) and service providers (e.g. municipal authorities). Such technical developments along with their demonstrated applications show a number of interesting features for sustainable development. They show inclusion of elderly people (and potentially many others), and also rationalisation of service infrastructure whereby service staff save travel time to devote to service actions. This travel substitution also includes dematerialisation, and together these features show a wide range of benefits based on application of broadband to a remote service provision scenario. Further detail can be found in Descamps and Wilson (1996) and Wilson and Descamps (1996), as well as via the project web site at http://www.ibcobn.nssl.co.uk/
Another powerful example of rationalisation (also including strong elements of dematerialisation, immaterialisation, and travel substitution) comes from the project CICC (Collaborative integrated communication for construction) cited below. This, along with the other examples, shows how rationalisation of business process has been a major theme in ACTS trials where the new advanced communications technologies have really bitten deep into the heart of large scale commercial activities. Combining rationalisation with effects such as transport substitution, and dematerialisation has frequently shown how ACTS brings many objectives of flexible working and sustainable development within reach.
This project shows the application of virtual reality techniques to deliver distributed teamwork solutions where participants feel part of a real enterprise despite distance. Architects have been able to really 'examine' the state of development of sites, and a number of companies have been able to present ideas, designs, and early 'build' work without travel, yet the 'team' formation required for such a project has been fully supported. However, there is still some unresolved tension between cost and quality in this kind of application. At present leased lines are expensive, but do allow the kind of bandwidth necessary for high quality video and easy human interactions. On the other hand, basic rate ISDN is near-ubiquitous and affordable, but the quality of the video and speed of exchanges and interactions is not quite good enough for truly satisfactory distributed interactions. What is required is bandwidth on demand at affordable rates - then success stories like CICC could become commonplace and contribute to sustainable development via new ways of working. The CICC system will continue to be used to make significant savings in construction, but the demand for more available and more affordable broadband will continue to grow as the potential is recognised.
The examples show that ACTS has delivered a range of applications where technologies and services combine to support different forms of flexible working. They include tele-education, tele-medicine, remote care services, collaborative building design and management, and concurrent engineering. ACTS could also support any other endeavour requiring a shared environment and means of joint access to a shared world of work. While a number of trials faced difficulties in access to bandwidth, ACTS has also mounted a number of projects developing and demonstrating solutions to what is increasingly seen as the ‘last mile’ problem - connecting subscribers to broadband via the local access network. It is in that area of development that the many fruits of ACTS can be delivered to the wider market.
It has to be said that the majority of new developments benefit the business community and addressed sustainable development from a business perspective, but exceptions do exist. The preceding IBCoBN project is a key exception, showing a wide range of social applications, as is UMPTI-DUMPTI (Using Mobile Personal Telecommunications Innovation for the Disabled in UMTS Pervasive Integration) which aims to :
This kind of approach to inclusion shows that even the most isolated communities (e.g. Deaf) can be supported by a sustainable development approach.
ACTS trials have clearly demonstrated practical and usable solutions for dematerialisation, immaterialisation, rationalisation, travel substitution, social and economic inclusion. These have been shown in realistic trials and mark the way ahead for a wider exploitation. Other, less publicised, examples also show scope for environmental monitoring (through the many satellite projects), matching local production to global distribution (through extensions of the TEAM and CICC ideas), and democratisation (through initiatives such as EPRI-WATCH). Based on observation of this work, there are a number of sustainable development guidelines produced and in production, and the following section addresses these in detail.
The ACTS concertation process (CEC DG13 ACTS programme) has supported a series of 'chains' where projects work to develop guidelines in areas of shared interest. One group is "Generic Access for Sustainable development" (GAD) which is concerned with the impact of advanced communications on sustainable development, considered in its economic, social and environmental dimensions. Work has evolved within the framework previously described in terms of dematerialisation, immaterialisation, rationalisation, inclusion and democratisation, and a set of clear guidelines has been developed within the following model:A. Conceptual Clarifications and Transitional Scenarios for Sustainable Lifestyles (Reflective guidelines)
B. Sustainability Issues in ICT Application Sectors (Technical Guidelines drawing directly on ACTS trials results)
C. Sustainability Impact Assessment (Developed in collaboration between horizontal actions and ICT trials)
The sustainable development guidelines address specific sustainability issues, and also deliver techniques to evaluate impacts, and to analyse the effects on the social and environmental problems of regions, nations or the world as a whole. These techniques have already shown benefit, and in one example the introduction of an intranet has made wine production economic in an area of Sicily where abandoned vineyards were creating a serious problem with soil erosion. In another example (IBCoBN 1998a) it has been shown how the region around Kortrijk in Flanders could gain significant general regeneration bounties by more widespread deployment of the full-service-network upgrade to mature cable TV circuits (this work also supported the local analyses addressing Telnet Flanders).
The work of the GAD chain can be examined online at http://ww.epri.org/gad/
The previously described ‘last mile’ problem was originally magnified by a false assumption that large corporations are the providers, and small companies and residential subscribers are the consumers. This led to a number of asymmetrical technology designs where the ‘downstream’ capability was maximised to deliver (e.g. Video on Demand), while the ‘upstream’ bandwidth was limited to allow users to send simple requests (e.g. required TV channel, order form, voting response for interactive TV, etc.). However, it is increasingly recognised that truly symmetrical communications technologies are the only way to account for the fact that the ‘provider’ can easily be you or me working from home (with the ‘consumer’ sitting in his chair on the 12th floor of a city bank), rather than the other way around, and there have been clear demonstrations of the general demand and technical rationale (e.g. Descamps and Wilson 1996).The more general deployment of benefits (in flexible working and sustainable development) requires universal access to enough bandwidth to allow people to exploit the capabilities inherent in even the most modestly-priced PC. Rendering of virtual reality is now commonplace, at least in the games environments where special effects cards allow stunning levels of detail, yet collaborative workspaces must wait till enough affordable bandwidth can be made widely available. Similarly, videoconferencing (or any remote access to audio-visual events), and shared creation, control and usage of information are similarly possible and require provision of acceptable quality (i.e. bandwidth and content management) at bearable cost.
Presently, a number of solutions to local access have been designed, implemented and tried in ACTS.
IBCoBN - Integrated Broadband Communications on Cable Networks
This project initially started by looking at how to ‘upgrade’ cable networks to meet the demand for full service networks. In some member states the penetration of cable is as high as 95% and so is a natural candidate for delivery of bandwidth. In IBCoBN a set of separate trials were run in different countries to show the scope for applications over cable, and they ranged from remote access to carers (by older people at home), to tele-education from University locations, to distributed publishing activities involving many SMEs. In most cases use was made of ‘cable modems’ which can presently allow up to 2Mbit/s connection based on Internet Protocol (IP - the same protocol used by Internet applications such as your web browser). The strength of this approach is that any IP aware application can be plugged in - real ‘plug-n-play’ - and a range of successful applications were shown to have potential for scaling to larger social rollout.
- Adapting to connectionless systems
In IBCoBN the move from ‘switched’ systems (e.g. ISDN, switched ATM) to connectionless systems (i.e. relying on routers) meant that applications such as videotelephony had to be changed from H320 standard (designed for switched connection) to the more recent H323 standard (robust enough for connectionless and ‘lossy’ systems where videoconferencing is required). Despite problems like these, connectionless systems offer a number of benefits since they operate like a giant ‘ethernet’. A cable modem user simply has an IP address and plugs in as if to a local area network (LAN) (which is effectively a global LAN, so long as the provider has external gateways). This means that all regular Internet and Web type applications can be used without problems.
- Taking to the air
As a further extension of the work in IBCoBN one partner has developed a wireless system in the 40Ghz range which allows 2Mb.sec symmetrical connections for anyone within its catchment area. This system has been demonstrated in the south of England and can carry 2Mb.sec Videoconferencing at very high quality (IBCoBN 1998c). Here the audio visual stream encoded by H323 is carried as IP over ATM. Symmetrical broadband AV (audio-visual) streams demonstrate that almost any other demanding application can be fully supported.
ATHOC - Introducing Broadband Service to Cable Networks
ATHOC is another cable-based project which shows the use of cable networks as a local access network. Here the technology is ATM and requires Access Network Termination (ANT) equipment which is not yet widely available. However, the interest in using ATM to the premises of all subscribers is still evident in a number of areas and ATHOC have successfully demonstrated a range of applications in different European sites.
Cable Modems
The use of cable modems is becoming more widespread, with trials in almost every member state and worldwide. A key attraction is that they exploit established Internet technology (IP) and many networks carry this as IP over ATM (for effective management and quality considerations). Examples like the UK one mentioned earlier also use the DAVIC standard (1.4) to allow quality management especially where guaranteed service is needed (e.g. in video streams where no loss is required). This can currently be guaranteed at 2Mb.sec and, with DAVIC 1.5, will be increased to 6Mb.sec. At present cable modems are easily affordable for SMEs (e.g. in the UK NTL provide connection at 500 UKL p.a./ 700 EURO, for an ‘always on’ connection) and are seen as a residential option by many people already.
The @Home service providers (fast Internet access via cable modem) report a total of 620,000 subscribers by 2nd quarter of 1999 - a 35% increase over the first quarter. Meanwhile in Netherlands, Deltakabel report shipping 60,000 cable modems in 1999 and predict availability of a DVB compliant modem by Q1 of 2000 - this will allow reception of high quality digital TV and fast digital access to information from the same unit.
xDSL
DSL, or digital subscriber line, is a technology used to deliver bandwidth via traditional telephony networks. The method exploits the ability of traditional copper twisted pair to carry high bit rates over a limited distance so long as the condition of the lines is good and there is not too much ingress of noise along the way (ADSL - 4km of wire, which can be as little as 2km distance, depending on complexity of circuit). ADSL is the ‘asymmetrical’ flavour of DSL and so suffers from the limitations discussed earlier (original trials for VOD). However, symmetrical and higher speed varieties are being tested and proposed by Telcos Europe-wide (VDSL, HDSL, DSL-Lite, etc.).
ADSL has been under test for some time but is still not widely available. When it does become available it will rely on Telcos providing application support or open routing (including, one hopes, IP over DSL for transparent connectivity). The real challenge for ADSL is to show exploitable applications which can benefit from this asymmetrical technology - while the challenge for symmetrical DSL methods is to achieve broadband at a practical distance using existing circuits. This may rely on cross-connect solutions in the short term, and multi-protocol interconnect solutions for longer term integration (see MPLS later).
Network Integration
The above examples indicate that many successful applications trialled in ACTS are limited only by bandwidth. Competition seems to be increasing, possibly due to the appearance of cable modems which work effectively and are affordable, and there is renewed interest in competing solutions such as DSL, ATM, IP over ATM, DAVIC 1.5 and IEEE 802.14 ethernet amongst others. What matters for flexible working is that these solutions appear to have arrived and service providers will now try to manage them to ensure interworking for universal access in a symmetrical broadband scenario.
As part of the new management approach it is recognised that IP and the Internet have demonstrated world wide service and exponential growth. That success drives the need for more bandwidth and more powerful routers to avoid fatal congestion, and also for introduction of new classes of service to support all classes of applications (even the non-elastic ones). ATM is now accepted as a supporting technology and has found its way into the core networks of ISPs and the backbone of corporate networks interested in quality of service (QoS). IP over ATM has been a first ‘cohabitation’, but in this solution the IP layer ignores the service characteristics of ATM, while the ATM layer does not exploit the strengths of IP. More recent integration of layers 3 and 2 attempt to provide new Internet services which exploit the strengths of the different protocols, and has brought about the multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) group working towards future standardisation in this area (Danthine 1999). MPLS and related actions will be extremely important in the future research framework of European telecommunications enabling flexible working.
A theme previously considered as part of sustainable development is that of Social Inclusion. This has become a widely debated issue at European, National, Regional and Local Government levels. It is widely recognised that a number of groups of European Citizens are marginalised to the periphery of European life with causes stemming from geographical, cultural, social, economic, ability, technical and other factors. However, the advent of advanced communications and services has already demonstrated a number of opportunities for socially constructive uses of technology to combat these issues, and to allow social and economic inclusion of less favoured groups and regions. Recent European collaborative projects have demonstrated novel applications which enable innovative examples of social inclusion, plus emerging technologies which can be exploited in further actions in this area.The trials activities in the ACTS programme have included consideration of how advanced communications can respond to some of the evident demands. For example, the project IBCoBN (IBC on broadcast networks - AC101) has set up demonstrations in a number of member states which clearly illustrate the potential of high quality communications as an agent for change. In Kortrijk ( Flanders) older people have been put in touch with their service providers using high quality Videotelephony from the TV set. This allows them flexible access to a service centre where they can discuss and solve problems as they arise. The service centre is in turn linked to mobile care-staff who can attend any location where their presence is required, and this kind of ‘human contact’ ensures increased independence and quality of life for older people.
Similar trials have been conducted in other sites in IBCoBN, and elsewhere in ACTS, and have shown benefits for migrant groups and people with disability (IBCoBN 1998a). Service delivery to marginalised groups can be improved using advanced communication technology and flexible working techniques. A key outcome is the reduction of costs to provider authorities while increasing human contact, human safety, quality of services, range of services, and satisfaction in citizens benefiting from new service provision.
Within the ACTS programme, projects like UmptiDumpti have examined the ways in which mobile telecommunications can be adapted for PwD. They have created model scenarios of mobile communications usage (INFOWIN 1999) and developed clear guidelines for adaptation of devices for wider benefit (GAM 1998). Such applications show how adaptation of mobile communications can significantly enhance the quality of life of PwD, and can allow them to exploit advanced communications anytime / anywhere (Bristol 1998 - UMPTI DUMPTI site).
In parallel to the ACTS programme a number of community-based projects in UK, Netherlands and Flanders have shown how people with disability can telework in a range of scenarios allowing them to join social and economic activities despite barriers of mobility (PERIPHERA 1998), or barriers of communication due to deafness (IvD 1998). In all cases the success is remarkable, yet is still restricted by the lack of broadband services in remote areas and to households. People with mobility impairments are running a ‘one stop shop’ in Flanders, operated as a customer call centre with clients such as the local authorities, but need to develop further as a distributed call centre to allow PwD to work from home while retaining good quality visual contact for inclusion, reduction of isolation, team building, and all of the features we recognise from developments in ‘computer supported collaborative working’ (CSCW).
In parallel, and promoted by ACTS participants, some PwD have formed a new initiative aimed to encourage inclusion in the Information Society (IS) and advanced communications usage - the Information Society disAbilities Challenge (ISdAC 1998). The emergence of groups such as ISdAC demonstrate the readiness of the communities thought of as ‘disabled’ to re-enter society - but help is needed. Current audio-visual communications over Internet are very poor, while solutions such as ISDN and ATM are too expensive. Yet ACTS has shown that high quality video communication is possible using IP (as IP over ATM and Fast Internet). This is made possible by H323 Videotelephony (H320 not suitable for connectionless environment) which has been demonstrated in ACTS trials using IP over ATM for broadband to the home and small business (IBCoBN 1998b).
The IBCoBN project has also tested ‘cable modems’ which allow broadband connections as IP over ATM arranged as "24hr live" links and, while this is a more recent technology the spread of cable modems in Europe promises even greater opportunity for new ways of working. People with disability can use new technologies and flexible working techniques to facilitate entry to the world of work, and access to a 10baseT hub in the home could greatly increase scope for flexible enterprise development. Existing advanced communications technologies have already been used to good effect to overcome barriers of disability and the most recent developments in ACTS can only strengthen and increase benefits in this area in the future.
The multimedia training centre in Magherafelt in the north of Ireland (Workspace) is a good example. Here, a community has fully embraced the promise of the Information Society and is training young people and small business in new technology usage. But still they have to operate over narrowband technology. Further south in Ireland, the East Clare Telecottage (PERIPHERA 1998) has established a low cost ‘customer call centre’ (CCC) and, after a two year struggle, has become the first user of ISDN in the area. The benefit to business is so obvious that they are rapidly stretching this technology to the limit and need genuine broadband to extend their community-based operation for greater benefit.
Access to the technology
The general environment is moving towards ubiquitous access to PCs. This ensures access to applications using ACTS results and, since the hardware market shows ever cheaper products, we can expect increased access at the level of ‘terminals’. This level of access is further aided by programmes like TIDE (DG 13, Telematics for Disabled and Elderly) which develop assistive technology to allow human-computer-interaction for people with disability. Added support for the general population is provided by USINACTS (USINACTS 1998) who address general usability issues, and UMPTI DUMPTI (UMPTI DUMPTI 1998) who focus on mobile communications and special needs.
It can be assumed, therefore, that the key future issue is not access to terminals, but access to applications and connectivity for more advanced ‘new ways of working’ using ACTS technologies.
Technology for access to society
A key problem for end users is acquisition of suitable access technology (the gap between the user terminal and the telecommunications backbone, sometimes referred to as the local loop). New access technologies are generally deployed first to larger business communities, so there is a need to ensure that affordable access technology is made available to small business, non-government organisations (NGOs / 3rd sector), community organisations, and even people at home. Projects such as IBCoBN have demonstrated a range of access technologies including IP over ATM using ATM switches and terminals, and also using cable modem technology. Other projects such as ATHOC have developed ATM based solutions showing access from the home and small business (INFOWIN 1999, ACTSLINE 1999) and demonstrate how disabled people, older people, and people in remote regions could be included in the European Information Society.
The technology horizon is, of course, not fixed and while the robustness and reliability of ATM continues, solutions such as IP over ATM seem to offer added flexibility and can easily exploit the rapid developments in IP based applications from the Internet domain. The rapid spread of cable modems allows completely flexible IP-based interconnectivity, and there are even ACTS trials showing IP over broadband wireless demonstrated for Teleconferencing and broadband WAN applications (IBCoBN 1998c)
It is encouraging that we are already seeing exploitation of ACTS results in technologies which facilitate access to society by previously excluded groups. This progress must be continued and its focus maintained in advanced communications developments.
Technology for human contact
Access to society is, of course, not a one-way process restricted to faster/better information access. A significant value of advanced communications in reducing social exclusion is the ability to support better levels of interactivity. It has been shown early in ACTS (Wilson and Descamps, 1996) that the required quality for visual communication (videotelephony, videoconference, VR moving image streams) cannot easily be supported by the more widespread telecommunications at present. That work showed, using many types of people and ranges of tasks in natural environments, that we need high quality videotelephony at 16 frames per second and upwards for natural speech reception and interaction. Good quality AV communication allows older people to enjoy human contact in remote service provision, and also allows people with disability, and people in remote areas, to work effectively as remote members of a distributed team without suffering isolation (see GAM 1998 for guidelines). The value of this strategy has been shown by BT in its Highlands and Islands operation where remote operators use Videophones to keep in touch with their team, albeit at lower quality at present.
Technology for human contact is also a requirement for remote service providers who deal with older and disabled clients. Real human contact is an essential part of social service provision and so must be better supported as the increasing social margin places greater strain on limited human resources.
Indeed, the demand for realism is such that even virtual reality (VR) applications have been identified by people with disability from ISdAC presenting to the ACTS workshop ‘ACTS in the Home’ (AIH 1998). Here it was convincingly argued that VR could allow PwD to access the world of work in a more visual way, and in a more realistic way. Collaborative workspaces could allow isolated people to work together ‘as if in the same place’ so reducing the feeling of not really being ‘in on the action’. This could as easily apply to any isolated person - someone in a rural area, someone acting as a carer at home, or someone working from within an ethnic community. Realism is driving the games, film and other entertainment arenas (VR) and so it may be logical to assume the demand will spread - people want co-location and a realistic shared world of work, education and play.
The enormous social and economic potential of advanced communications technologies and services (ACTS) contributes significantly to the overlapping arenas of Flexible Working, Sustainable Development and Social Inclusion. ACTS guidelines on sustainable development are based on consideration of practical trials and progress two distinct domains of discourse. The traditional 'ecology' focus relates sustainable development to the economic and social dimensions, while the 'information society' debate has examined the relationship of ICT to these same social and economic dimensions. The ACTS work offers scope for new solutions by unifying concerns in social, economic and environmental spheres through practical applications which give credence to the observation that "Modern information and communication technologies drive the world-wide economic system and the process of globalisation" (Radermacher 1998).A number of key actions for the future are also emerging from ACTS work in this area. First, the Alliance for a Sustainable Information Society (ASIS) is developing its charter and its working groups, including sustainable communities (AG1), dematerialisation of industrial and business processes (AG2), social inclusion (AG3), homes and workplaces of the future (AG4), and mobility and transport (AG5). At the same time the European Commission has launched its Fifth Framework Programme which includes a specific programme for sustainable development, yet also retains the focus on sustainable development issues for ICT work in its IST programme (Information Society Technologies).
There is a clear need to maintain the momentum originated in ACTS trials and the GAD working group to ensure that the links between the IST and the sustainable development agendas are not lost. If we accept that ICTs are really driving the re-organisation of world-wide social and economic systems, then we must not lose sight of the need for continued harmonisation between the traditional view of sustainable development and the accelerating progress of the IST framework for the Information Society.
Finally, the general concern about ‘social inclusion’ has now been placed firmly on many political agendas. It is also part of any technical agenda which implies social engineering or social change. The less favoured minorities together represent a significant part of the European population, and their exclusion from the social, cultural and economic life of Europe must be addressed. Within the ongoing progress in sustainable development we must not lose sight of the potential benefits of utilising Flexible Working methods to make real the possibilities of Social Inclusion in European life.
ACTSLINE 1999 - ACTS Results Channelling - online at http://www.actsline.org/AIH 1998 - Workshop "ACTS in the Home", May 1998, Crown Hotel, Brussels. in proceedings of ACTS concertation meetings, 1998.
ASIS (1998) "Charter for a Sustainable Information Society"(draft). CEC DG-XIII ACTS Programme, Project ASIS - "Alliance for a Sustainable Information Society". http://asis.jrc.es
Bristol 1998 - UMPTI DUMPTI project - online at http://www.bris.ac.uk/Depts/DeafStudies/Projects/Research/index.htm
Danthine, A. 1999. "From IP over ATM to MPLS" Tutorial, Hotel Carrefour de l’Europe, Brussels, May 1999 : University of Liege, Belgium.
Descamps, P. and Wilson, F. (1996) "Adapting CATV Broadcast Networks for Broadband Interactive Symmetrical Services". IBC’96, International Broadcast Convention 1996, Amsterdam : IEE Publications.
GAM 1998 - Generic Access Working Group, Guidelines online at http://www.i-d.co.uk/gam/
IBCoBN 1998a - Description and project results online at http://ibcobn.nssl.co.uk/
Example case online at http://www.i-d.co.uk/ibcobn/
IBCoBN 1998b - "Description of the Experiments", ACTS Project AC101 IBCoBN, project deliverable D802, Interaction Design Ltd, UK
IBCoBN 1998c - The UK Experiments in IBCoBN include wireless broadband carrying IP over different wireless carrier technologies - online at http://www.mvds.com
ISdAC 1998 - The Information Society disAbilities Challenge - online at http://www.isdac.org
IvD 1998 - The Netherlands Instituut voor Doven (Institute for the deaf) - online at http://www.ivd.nl/
Marsh, J. (1997) "Sustainability in the Information Society". CEC DG-XIII ACTS Programme, Project AC079 EPRI-WATCH, report number 101.
Mitchell. H. (1997) The ACTS project 'European telework development', on-line support for new ways of working - 'European Telework Online' at http://www.eto.org.uk
PERIPHERA 1998 - the Periphera project sites are online at http://www.periphera.org/
Radermacher. Professor F-J. (1998) cited in "Second Annual Report of the Information Society Forum, Working Group 4" (1998)
USINACTS 1998 - A project of the ACTS programme addressing usability issues - online at http://atwww.hhi.de/USINACTS/usinacts.html
Wilson, F. (1996) "Evaluation of City-TEN Trials". CEC DGXII TEN-IBC Programme, Project B3002 City-TEN, project deliverable D4, December 1996.
Wilson, F. and Descamps, P. (1996) Should we accept anything less than TV quality : Visual Communication. IBC’96, International Broadcast Convention 1996, Amsterdam : IEE Publications.
Web sites cited :
ACTS INFOWIN - http://www.infowin.org
ACTSLINE dissemination actions - http://www.actsline.org
GAD Chain Guidelines - http://www.epri.org/gad
European Telework Development - http://www.eto.org.uk
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