On the 26th, 27th, and 28th
of June 1996, a congress called "Telework, a chance and a challenge for Europe"
will take place in the city of Luxembourg. This meeting, placed under the
patronage of Mr Jacques Santer, President of the EC, and under the presidency of
the Prime Minister of Luxembourg, Mr Jean-Claude Juncker, is organised by
Infopartners S.A. and sponsored by the group "La Luxembourgeoise S.A.".
This important event takes place under the umbrella of a global policy
of the EC concerning the consequences of and prospects generated by the
emergence of a new field of activity: telework.
2. Telework: a new form of partnership
The accelerated growth of new
Information Technologies (IT) during the last decade has allowed the appearance
and expansion of an original process of collaboration among economic partners,
called, for want of something better, telework. This new economic sector
actually covers very diverse activities, from simple remote data entry through
the establishing of complex synergies among companies or groups.
Similarly, the forms of this collaboration can vary appreciably,
covering such specific aspects as traditional salaried work, freelance or
occasional partnership, whether at home or in specially-equipped premises.
The target of this colloquy will be first to take stock of the current
situation by gathering the protagonists of various existing experiences, and by
elaborating a synthesis of the studies and reflections which have already been
conducted.
3. A matter of hopes.... and fears
The organisers and particularly the
EC are expecting new conclusions from this meeting about the future of telework
and its prospects of growth as well as recommendations concerning the
harmonisation of the economic, social, legal, and regulatory measures to bring
into play.
Indeed, if telework could emerge as a chance for Europe as
well as an efficient tool for businesses, it will generate some specific issues
tied to the new characteristics of this kind of collaboration.
The fact
that a considerable part of the active population will have the opportunity to
work at home involves a recasting of the structures already in place on the
economic, social, and legislative levels. The harmonious growth of this field of
activity will happen by the recognition of the hopes and fears of the population
concerned, who do not expect a drop in their living standards or of their
conditions of work and social and professional vested interests.
4. A multidisciplinary Congress
This is why, as well as directly
concerned company leaders and officials of public services, representatives from
the trade union and political world as well as participants from the social
sector will also be present.
Similarly, the speakers will be chosen so as to reflect that diversity
in order that the exchange of experiences and point of view could lead to an
harmonious recognition of the desires of some and the reservations of others.
The subjects approached, both during the conference and round tables,
will form an extensive range of realities and projects connected with the
development of telework from definition of the concept through provisions
concerning its future and the necessary changes of structure and attitude,
reviewing all the technical, economic, social, reglementary, and logistical
aspects of the subject. The issuess connected with training will also be
addressed.
5. A meeting with a European perspective
It is obvious that this
congress, placed under the patronage of the President of the EC, will have to
kick off with a European perspective. This is why the moderators as well as the
participants will come from the different countries of the EC.
The
exceptional position of the Grand Duchy, at the crossroads of Europe and one of
its main cities, justify the choice of Luxembourg as the seat of this meeting.
26 June 1996
10.00 Opening session
Allocution d'ouverture par J.-C. Juncker, Premier ministre
Allocution de bienvenue au nom du comité d'organisation par F. Meinköhn,
Infopartners
10.30 Visions
Chairman, G. Schaber
Teleworking: double vision between hopes and concerns, G. Schaber
Le télétravail dans la nouvelle culture de l'ëre informationnelle, A.
Danzin
There is more to it and it is closer than you think, E. Britton
Open debate
12.30 Lunch
14.00 Economic and trade issues
Chairman, M. Lemmel
Impacts industriels du télétravail, M. Lemmel
Télétravail, téléactivité et globalisation de l'économie, A. Rosenholc
Telework to enhance economic integration with distant regions: the EU
and Mercosur case, J. Grompone
Telework and teletrade: practical steps towards new job and new work
opportunities for Europe, H. Mitchell
Télétravail et téléactivités, des solutions concrètes au service de
l'entreprise, B. Lazare
Introduction of Telework in IBM Germany W. Zorn
The P&T telework case study, M. Barnig
Open debate
27 June 27 1996
09.30 Social and education issues
Chairman, Mr. J. Rantanen
Demands of the information society for working capacity and competences,
J. Rantanen
Putting international technology in local development, L. Holloway
Corporate restructuring and telework, C. J. Coulson-Thomas
What about the workers? A. Bibby
Legal and contractual situation of teleworkers, R. Blanpain
Social-legal protection and health issues, F. Pennings
Distance learning with a virtual campus: the Open University of
Catalonia, A. Riu
Open debate
12.30 Lunch
14.00 European challenges
Chairman, R. Verrue
Introductory speech, R. Verrue
Recommendations of the working group Impact on the economy of
employment, J. Majo
Policy initiatives in employment, EC DG V
New challenges and opportunities from technology development, P.
Johnston, EC DG XIII
Challenges related to open and distance learning, S. Corti, EC DG XXII
The challenge of structure and introduction of telework, P. Verderio,
ETUC
Employers and business points of view in European challenges, UNICE
Open debate
20.00 Banquet
28 June 28 1996
09.30 Discussion panel
Chairman, M. Carpentier
General report on the first two days of the Congress, U. Huws
Round table on the challenges and expectations resulting from the new
telework perspectives; the panel will include economists, sociologists,
field specialists and personalities from the working world, such as W.
Buschak, A. Danzin, J. Majo, J. Rantanen, G. Schaber, M. Soete and X.
Darmstetter who will engage in discussions with all the Congress
participants
Conclusions and recommendations, M. Carpentier
12.30 End of the congress
Simultaneous translation is provided in English, French and German La
traduction simultanée est assurée en allemand, en anglais et en franÁais
Simultane Übersetzung in deutsch, englisch und franzsisch
TELEWORK
A chance and challenge for Europe
LUXEMBOURG 26,27,28 June 1996
This congress, which
is a part of a global telework policy of the European Commission, will deal with
all the issues related to this way of working.
The congress is sponsored
by Le Groupe La Luxembourgeoise SA and is supported by the European Commission
under the patronage of M. Jacques Santer, President of the European Commission,
and is under the effective presidency of M. Juncker, Prime Minister of
Luxembourg.
Numerous studies and pilot projects which have been completed
or are in progess by various organisations will be presented,
and their conclusions will be the subject of debates and round
tables.
The various subjects covered by this Congress will include:
a definition of telework
the situation today
the principal actors
the sectors with the most interest
social-legal, protection, and health issues
economic issues such as real benefits or added value, mixed economy
telework as an instrument of international integration and collaboration
logistic and technological issues related to telework
the future of this way of working, future developments such as necessary
structural changes
training issues will also be addressed
The moderators will be
well-known personalities in the teleworking world such as:
experienced senior managers
representatives of the large trade unions and supporting organisations
working on this subject with the European Commission
sociologists reflecting on the future and its structures
associations representing various economic sectors
representatives of international and European institutions
The
papers presented and the round tables will be integrated into the following four
major themes:
Visions
Facts and case studies
Key challenges
Issues and expectations
The BIT and other world organisations will
also be represented in order to compare European policy on telework with that of
other countries.
A very large part of the Congress will be reserved for
debates between the participants and the moderators.
