Chris Unsworth, the European and Asian Pacific Rim Marketing Manager for 3Com, was the only industry speaker represented at the conference. He gave an up beat view of the information superhighway in general and teleworking in particular. In his opening comments, however, he had a cautionary message for the UK.
The Threats
"The information superhighway has the potential to completely transform our lives, in the world of work, in the world of leisure and in the world of education," said Unsworth, "... as the communication of information becomes a major source of economic and social empowerment, the development of the superhighways in the United States and Asia could put Britain and Europe at a competitive disadvantage unless it can attain a leadership position, and do it soon."
Unsworth spoke briefly of the achievements of Vice President Al Gore and the current US administration in articulating its vision of the benefits of the information superhighway to a very broad cross section of the American public. He said that though they may have a distorted view of this vision, Americans were in no doubt of its reality. They know that at some point they are going to have to become familiar with the technology. In comparison, a survey carried out by 3Com of 200 major UK companies indicated that two thirds of British managing directors do not even understand the phrase "information superhighway".
Unsworth touched briefly on concerns being expressed in some quarters about the possible disadvantages of teleworking such as the loss of worker rights. He observed that these were genuine anxieties which must be addressed by supporters of teleworking.
The Opportunities
Going on to discuss the advantages of teleworking, Unsworth commented on the findings of US research and the experience of the Smart Valley Project (1), a Californian superhighway pilot involving commercial and non-commercial organizations, including 3Com, Hewlett-Packard and Stanford University. The Smart Valley Project will provide support for the development of specific applications. It is intended to act as a broker for organizations seeking public or private sector partners. According to Unsworth, the Smart Valley Project is "a community based on an advanced infrastructure, and the collective ability to use it in projects with the potential to revitalise education, address healthcare needs and connect people".
Research findings identify advantages to teleworking in three areas, said Unsworth:
The UK Context
Unsworth then looked at how the UK might build on the American experience to develop understanding of, and support for, information superhighways. He commented on a growing interest exemplified by the July 1994 report of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Trade and Industry (2). The all-party Committee called for a rapid start in the setting up of a nation-wide information superhighway.
He noted that the Labour Party had appointed a Commission to develop its own policy on the issue. The UK Government's view, said Unsworth - set out in the recent White Paper, "Creating the Superhighways of the Future: Developing Broad Band Communications for the UK" (3) - is that superhighways should evolve through liberalisation and competition, with companies competing to provide high-capacity telecommunications services.
Unsworth said that Britain is well placed to take advantage of the communications revolution. The Government's liberalisation of the market has allowed many new developments. The UK is one of the most advanced countries world- wide, on a range of telecommunications infrastructure indicators. The problem is not a lack of technology, Unsworth said, but - and here he quoted the Select Committee report - "a lack of clear vision or excitement about what the broadband communications can do for the UK and its people."
Following the launch of the White Paper in November 1994, the Government formed the Multimedia Industry Group of senior industrialists headed by Ian Taylor MP, the Minister for Trade and Technology. But, said Unsworth, in the absence of an Al Gore, Britain needs a grass-roots campaign to promote a vision of the future and act as a catalyst to persuade the industrial and political world of the benefits of the information superhighway.
Regional and Community-based Initiatives
Speaking again of the Smart Valley Project, Unsworth referred to it as a regional approach to a national information infrastructure. It was, he argued, a kind of grass-roots initiative that could be imitated in the UK. British cities like Manchester could develop similar schemes. He praised Manchester's involvement with the European Telecities Project as demonstrating great enterprise.
But, argued Unsworth, community initiatives were needed to spark the popular imagination, particularly in the UK. Unsworth mentioned the Eden Vale school in San Jose, California, a model community project, where school students from low-income families make contact with the higher education colleges they may one day attend using the latest technology, much of it supplied by 3Com. By communicating with college penpals, students discover more about college environments while learning about the new technology.
3Com is also supporting a project to provide network design services and technology for 24 schools in the same part of California. It will link them to the Internet and other networks. Each class room will have a teacher workstation connected to the Internet and serving four student workstations.
In the UK, an embryonic project - Project Connect - has forged a industry/education alliance between British Telecom, Novell, 3Com and de Montford University. This will link schools and colleges via the new SuperJanet academic network. This is the kind of grass-roots initiative, Unsworth said, that the UK needed to nurture if the country is not to be consigned to the information superhighway crawler lane.