Neighbourhood Work Centre

THE NEXT WORKPLACE REVOLUTION 

Our lifestyle today - and all it entails - is a direct result of the Industrial Revolution of the nineteenth century. Villages became towns and towns spread and merged into large conurbations as we moved away from rural areas to live near the factories which provided us with work.

Now we want to live in greener surroundings but even those who are lucky enough to do so still travel into towns and cities to work - spending hours of our valuable time sitting on buses and trains or in a traffic jam, to complete a journey which should only take minutes.

The next workplace revolution is set to reverse this trend as modern technology creates the opportunity of both living and working in our local community. We can link up with each other and our head office from a remote location, using computers and telecommunications.

This way of working is known as teleworking or telecommuting

Teleworking generally refers to desk-based work undertaken remotely making use of computer and communications technology.		‘Tele’ - from Greek - means remote or at a distance. Teleworking means remote working, and anyone who works away from their main office base could be called a teleworker.
	Local MP Andrew McKay opens our new premises in November 1999

THE STORY SO FAR

Telecottages began in the 1980s as a community initiative in rural areas - to create earnings opportunities where there was little industry and few sources of work. Now we have telecentres and neighbourhood work centres providing professional services, on a commercial basis, to those in business.

The Teleworkers, Telecottage and Telecentre Association (TCA) was formed in April 1993 - as the Telecottage Association - to co-ordinate these efforts and promote the concept of teleworking countrywide.

Activities of the TCA include a bi-monthly newsletter, the Telework Handbook and an On-Line Forum.

WHAT IS HAPPENING NOW

There are now nearly 200 telecottages and telecentres in Britain and Ireland and a recent development has been the launch of RAVAN (Rural Areas Videophone Access Network) which aims to build up a network of videophone locations enabling teleworkers and businesses to build business relationships.

Cyber cafe's, roadside stops and telecommunications links in hotel rooms are being established throughout the country so those who travel in the course of their work can maintain up-to-date links with their office. Information they acquire can be sent directly to the office computer and vice versa regardless of their location.

Teleworking complements the growing implementation of hot-desking - sharing desks among staff who are not all in the office at the same time. The ability to connect to the office remotely reduces the time when the desk is needed, thereby reducing the number of desks required.

There is also a Vocational Qualification in Teleworking - Level 2, developed by the TCA's training body Moorlands Training Ltd and the City and Guilds which is recognised as an NVQ.