We headed along to a showcase this morning put on by Regional Development Australia in the ACT and the Southern Inland to demonstrate the establishment of telework centres around the Capital region. These are part of the Federal Government’s funding to promote NBN readiness in regional Australia.
The project will undertake a “readiness assessment” to determine what is required to establish a professional office environment that utilises the NBN to provide conditions that may not be available in a work-from-home environment.
Mick Chisnell, Executive Director of the ACT Government Information Office, pointed out that there is a triple bottom line outcome from teleworking – economic, social and environmental. The other important point from Mick was that in 10 years we won’t be talking about teleworking, we’ll just be doing it.
This is something the JAM is highly conscious of – business and the community are already taking action with the opportunities presented by mobile computing (laptops, tablets & smartphones) and online tools and platforms. Government must act quickly in public policy to keep pace with the strategies and actions organisations are already implementing.
Younger people are also expecting to be able to bring their own devices into the workspace, engaging in social media platforms and presenting employers with the opportunity to change their work culture. To quote Cisco, “to transform a business, you have to transform the way work is undertaken.”
Providing flexibility and mobility in a workplace helps drive a business’s competitive advantage – not only in increasing staff retention but also driving workplace productivity and efficiency.
Robin Eckermann, who led the creation of TransACT, made the point that the digital economy has already been with us for decades. “The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. The 2nd best time is now”. This certainly reinforces the JAM’s view that the time to act is now.
Further gov info can be found at telework.gov.au
ScrivenerJAM 