Future IT legacy on Settlement

[Gael]

In the long term, do people see the whole IT revolution as having a major effect on employment and settlement patterns in our society as the necessity to have people working together in the same physical location decreases?

[stringjack]

Vaguely related...

Fortunately, though, the reshuffling of our technology economy has engendered a second, and far less recognized, development—the creation of thriving new tech-centered economies in such seemingly unlikely places as Fargo, Reno, and Boise. “Silicon Valley used to be the center of the galaxy in technology,” explains John Sien, a former high-level executive at Hewlett-Packard who now lives near Reno. “We controlled most of everything. Now that galaxy is distributed.”

This can be observed, he says, in the growing number of technology and new-economy firms choosing locations that were once far off the high-tech track. Many of these firms are concentrated in fields like software support, which puts them in direct competition with Indian companies. American entrepreneurs have discovered it is far more feasible to compete with offshore firms from a low cost, low regulation environment than from the traditional tech centers.

“The Internet changed everything,” suggests Aki Korhonen, founder and president of PC-Doctor. “You have so much better connectivity today. The Bay Area will have to face great challenges in the years ahead due to its cost structure. You can’t make the argument for many operations in the Bay Area versus India.”

[KingKane]

Hey, you lot! Stay out of my research domain! I'm very protective.

[Gael]

So how might it affect Ireland do you think?

[Parnell]

I think it's already having a significant impact in Ireland. There'll always be certain jobs where it's necessary for the employee to be in their workplace, eg. production lines, retail outlets,and so on. However, increasingly people are able to work from their own homes very effectively, and relatively inexpensively.

In our own company's case we brought in a remote working programme about two years, paying for home pc's, broadband access, and mobile phones. It's been a phenomenal success. We're all working longer hours, but that's OK because we've all cut down our commuting time dramatically. We're all able to work more flexibly and this has helped in delivery of important projects quickly. It's easier to do such work over the weekend because you can do your bit, and still have time for the family. Then during the week the payback is that everyone can let the family life cut in on the work time. So none of us is a 9-5 employee. We're effectively available all the time, everyone's punching in heavier hours than when we were all stuck at the office, and we all have a much better work/life balance.

That's my specific experience, but rolling it out across the country it's possible to see how it could benefit us all by:

Removing traffic from the roads, reducing congestion and carbon emissions;

Allowing double income couples to juggle their schedule to save on childcare costs and have more time with their kids;

Reduce upward pressure on property prices as more people can work location independent;

Enable people to become better members of their communities as they are working in them;

Let children develop a work ethic from the direct example of their parents working at home.

I'm sure there are lot's more benefits I could spell out.

However, I don't think the powers that be have grasped how important remote working is and how it can have a huge influence on productivity and quality of life.

Rollout of Broadband has been a disaster. I know Eircom doesn't belong to the state anymore, but there's a definite case for Government to invest in its rollout. Why don't they take a little bit out of the road building programme to fund its rollout?

The e-working allowance for employees is derisorily low at €3.20 per day. Increasing the allowance to a more meaningful amount to compensate for costs incurred by the e-worker would be a great incentive. balance it off against the lower heating costs that could be incurred in offices, savings in office builds, and lower carbon emission penalties.

Phone costs need to come down dramatically. I think we're going to get some results on this one (I have to give Dermot Ahern some credit on this) as ComReg are finally getting their act together in tackling the phone operators re charges. This is also being helped by the emergence of new low cost operators in our de-regulated market.