Editorial

I’m looking forward to hearing details this week of the UK government’s launch of Anywhere Working. This initiative came about following the UK Department for Transport’s (DfT) call for evidence on Alternatives to Travel. As part of the CloudPresence community I provided evidence to the DfT, which is charged with finding such alternatives. Norman Baker MP who is the minister in charge of this element of UK transport policy will be making the announcement at the Worktech11 conference in the British Library on November 17th.

Anywhere Working is a “business-led initiative” (should we then assume that government might not be leading in this matter after all?) which aims to encourage more flexible ways of working. The announcement is expected to say that you don’t always need to go to a traditional office to do business or conduct meetings.  Alternatives to travelling might be impromptu work hubs, taking advantage of wireless hot spots in places such as public buildings or coffee shops or simply embracing more flexible working styles. The campaign will also highlight the clear and tangible benefits, whether they are reduced travel costs, increased productivity or employee morale.
 
The DfT will publish a document setting out the work currently underway and the next steps Government will be taking to develop and deliver a coherent, co-ordinated policy relating to alternatives to travel.  
 
The Anywhere Working project will be led by a consortium of businesses including Microsoft, Business in the Community, Nuffield Health and Regus. A formal campaign launch is scheduled for January 2012.  At this time it is expected that the full range of online resources such as case study examples, guidance, advice and product offers and trials from consortia will be available, building up to a week-long call to ‘take action’ in February 2012.  The long-term goal of the initiative is to encourage a more permanent shift in the approach to work with an increase in the number of businesses and employees utilising (and benefiting from) anywhere working methods.

I will be attending the launch and hope to ask the minister when he expects to discuss the initiative with other government departments, in particular what will he be saying to the Ministry of Justice regarding prisoner transport contracts reportedly worth £42 million which have resulted in prisoners being taken to court hearings by taxi. I’ll also ask whether he thinks it would be worthwhile to have all remand centres, jails and courts fitted with video conferencing systems in order to improve efficiency in the criminal justice system, and reduce costs?

Of course, The Cynical Observer, who tends to loiter near my desk quite frequently, is tempted to observe that the dire forecasts of London experiencing gridlock during the 2012 Olympics might have a lot to do with the Department for Transport being seen to at least try to do something constructive to reduce the problem, by encouraging people not to travel. The Cynical Observer also hazards a guess that sometime roundabout June we'll see the resurrection of the old wartime  slogan "Is your journey really necessary?"

Meanwhile I would suggest that if you are interested in making the most of this opportunity you define a policy and offering that would tie in with the Anywhere Working initiative and lobby the UK’s Department for Transport in order to make sure your offering is included in the online resources being offered … or would you rather just leave it to Microsoft?

Let me know what you think about this initiative – do you expect it to make a real difference?

Keith Warburton

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