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Extract from Project Future Form Working Paper Workingplace Technology Technology: Although there is no slackening in developments in a wide range of high technologies, there are only a few that will have an impact on the physical nature of the workplace. These include:
Wireless technologies The replacement of computer network cable and phone cable with wire-less technologies - will mean that the layout of desks and workstations will no longer be restrained by the location of network points and phone points. More importantly perhaps, office layouts freed from wall and floor umbilicals can be adjusted according to changing need or whim as a simple informal act without refurbishment and other costs. Some consequent considerations include:
Wireless networking presents security issues that some say will lead to a "valley of disappointment" (source). Already stories of warchalking and wardriving abound. Hackers seek out office wireless networks using relatively cheap and available equipment and note the discovery by chalking esoteric marks on a nearby wall for the benefit of any who understands, or publish the discovery in "maps" for their peers. Wireless networks are less of an IT undertaking than the wiring of a building and are more likely to be deployed by the enthusiastic office amateur than was the conventional wired network but, like the domestic cordless phone, they are immediately accessible to anyone beyond the building with the right equipment. The "elementary" security measures of many present systems, for all practical purposes, do not work. Before wireless is universally in use there are certain to be very embarrassing, highly publicised security incidents that may, for a while, reverse the implementation of wireless. The inevitable adoption of wireless is certain because of its savings and flexibilities but a period of cautious transition is even more certain. Thin screens LCD and plasma screens stripped of the electron gun and high-voltage electronics - are already impacting in some workplaces. As prices follow the now familiar price curve of electronics equipment, thin screens can be expected to become common. With the demise of the conventional bulky, hot, heavy and possibly dangerous VDU, workstations can become more the types of workspace people need to do their work. An adjunct of this technology is the wide screen (16.9 aspect ratio) and BroadBench, software functionality that allows objects to be dragged from one screen to another. These technologies, incorporated into well-designed workstations, will significantly enhance certain types of computer-based work and make true same-place collaboration possible. Palm PCs As the Palm-PC develops from a novelty or an inadequate solution to a real need for mobility, it is likely that some types of workers will exchange their desk based-PCs for Palm-PCs. Small desk-based (wireless) docking stations will link the Palm device to the network to synchronize data. Intelligent Rooms Although our flirtation with "bells and whistles" extends back more than a century, captured best by Jacque Tati in Mon Oncle (1958), by Fritz Lang in Metropolis (1927) and H.G. Wells before that, there now seems to be a substantial effort to direct all that is known towards the perfected office workplace. Ergonomics, fuzzy-logic atmosphere and light control, automated window elements and panels are some of the technologies being explored in several standing exhibits and research centres throughout the world - Workplace2010 (Denver), Future@Work (Seattle), The Microsoft Center for Information Work, Adaptable Workplace Laboratory, and The IBM Innovation Centre are just some of these. A recurrent feature of these initiatives is that within such "intelligent spaces", layout and furniture will be adaptable, movable, and multi-purpose.
GroupWare and Teleconferencing enhancements There has been much emphasis in IT until now on remote collaboration (teleconferencing, netmeeting). Advances in remote collaboration will continue - RingCam, for example, can provide a 360 degree view of the distant venue on wide or wrap-around screens. However, now there is an emphasis on how a range of technologies can be used to enable or enhance same-place/same-time team collaboration, a form of collaboration that is vital to many business processes. With the freedom offered by wireless and flat large screens, true computer-aided brainstorming and team activities are now realistically possible and there will be a demand for other elements of the office environment to contribute to these possibilities. This is likely to produce a demand for modularity and multiple-use furniture and furnishings - now several desks: now a large team table. Room design will similarly be expected to yield elegant solutions - now private cubicles: now a team area. GroupWare - like Knowledge Management - is one of the most mentioned and least understood areas of information technology. Despite claims by suppliers such as Lotus, an informed consensus insists that "GroupWare" - software uniquely required for genuine team-work - is unlikely ever to be a single piece of software. More likely "GroupWare" is an ad hoc teaming of a range of software and input and output devices for a particular team task. Consequently, a team work area is unlikely to be simply one big screen, one mouse, one keyboard. The best team areas will be adaptable to a range of configurations - multiple thin screens, multiple different types of input and output devices. Materials technologies A large portion of the literature on workplace health and "sick building" syndrome point to high-tech chemicals in modern furnishings, plastics, and wood composites as the source of many ills. Anecdotal evidence is growing and there may be increasing pressure to rate office items against emerging "clean, green" standards as these issues previously perceived as ephemeral are recognized as aspects of productivity and staff retention.
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