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Page updated:
30 October 2002
European Telework Online:
Online discussion of telework, telecommuting, e-commerce and related topics
Background information about the forum
The free of charge provision of these resources is made possible by our sponsors:The Telework Forum: Background information
The European Telework Online main telework discussion forum is the longest-established online forum for telework, telecommuting and related topics. Here are some background facts and figures.
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Online discussion
About the forum How to join How to leave Commands (eg Digest) Make an announcement! Guidelines Return to Home Page |
- History
- Prior to European Telework Online - and before the popularisation of the World Wide Web - the European Commission supported
a "European Telework" forum on CompuServe. In support of the first European Telework
Week (in 1995), Management Technology Associates established European Telework Online, the
first independent website supporting a European programme. Telework Week became the first Europe-wide initiative to be
promoted through a focused web site. An email-based discussion list was created for people across Europe who were involved in
Telework Week - again the first time a European initiative was supported by its own Internet-based discussion environment.
European Telework Online continues to support the annual Telework Weeks, which now have their own website -
see http://www.eto.org.uk/etw2000 for information and links.
Following the success of the first Telework Week the discussion forum became more broadly based and has been continued ever since as the Telework Forum.
- Technology
- The Telework Forum has mainly been email-based. During 1999 we experimented with a web-based forum which had an optional
email facility, but subsequently reverted to email as the primary mechanism. Although the web-based technology we chose was
the most suitable then available it had a number of limitations that inhibited the free flow of discussion and also some
management and administration constraints.
We continue to review alternative technologies.
- Technical and Technology Support
- Throughout the five years of its existence and growth the Telework Forum and our other online facilities have been provided and supported by Loud-n-Clear.Net. When we started there were almost no Internet Service Providers who supported online discussion and it remains difficult to find service providers of any kind who fully understand the online discussion environment. Our support from Loud-n-Clear has been excellent throughout. They also support online discussion facilities for several of the linked websites in our European and international networks.
- The Guidelines
- Much of the success of the Telework Forum has resulted from a policy of "light and fair, but firm" management
of the discussion environment. In handling problems and issues, this has led to the development of our
Guidelines to good practice in online discussion, which also incorporate the rules for discussion in the Telework Forum.
These guidelines have been widely adopted and adapted by other people and organisations to support their
own online discussion forums. The guidelines continue to be updated in the light of experience and based on input from
participants in the discussion.
- Project: Developing Guidelines for Online Fora
- The present Guidelines are focused on discussion participants. European Telework Online is supporting a new project,
working with Communities Online, to develop guidelines that will help:
- Organisations and individuals who start and support online forums;
- Facilitators and moderators of online discussion,
- Teams that use online forums in their work (for example boards and committees, project teams, task forces; and
- Individual participants
Some very experienced people are working on this activity and we believe it will yield important and influential results. There are sponsorship opportunities - see Advertising at the site.