ADDRESS BY MR. NOEL TREACY T.D., MINISTER FOR SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND COMMERCE AT THE CONFERENCE ON "LEARNING AND WORKING IN THE INFORMATION AGE" IN THE WEST COUNTY HOTEL, ENNIS ON FRIDAY, 6TH NOVEMBER 1998

I have been invited here today, principally, to give you an update on the working of the National Advisory Council on Teleworking. The Council was officially launched by me on the 30th of April, last. It held its inaugural meeting on the same day. The terms of reference of the Council are "To advise the Minister for Science, Technology and Commerce; on the development of Teleworking Employment opportunities, in Ireland and to recommend attainable actions, which will contribute to the realisation of those opportunities." The Membership of the Council, includes representatives of the Semi-State sector, private sector, universities, and unions.

I have been kept informed of the progress of the Council which has met five times so far and I understand that many interesting discussions, have taken place. It is amazing how many various forms of teleworking there are and how many issues, need to be addressed. One thing that has become very clear is that there are major opportunities to address skills shortages, to improve life styles, to enhance rural development, to integrate people with disabilities and to create employment. The Council is making good progress and has identified many of the issues. Submissions have been invited by advertising in the newspapers and on the internet and some excellent submissions, have been received to date, and more are expected. The Council has been in touch with local development organisations and has been pleasantly surprised by the many projects, involving teleworking, which are happening all around the country. I understand that the Council, are well on target to report to me by next Spring.

You are probably aware that Telework Ireland are holding their Annual Conference in Portumna next week and I am looking forward to meeting many of the Council Members there and discussing progress.

I have also been asked to give you my thoughts, on how I see the role of telematics, in the future. When trying to envisage this, it is instructive to peer back a little and see where we have come from, in the recent past. In the late 80's, computers were still far from commonplace on the desktops of our offices. Computers connected by networks, were just starting to appear, and the Internet had not yet reached the public. Mobile phones were only just appearing. Microsoft (MS) Windows was still an experiment, and the Disk Operating System (DOS) operating system was dominant.

If such dramatic changes can occur, in just a decade, what can we expect to see in the decade ahead? One indicator might be the number of Internet users, the number on-line and active, in the information age. 11% of the Irish population, is currently on-line, with a forecast of one million people, connected by 2,005. With such a pervasive communications medium, we can certainly expect changes in economic patterns, work patterns and probably, even in the administration of democracy.

Currently, Irish elections are a tradition, in themselves. The establishment of the polling stations in schools and parish centres, the collection of battered ballot boxes, containing the hand-written returning papers and the sense of community with which, whole areas trail out, to exercise their franchise. I cannot imagine a situation, where people will be content to cast their votes electronically.

However, international trends show that this is changing. Given the opportunity, 60 per cent of the British adult population, would vote for future Prime Ministers, via their televisions; a marked increase of 17 per cent from twelve months ago. Two thirds of Americans would like the option to cast their vote over the Internet, according to a survey, by ActivMedia. 97 percent of users believe that legislative bills before Congress, the voting records of House members, and budget information, should be made available to the public on-line.

These trends are likely to continue, with increased interaction via electronic means, occurring before, during and after, the framing of legislation. I see the recent introduction of multimedia kiosks in FÁS centres, as being the early example of widespread means of access. Interactive TV trials are surely a further example of how all will be empowered to participate. However, it also underlines the need, to maintain a vitally important principle; we are not powerless slaves to technology. As a society, we can and should control, how we wish to apply technologies in our future. We have choices, not only in specific implementations, but also in the scale and rate of change.

When I see young children confronted with a computer, I begin to perceive the potential for good and ill in the applications of the technology. They are so receptive, so able to explore, without the fears and prejudices, built up in a longer life experience. Great work is being done in this area in Ireland, and yet so much more needs to be achieved. Serious efforts are now being made, to train the educators in the skills necessary, to make the best use of these adjuncts, to the traditional education system. I firmly believe, that they are only adjuncts and that the principal educators are, and should remain, the parents and teachers.

There are dramatic improvements to be made, in the area of healthcare. At the simplest level, the confidence given to the ill, or to older people, by simple alarm buttons, that communicate over the telephone systems, is very beneficial. Imagine more sophisticated systems, which monitor vital signs, monitor indicators, such as blood sugar level and can take the appropriate action, all the time, keeping in contact with a monitoring station, so as to ensure long-term effectiveness.

There has long been predictions, that we are moving from an industrially based to a service based economy. This is taking place, with increasing speed, and there is no doubt in my mind, that personal services is going to be a huge area of potential. There is a long tradition of caring and nurturing in Irish society. I see these being leveraged by the mediation of Telematics, to effect a much larger community.

Telematics are likely to have a very direct impact on the normal activities, in day-to-day life. This is a change in pattern of living, not a fundamental change in the way in which society is organised. For example, imagine a situation, where your car, has more than just a radio. Already, many vehicles have on-board, tracking devices and navigation systems. The data is available on congested regions, road works and other bottlenecks. It won't be long, before these systems are merged, so that real benefits are given to the user.

Since the cars are capable of communicating with each other and with other road traffic computers, it is possible for them to be completely controlled, by an "automated driver" - such an experimental system, is already at the demonstration stage in San Diego. It is estimated, that we will see these cars on the road, between 2,010 and 2,015. Today, by looking at the Irish Times web-site, one can readily see the traffic situation on O'Connell Bridge, or, on the Microsoft web site, see satellite based maps, of road networks. The computer power is easily and cheaply available, for installation in vehicles. The communication networks are already widely available.

Unfortunately in the society which we have developed, security is a real concern. Telematics can impact, not only the monitoring, access control and response based systems, but also leverage the efforts of the community and the authorities, to underpin security efforts. For a period, there was a noticeable shift of organised criminal activity, from metropolitan to rural areas. Focused efforts, underpinned by Telematics technologies, have controlled this trend.

Any vision of the future for our children and ourselves would be incomplete, without mention of the environment. Telematics can help to ensure, that we monitor and preserve the environment. For example, remote sensing technologies are under development, which will improve monitoring and consequent management of lakes, for water supplies and the protection of the aquatic environment.

I have painted a fairly rosy picture, of what telematics can do for us, but we must always remember that technology, in many cases, can be a double edged sword and, as I said earlier, we must ensure, that we do not become slaves to technology and that we remain the masters of our own destiny, on the Island of Ireland.