NetRepreneur
Kari-Pekka Turtiainen
R&D; Manager
OF-Open Forms Ltd.
Ylistönmäentie 31
FIN-40500 JYVÄSKYLÄ
FINLAND
Email:kpt@jsp.fi, URL:http://www.jsp.fi/of/kpt
Antti Auer
Master of Administrative Science
University of Jyväskylä
P.O Box 35
FIN-40351 JYVÄSKYLÄ
FINLAND
Email:auer@jyu.fi, URL:http://www.jyu.fi/~auer
- Keywords:
- Virtual Reality, WWW, Workplace, Entrepreneur, Electronic commerce
Virtual Workplace
- NetRepreneur
- Entrepreneur who uses networks at his or her work
Our goal is to create a familiar looking,
easy-to-use environment for non-professional computer users.
This environment allows free interaction between newly emerging media and
everyday activities in our workplaces.
At present, we are facing a rapid expansion
of multimedia and the extensive use of
the Internet for business purposes.
A term Context-based use of the media is used to
describe current development on workplaces.
Entrepreneurs who do not use computers and computer networks
in their work as a primary tool need simple
computer mediated environments and tools. They want
to be in control over their computers and, especially,
over their workplace.
Virtual Workplace
NetRepreneurs want to utilize computers and networks at their work and not only
use Internet for the sake of itself. They want to share their
information, make teamwork and establish connections
with their partners.
The properties of this interface are:
- Feeling of familiarity
- Support for work and ideas
- Virtual partnership
Technical background
We are going take advantage of Internet and
Word Wide Web -based communication and all the services it
provides.
Physical properties of the Virtual Workplace
- Internet-connection from dial-up trough ISDN up to fast direct lines
- WWW tools, for example Netscape or Mosaic
- WWW-environment situated at one or more web-servers
- NetRepreneur toolkit
- Other needed software and hardware (for desktop-video/audio conferencing, shared writing, shared blackboard, electronic currency etc.)
Services
NetRepreneurs can establish co-operatives where each individual
NetRepreneur manages her or his own business but accounting,
taxation, invoicing and other administration tasks are run by shared personnel.
This co-operative can act as a facade to customers so that
individual NetRepreneurs are not alone but they have some support
from each other and their common facilities.
Another form of cooperation is project work, where individuals are
responsible for different tasks. Usually, they have a project leader,
some interests in common in their work and a lot of need for communicating
with each other.
Common tools
By default, NetRepreneurs are offered several tools. In this paper, we are not discussing
conventional office tools, like word processing or spreadsheet
applications, but our concern is co-operation and the use of services via Internet.
Usually, these tools are situated partly on servers and partly on clients. We can divide
these tools into several categories:
Communications
- Email, a basic tool for communication on the networks
- Fax, widely accepted communication resource
- Phone and audio, it could be used more efficiently and, especially,
together with groupware tools
- Conferencing tools, very promising in the near future
- Groupware applications
- Desktop-video
- Electronic commerce, the rapid development of electronic money will increase the amount of commercial services on the Net.
Information search (some examples)
- Patents
- Forms (all kinds of public administration and government)
- Phonebooks and addressbooks, they could be a very valuable for NetRepreneur
- Timetables
Services
- Public administration and government/municipal
- Schools and universities
- Lawyers, for example online services
- Electronic commerce (expanding rapidly)
Interactive Computer Generated Environment
So far, we have described the properties and the services of
a Virtual Workplace.
How can we implement this environment?
We need both hardware and software to fulfill the requirements of the system and we also need a server provider (SP) which can create the basic environment and interface and provide the basic tools to the NetRepreneur.
- Firstly, we can provide the physical equipments: ISDN facilities are provided by Finnish Telecom, as well as other hardware apparatus needed.
- Secondly, we have NCSA's httpd server situated in a Linux box which is wired to the Internet via a direct connection. It provides the actual graphical interface (Virtual Workplace). This service is provided by OF-Open Forms Ltd.
- This machine also acts as a server for other client-server software, for example, groupware and negotiation software and fax/email gateway between the NetRepreneur and her or his clients.
- Naturally, the services are produced by appropriate providers, for example, law offices but
the interface is offered via SP.
- The needed hardware and software for handling electronic commerce will be installed as soon
as some general standards are approved.
- The environment of each user is kept on the
server's database and every time a user contacts the
server it is exported from the database and the user's own view to the workplace is created.
- The NetRepreneur is her/himself responsible for her or his own view to
the shared workplace and (s)he can alter her or his virtual desk.
- Each user can have several views to her or his workplace depending on her or
his projects, clients and partners. The NetRepreneur can easily change her or
his view by selecting a new view from view list. (S)he can also
define new views together with her or his partners.
- Every workplace inherits some common tools from the base view, for example, libraries, directories, communication facilities etc.
References
- NoTime Enterprises: Entrepreneurs on the Web,
http://sashimi.wwa.com/~notime/eotw/EOTW.html
- Masato Fukushima,The Virtual Office Project,
http://www.glocom.ac.jp/Publications/virtualoffice-e.html
- The Virtual Hospital,
http://vh.radiology.uiowa.edu