The City of Calgary Going Green with Telework

The City of Calgary really does have to think about going “Green” and adopting Telework Practices.

While the government is supporting the issue it is one local business that is out there beating down doors trying to make a difference.

On April 17th – 23rd, 2011, the Calgary Region will be celebrating “Calgary Telework Week”. This second annual event is the first of its kind here in Canada, and Calgary based Data Shapers is proud to be a sponsor of this event.

Why is Calgary interested in adopting Telework policies and promoting this event?

The UN recently quoted Calgary as one of the “Worst CO2 emitters in the world”. If every company in Calgary encourages its staff to work from home or a distributed work centre just one day a week, the number of cars commuting would drop by about 20% each day and CO2 emissions would be reduced by over 170 metric tons a month!

Data Shapers supports a greener Calgary, and as an Action Calgary Partner they will be actively participating in the events. Data Shapers President Kevin Turko hopes that during this week companies will be able to introduce some new and innovative technologies that will allow people to work from home and still stay productive. Data Shapers has released a product called OfficeShark Virtual Private Office as a technology that will hopefully enable individuals and businesses to be able to truly work virtually and cut down the above mentioned carbon foot print. Mr. Turko is just not stopping there but is also actively out there in the community speaking with others in the Tech Sector to put together a full on Telework Solution for a Virtual Paperless Office. There is speculation that through Data Shapers “CCM-Cloud Content Management Solutions” this could be a reality in the near future.

For more information of these virtual technologies, please see this video blog post.

While it might be technologies that are enabling these midmarket companies to move to telecommuting, its companies like Calgary based Leadstone Group that are leading the culture change for adoption of such technologies and implementation. Leadstone, representing a group of Knowledge Based companies, including Data Shapers, who are providing these technologies, has zero opposition to getting these products in the door as companies realize the cost benefit of Teleworking. However, where companies struggle is with the Corporate Culture change that occurs with going virtual. I think there is going to be a need for “Virtual Project Managers” if we are going to see companies adopting virtulization effectively. These will not be IT people but Business implementation people who understand work flow and ECM practices. By using a CCM (Cloud Content Management) or ECM (Electronic Content Management) tool, companies can get virtual with some sort of organization but again until the idea of creating a Virtual Project Management position within a company comes around it will be a very slow and disorganized transition. Leadstone offers companies this type of consultation service to take them to the “Next Generation” of new world work practices.

Article written by Jay Harris – Leadstone Group