Remote, But Still Together

摘要

“Remote Working”, “Working from Home”, “Teleworking”, once minority ways of working have in the space of weeks become commonplace and with some employees unlikely to return to offices anytime soon. In 2019 a UK ONS study reported that just over 5% of the total workforce worked mainly from home, and in June 2020 this had risen to 49%. Similar trends have taken place across the world because of Covid-19 and words such as “Zoom” have entered day-to-day language. Live events and exhibitions have moved wholesale online. The pandemic has accelerated the digitalization of the workplace and remote work has become a new reality, making connectivity, speed, reliability, cybersecurity, and undisrupted access essential elements of organizations. Further, a whole generation of children, future recruits, and employees, are experiencing remote education and schooling over an extended period. The military S&T community is perhaps well placed in this new era given its technological heritage and its willingness to embrace innovation in ICT. However, it was not even ground at the outset with government and corporate ICT policies and equipment often not optimised for teleworking. MS&T has nevertheless seen a very rapid response within the community, and we have tracked developments and spoken to S&T leaders to hear their story of the last few months and insights on the future.