Workplaces Supporting Digital Economy IT has now become a common term on the business scene and we have been experiencing a myriad of changes at our workplaces. We now have access to new technologies, use various kinds of software selectively and have more options in location as to where to work. Furthermore, business structures themselves have started to change, as the influence of technology broadens in area. In this context, the status of workplace appears to be shifting towards a new dimension, requiring office design to be responsive to the new framework.   IBM Center for e-business /Chicago, Illinois, USA Creating Powerful Experiences for the Customers The spreading Internet has radically changed how business is done. Talking to clients, sales, and product management can now be done in the cyber space. Many companies are in need of help in order to tide over this massive change. IBM, a long-time leader and a dominant presence in the computer hardware industry, gave a name to supplying integrated solutions to clients ---- e-business. In January this year, IBM created a space in Chicago, which allows collaboration with their clients. This creation, called the e-business center, is designed around a new axis of "experience."   IBM Center for e-business/ Chicago, Illinois, USA   Enhancing Technological Exploration and Innovation Expansion and diversification of e-commerce brought about by the Internet. A succession of mergers and acquisitions of financial corporations. In the financial industry now undergoing such massive change, trust and investment banks are no exception. Numerous investment and trust sites on the Internet show a cut-throat competition they are facing. What makes a company get a step ahead of many other competitors? IT is no doubt one of such tools. State-of-the-art technology should be selectively and most effectively applied to business operations. FCAT just does that in a large global entity called Fidelity.   Fidelity Center for Applied Technology/ Boston, Massachusetts, USA   Web-like Facilities for An On-line Company   E*Trade, a leader in on-line securities trading, is now on its way to implementing a larger vision of offering one-stop services covering not only securities trading but also other financial services such as banking, retirement pension and insurance. It has grown rapidly in the past few years by making many strategic acquisitions. As the size of the firm has grown, so has the number of offices. How to integrate them and build new offices has been at the top of the agenda. "The office should evolve in keeping pace with businesses which are evolving." is the facilities strategy E*Trade embraces. The key word is "centerless." To paraphrase this, "Since on-line trading is what E*Trade is all about, where offices are located doesn't matter, if they are networked." This is the core of its web-like facilities strategy.   The training Center Covering Silicon Valley Area E*Trade sets its business strategy in constant motion, tuning in to the market trend. Although the economy is stagnant now and layoffs are a common practice at other companies, E*Trade adamantly adheres to its policy of keeping its employees on the payroll. The facilities department supports this policy by utilizing facilities more effectively. Reducing idle spaces not only cuts costs but also boosts the morale of employees.   E*Trade/Menlo Park, California, USA   Vibrant Workplaces for Development Teams The South of Market District, shortened as SOMA, is the hottest area in San Francisco. It used to be an area wholly dedicated to warehouses. However, when renovating warehouses into offices became a trend, many dot com companies started to converge in this area. SOMA is now a place generating energy whirlwinds. E*Trade chose this area as a site for one of the planned new offices with an eye to luring good knowledge workers by building an attractive office in a trendy district attracting the attention of urbanites.   E*Trade/San Francisco, California, USA   Digitization Expands Workplace Function All aspects of business have been washed by a big wave of digitization, which has, as everyone knows well, dramatically changed the way office work is done. What used to be called office work is no longer office-specific. By the same token, what could not be done in the office previously is now part of office work, all due to digitization. XM Satellite Radio is a case which illustrates this change. Here unique efforts have been made to loosely link an office with a radio studio, a space governed by creative power.   XM Satellite Radio/ Washington D.C., Washington, USA   WORK NAKED "If the management is willing to let employees 'work in pajamas', the company will be getting the most of its organizational potential." This is the theme running through Work Naked, recently published by Cynthia Froggatt, a workplace strategy consultant. ECIFFO interviewed her at Manhattan Upper West Side to hear why she wrote this book which offers tips on how to improve performances at virtual workplaces. TURN IT OFF E-mail, voice mail, mobile phones....Advancing technology, while expanding the boundary of virtual offices, can be a heavy constraint on people's life. How can we find a balance between work life and private life in this technological modern world? Gil Gordon talks about it referring to his recently published book Turn It Off. He is a forerunner and expert in the field of teleworking.   Business Travel Update   As business is globalized, more people travel by air. There are now as many as 40 million business travelers in the world who frequently do so. Business people want to make an efficient use of time while on board, since high speed is crucial to business. Various ideas and services have been created to meet the needs of those time-conscious people. Here is an update.