Staying in to work.

The point which most interested me was that the programme stressed how much it was giving people with disabilities, who find it difficult to get around, greater equality in the workplace as the workplace is increasingly the place where they live.

People working from home also means there is less of a crush at peak times as less people have to commute to work. This rush hour madness has in itself made it difficult for disabled people in the employment field as negotiating can be especially hard for them.

Working from home has also created greater employment opportunities for parents who have young children to care for. My niece lives on Waiheke - a small island off the coast of Auckland in New Zealand. She combines looking after two small children with working as an operator for that country’s AA. Using her home computer, she takes calls from drivers needing help and is able to see and contact the nearest patrol and direct them to the stranded driver.

Call centres are becoming a thing of the past in many countries as calls are just directed to operators in their homes and, again, an increasing number of the operators are disabled people as well as single parents etc.

However, there are many people, including some with disabilities, who do not want to work from home. At the same time, they do not want, or cannot, commute and so in Sweden they have started what they call telecottages. These are small centres in local communities which are, of course, disabled-accessible, and are proving so popular that they are setting up more of them in many countries including Britain. One person from Sweden told me: “working from home you can become isolated but working in the telecottages you can do your job and have the fellowship of other local residents doing there’s “.

People working from home or from their community could, I feel, help to re-vitalise many of our communities. The age of the commuter has dealt a death-blow to community life as people travel long distances to work and is often too tired when they get home to take any part in community activities. Again this is especially true for disabled workers as well as the elderly who would also benefit from being able to work from home or within their community.

The Digital Revolution, like the Industrial and Agricultural revolutions, is bringing about fundamental and important changes in our society. However, it appears to me that we are far behind other countries in realising the benefits of the new technologies for bringing about greater opportunities for minority groups.

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