Orange Business Services has launched its interactive online forum as a platform to support research carried out by the Orange Future Enterprise Coalition. 
The Orange Future Enterprise Coalition (OFEc) was created by Orange Business Services and Henley Centre Headlight Vision at the end of 2005. The aim of the Coalition is to provide fresh and innovative views on how mobile technology is affecting the way we work and live our lives, today and in the future. Coalition members include individuals from government, academia, business, consultancy and technology organisations. A full list of members and more details on the Coalition can be found on the forum website. 
The Future Enterprise Coalition will produce two detailed reports each year. In its first report Organisational Lives, OFEc argued that mobile technology improves working and personal lives, but that bosses must proactively encourage staff to mentally switch off out of hours despite the demands of always-on mobile devices. The Coalitions members, including the DTI, Accenture, Siemens and Yorkshire Water, also called on employers to support home workers against the possibility of low morale in tomorrows virtual workplace where colleagues may never physically meet.
The next report is due to be launched in October 2006 and will focus on the potential organisations of the future, and on the steps organisations must take to ensure they are balancing the needs of their organisations and employees. The themes and results of ongoing research will feature heavily on the new Web Forum.
The launch of this web forum gives us the opportunity to engage with a wider group of interested individuals says Orange Business Services Head of Enterprise Marketing, Robert Ainger. We have already seen a huge appetite for the topics and themes we are researching through the Orange Future Enterprise coalition. The interaction and discussion we hope to encourage through this forum will greatly enrich our understanding and vision of the shape of organisations of the future and how people, organisations and government can best prepare for life in 2016 and beyond.
Anyone interested in registering with the Orange Future Enterprise Web Forum and actively participating in this debate should head for the forum website.