National Academies Press: OpenBook

Toward the Electronic Office (1981)

Chapter: Front Matter

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1981. Toward the Electronic Office. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18507.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1981. Toward the Electronic Office. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18507.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1981. Toward the Electronic Office. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18507.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1981. Toward the Electronic Office. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18507.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1981. Toward the Electronic Office. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18507.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1981. Toward the Electronic Office. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18507.
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TOWARD THE ELECTRONIC OFFICE July 23, l98O Conducted by The Board on Telecommunications-Computer Applications National Research Council Washington, D.C. l98l MAY 2 2 1381 LIBRARY

The National Research Council was established by the National Academy of Sciences in l9l6 to associate the broad community of science and technology with tne Academy's purposes of furthering knowledge and of advising the federal government. The Council operates in accordance witn general policies determined by the Academy under the authority of its congressional charter of l8b3, which establishes the Academy as a private, nonprofit, self-governing membership corporation. The Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in the conduct of their services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. It is administered jointly by both the Academies and the Institute of Medicine. The National Academy of Engineering and the Institute of Medicine were established in l9b4 and l97O, respectively, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences. The symposium and the preparation and distribution of these proceedings were supported under Purchase Order NB8ONAGE8884, and its Amendment, between the National Bureau of Standards and the National Academy of Sciences. Available from Board on Telecommunications- Computer Applications National Research Council 2l0l Constitution Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 2O4l8

PREFACE In the past two decades the application of electronics and computers has been largely directed to specialized information systems, large telecommunications networks, and automated industrial processes. Advances in microelectronic technologies have increased the productivity, efficiency, and responsiveness of banking, manufacturing, health care, and military defense. But, even though speed, convenience, and adaptability are essential to information handling in business, the office has remained in the main untouched by the microelectronics revolution. For years the only machinery office workers used to improve their productivity included the telephone, electric typewriter, and photocopier. NOW the individual computer terminal, the electronic message system, the laser printer, and several other innovations in hardware and software are bringing about the "office of the future." The concept has many components and configurations—different ones for different needs. The end result is always the same: a modernized office system that is more efficient and more productive. While productivity in the factory has increased by more than 8O percent in the last l0 years and on the farm by some 30O percent in the same period, office productivity is up by less than 3 percent in the decade. The comparatively low increase may be due, in part at least, to the relatively slow introduction of available microelectronic technologies. Moreover, the ability of current office components to operate as a system and between office systems has been impaired by a lack of compatibility and integration among the components from various suppliers. This problem appears to exist between office automation equipment and data bases that are maintained in large-scale data processing systems. Recognizing the importance of stimulating the use and standardization of office automation to increase productivity in the federal government, the National Bureau of Standards asked the National Research Council's Board on Telecommunications-Computer Applications to organize and conduct a symposium on the prospects and problems of the electronic office. Accordingly, the Board invited a heterogenous group of experts on office communications to speak about different aspects of the new technologies at an open forum. This took place July 23, l980, in the iii

Auditorium of the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C., and was attended by some l50 people. This publication consists of the papers delivered during the symposium and the public discussion that followed the presentations. iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS Welcome l Louis T. Rader University of Virginia Introduction 3 J. C. R. Licklider Massachusetts Institute of Technology ./The Office as a System 7 •Michael Hammer Massachusetts Institute of Technology Technology, Present and Trends 2l Lyons IBM Corporation 'Office System Planning 33 i/Daniel Hosage Datapoint Corporation Productivity Aspects of Office Systems 45 v/3ohn D. Hogan American Productivity Center United States Air Force's PROJECT IMPACT 49 v/dohn Zaner Air Force Systems Command U.S. Air Force 'Avon's Office System 55 vtfohn Walsh Avon Products, Incorporated ffice Systems Innovations in the Bank 7l \XLouis Mertes Continental Illinois National Bank 'Human Eactors 85 i/Eleanor Wynn Xerox Corporation general Discussion 89 vXJames Burrows National Bureau of Standards Attendance .................. l0l

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