Moving the `desktop´ into the field

The electricty industry, as other utilities, is concerned with the management of large scale distribution networks. These networks have been developing for more than a century and the methods for operating them have changed over this time. For almost fifty years mobile communications have played an increasingly important role in the co-ordination of activities in the field. In more recent years, the industry has exploited IT with the result that a significant amount of mixed-media information is now held in computerised form. This information is available to office workers on their desktop. However, it is believed that substantial benefits could be accrued by making this information available to those workers who operate in the field, i.e. by moving the desktop into the field. This paper reports on the initial findings of the DTI/SERC supported MOST project which aims to produce a pilot system to demonstrate how mixed-media information can be exploited in the field using mobile computers and wide-area radio communications as enabling technologies