There is a sensor under the desk. It registers temperature and can tell whether someone is sitting at the desk or not. The sensor is linked to a specific employee in a specific office. Thus, it is in violation of the privacy regulations. This caused the employees at the Fløevigen research station in Arendal to react. It was Forskerforum that told about the case first. The Institute of Marine Research (HI) is now stopping this data collection. Will survey office needs – We are stopping it today, because the supplier of the equipment cannot guarantee that the information is collected anonymously. That’s what Øystein Brun, department director for infrastructure at HI, says. He is in a dilemma, because in a few years there will be a large building in Bergen, and the management is trying to find out what is a sufficient number of rooms for employees. – Many offices are unused for part of the year because we have extensive field work. Then more employees can share an office, and we save money, he says. Øystein Brun is department director and wants the future office solution to be as efficient as possible. Photo: John Inge Johansen / news Can save up to 20 million A lot of money it turns out. The building they will set up costs around NOK 4 billion. A reduction in office coverage from today’s 100 per cent to 80 per cent, which is the state norm, could mean a reduced rent of between NOK 16 and 20 million a year. Savings on reduced office use The Institute of Marine Research has around 1,000 employees. Today, the practice is that everyone who needs an office should get it, i.e. 100 per cent coverage. The state norm for the new building is 80 percent coverage and that several people share an office. The price per square meter for new buildings is around NOK 60,000. An office is 17 square meters per employee. This also includes fall areas and transport areas, not just the individual office. Investment: Number of fewer offices (200) * price per square meter (60,000) * office size (17) = 204,000,000 In the construction round, the savings can therefore be over two hundred million kroner. The rent after the building is constructed is between 8-10 per cent of the investment costs. That means somewhere between NOK 16 and 20 million in annual rent. That’s why the sensors came up under the desks. To much opposition – so now the data collection ends. – Our members have reacted with disbelief. Some feel that it is very invasive. Others do not feel monitored, but question whether it is really necessary to use this method. This is what the head of the Researchers’ Association at HI, Mari Skuggedal Myksvoll, tells Forskerforum. In any case, the project is on hold for the time being. – We are now conducting a new investigation to ensure that it is legal. That is why we are stopping the logging for a while, until we have completed that process, says Brun. – Must find solutions The employees have been well informed about the measurements that were to be carried out. There have been two information meetings, and the matter has been raised in the cooperation committee twice. Nevertheless, researchers, other employees and shop stewards have reacted through various media such as Khrono and Forskerforum. – I think there is a good level of objectivity, and there are useful things to come, so it is possible to build on that and find solutions, says department director Brun.
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The Institute of Marine Research ends data collection at the research offices – news Vestland
