French firm hopes to eliminate email

Published 6:04 pm Wednesday, December 7, 2011

If you are one of the many people who feel overwhelmed by the daily deluge of unnecessary emails in your inbox, consider applying for a job at Atos. The French information technology services company is hoping to eliminate all email by 2013.

“We are producing data on a massive scale that is fast polluting our working environments and also encroaching on our personal lives,” said Thierry Breton, Atos’ chairman and chief executive. “At Atos Origin we are taking action now to reverse this trend … “

A spokeswoman for Atos said the company was still evaluating solutions, but that the result will probably be a mix of collaborative social media tools like the Atos Wiki, which enables employees to communicate by contributing or modifying online content, and the company’s online chat system, which also enables video conferencing and file sharing.

Associated Press