The Rise of Digital Nomadism: How HP Devices Support UK Remote Workers | HP® Tech Takes (2024)

Adopting remote working practices in UK business has led to the greater adoption of a digital nomadic lifestyle. Digital nomads can work from almost anywhere with network connectivity and a power source, either batteries or a mains socket.

Digital nomadism allows workers to travel the world, exploring new countries and cultures while holding down a job to earn the money they need for this lifestyle. Smart employers recognise that there are professional roles where it doesn’t matter where their workers physically locate as long as they can connect with the business.

Allowing employees to work from a tropical beach or a city café means they can benefit from a happy, motivated and productive worker. However, you don’t need to travel the world to achieve this lifestyle. Digital nomadism in the UK offers the opportunity to explore the British Isles or simply locate in a favourite area unconstrained by the location of your employer’s offices.

The rise of digital nomadism in the UK

The post-pandemic working environment has shifted towards remote work practices fuelling an increase in digital nomadic lifestyles. While digital nomadism congers up images of young workers in exotic locations, the reality is that a broad range of people are now choosing to work remotely across various locations and environments.

At one end of the spectrum is the homeworker who chooses to work away from the distractions of the home environment at cafes, public libraries or other suitable locations. At the other end are the determined travellers circling the world searching for adventures and memories, moving from place to place. A more common type of digital nomad moves between rental properties in areas they want to stay, unconstrained by the geographic location of their employer.

Good internet connectivity almost everywhere allows this move to a location-independent, technology-enabled transitory lifestyle. However, currently, adoption is constrained by the type of work and employer attitude, which limits who can take up such opportunities. Knowledge-based roles are perfect for remote working. However, service industries and manufacturing roles are beyond the scope of remote work. There’s also an element of wealth inequality impacting adoption, with the rise of digital nomadism geared towards those with the resources to support the lifestyle.

The benefits of being a digital nomad

Digital nomads tend to be more contented and motivated, driven to complete tasks to the highest quality to spend more time enjoying their surroundings.

Exposure to new experiences and situations can also increase creativity and bring fresh ideas. Constantly dealing with challenges trains the brain to be sharper and more effective.

Digital nomads must be adaptable to manage travel, find working locations and deal with different peoples and their cultures. This social adaptability can translate into better work performance through workflow adaptability.

Digital nomads also, by necessity, need to be able to continually create new relationships with diverse ranges of people, overcoming cultural and language barriers. This skill helps generate and manage business relationships which in turn improves performance.

Technological needs of digital nomads

Remote workers looking to embrace digital nomadism need a reliable computer that’s portable, rugged and can handle their work tasks. Depending on the type of work, they may need peripherals to turn the laptop into a mobile office, such as a portable printer. The type of nomadic travel will drive their technological needs, whether it’s keeping all their belongings in a backpack as they jet around the world, living out the back of a vehicle as they tour the country or a more permanent office setup that infrequently shifts between locations in the back of a lorry.

They also need a means of connecting securely to the internet wherever they choose to locate. This could be using a private telephone network such as a mobile or landline connection or using public networks where available with the security risks that this involves.

Finally, they need applications that allow them to perform their work, stay secure and manage their lifestyle.

Staying connected in the UK

Digital nomads in the UK have several options for staying connected depending on whether they are constantly moving or occasionally switching locations. Renting a place will allow access to a personal landline for broadband connection, while a genuinely nomadic lifestyle means relying on either mobile phone networks or public networks.

Most buildings have a landline connection to the telephone network that offers broadband connection. If you’re in a town or city, it will be a fibre connection that offers super-fast speeds ideal for collaborative working, accessing multimedia files and moving large volumes of information. Larger cities will have more options available, including specialist business providers.

If you’re somewhere rural or remote, chances are it’s a copper connection that is fast enough for work but much slower than fibre. The rule of thumb is the more distant the connection from the nearest big town, the slower the internet speed. An alternative to landlines for buildings is satellite broadband, where the internet comes via a satellite signal. This option is advantageous in the more remote area of the UK, including the smaller offshore islands.

Should you want to be constantly moving, mobile phone networks offer good broadband coverage across most of the country except for some more isolated communities and remote, sparsely populated areas. Some cities would have access to the 5G network with its super-fast internet speeds. Otherwise, typically, it will be a 4G network comparable to a copper landline connection. A few areas still have older 3G masts, but these are now in the process of being upgraded as providers phase out the old technology.

Accessing the mobile network from a laptop is straightforward. You can access the internet directly using a SIM card if you have a computer with built-in mobile capability or devices are available that plug into the laptop to access the mobile network. Alternatively, if you have a smartphone, you can wirelessly tether the laptop to the phone or via the charging cable to allow the computer to use the phone’s connection.

HP support for digital nomads

While remote working creates business challenges, HP has identified key areas where our technology can help its digital transformation to support a mobile workforce and keep its business secure.

Information protection

Protecting sensitive business information, including financial data and intellectual property, is critical, where a nomadic worker’s computer can connect to the systems across untrusted internet connections. Public wireless networks are a common target for attackers looking to eavesdrop on or intercept messages.

Allowing remote device access requires a zero-trust approach to maintain security. HP’s suite of applications helps by protecting the endpoint device from the latest sophisticated cyber threats as they cross insecure networks.

Collaborative working

Technology helps business teams connect, allowing everyone to communicate and collaborate effectively, even when working apart across different countries. Workflow automation tools allow business information to flow quickly and efficiently to aid productivity.

HP devices for remote workers include a suite of features for collaborative working, including video conferencing technology that uses intelligent software to manage video and audio capture in challenging environments full of bright light and background noise.

Device management

Managing flexible working practices with network-connected devices in remote locations can be challenging for IT management. Keeping firmware, operating systems, and business applications up to date and security patched is essential to prevent remote workers’ laptops from becoming the weak link in the business infrastructure and an easy target for exploitation.

HP’s business products help remote management with features that support electronic asset management that allows tracking of laptops and remote updating by authorised administrators. Remote device management keeps laptops working smoothly on secure networks, delivering a better employee experience.

Best HP devices for digital nomads

We have a wide range of HP technology for digital nomads from our online store that we can deliver. Here are a few suggestions to help you narrow your search for the perfect remote work computer.

The mobile workstation

If you work remotely as a media creator or graphic designer, you’ll probably need a specialist ultra-high-performance graphical processing workstation.

This workstation also includes a handy AI-based noise reduction system to suppress extraneous background sounds when you need to video conference in busy public spaces or noisy locations.

The convertible laptop

If you undertake general knowledge-based tasks away from the desk, a convertible laptop from the ProBook family offers reliable and economic performance in a multi-form package.

The ultra-lightweight laptop

If you travel fast and light, you’ll want a compact, ultra-lightweight laptop that retains all the business performance and features you need for your work.

This laptop also includes built-in mobile broadband with the Intel 5G Solution 5000 and the latest WiFi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3 wireless technology.

Summary

Workers looking to embrace digital nomadism in the UK can offer their employers productivity and creativity benefits through improved motivation, engagement, and job satisfaction. The technology is available to allow this to happen, and all its needs are businesses willing to embrace remote working practices that offer their employees the flexibility and freedom to choose where, when, and how they work.

Security concerns are one of the main concerns restricting digital nomadism, allowing computers worldwide to connect to corporate systems over public connections to the internet. HP has addressed this issue by including advanced security protection across its range of business laptops to protect information wherever it is.