Techniques for tele-operated robots have played for more than 30 years a major role in the context of space missions, as well as in monitoring and handling of hazardous materials. Recent progress in telecommunication and information processing technologies offers now an infrastructure for enabling the provision of services at remote locations with an enormous economic potential. The aim of this first IFAC-conference in telematics (= telecommunications+informatics) was to survey the state-of-the-art with emphasis on applications in automation and robotics. It was organised by the VDI/VDE Gesellschaft Mess-und Automatisierungstechnik (GMA) and the University of Applied Sciences FH Ravensburg-Weingarten.