This panel session was chaired by Director of Digital Birmingham Chris Price (i.e. my boss!). Chris opened by asking the audience what messages they would like to communicate to the audience, adding that he would advocate using the public sector to aggregate demand for next generation broadband.

Encouragingly for anyone interested in digital inclusion, the session often crept towards discussion of social issues — skills, reaching the final third of people who don’t currently have access, and selling the importance of the internet (whether accessed through digital TV, mobile or even games consoles) — which really made it clear that technology is about enabling people to improve their lives and is a means to an end. This is in stark contrast to debates that centre on technology and ignore how it can be used to promote social inclusion, improve people’s lives and help the public sector deliver services better.

Issues raised included:

• developing long-term business models that view next generation access as a utility, which would allow for longer pay-back periods on up-front investment
• how to get around the ‘chicken and egg’ problem of developing business cases for infrastructure when the content to justify it can only be created when the infrastructure exists and likewise the demand for it
• the commitment to a 2Mb universal service obligation
• ‘fibre to the home’ (i.e. the provision of very high-speed connections to peoples homes and not just to the cabinets in their streets which are then connected by copper wires to houses)
• the importance of a mix of technologies in achieving universal coverage — satellite, wireless, mobile and fibre-optic cabling
• working together to ensure that individual cities don’t ‘reinvent the wheel’.

More » – Infrastructure for a Digital Britain session

Lord Carter has been presenting his Digital Britain report, hosted by Digital Birmingham in the ICC. The event is being broadcast live to the Fazeley studios, and you can watch it live on the Digital Birmingham website at http://www.digitalbirmingham.co.uk/news/watch-live-as-lord-carter-launches-digital-britatin-at-the-icc.

The event was kicked off by Cllr Paul Tilsley, Deputy Leader of Birmingham City Council, who announced a digital district for Birmingham.

Lord Carter delivered a comprehensive overview of the report, published yesterday, prompting speculation on what ‘local loop unbundling’ means. As well as infrastructure, Lord Carter spoke of the importance of reaching people who don’t have access to the internet either at home or at work.

More » – Transcript of live blog

Cllr Tilsley emphasises the importance of the creative digital sector in Birmingham. The new Creative, Performing and digital Academy is due to open in 2011 and Birmingham is a designated “Science City”

Cllr Tilsley has just announced that Birmingham will create a ‘Digital District’ that brings together the innovative, learning and creative sectors enabled through a next generation hi speed broadband infrastructure.

He says this will span several hundred acres from Digbeth, Birmingham Science Park and Eastside, and will provide an exciting environment for creative industries and young entrepreneurs.

Cllr Tilsley said the digital district will act as a showcase and business demonstrator to attract new businesses and inward investment and offer a strategy for economic recovery.

Cllr Tilsley enthusiastic of the prospects for Talk About Local and Help Me Investigate digital projects being funded by 4iP

The main event for the Digital Britain regional launch and debate is now closed   But, there are still spaces available at the official unconference event down at Fazeley Studios where Lord Carter will also be attending for a question and answer session.

I’m now in countdown mode as we approach the big day of our regional Digital Britain debate of the final report and frantically going through the check list of everything that I still need to do. The truth is, there are simply not enough hours in the day to match the to do list that keeps growing before me. While I reflect on this I wonder how the BIS team are getting on with the final report – perhaps they too are frantically pouring over a redraft of a redraft – that makes me feel a little better!

We now have a packed house for the ICC event full of cross sector representatives and I hear the official unconference event is filling up quickly too. It’s been great working with our partners across the city on this event and their support in bringing together such a great round-up of panellists for the afternoon debates and the official fringe has been invaluable.