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’.

The patchy live blog for the event was:

Chris Price, of Digital Birmingham, introduces the session and invites the audience to think about the message that we collectively want to take to policy-makers.

Chris advocates the aggregation of demand in order to provide the next generation of digital infrastructure.

The rest of the panel members — Malcolm Corbett, Mike Biddle, Peter Cromar, Ian Wiebkin, Dorothy Smith and Steve Somerfield are now making their introductions.

Two things missing from report: no return path mandated; and no clear statement to say that they would support this type of service delivery.

Dorothy Smith — from BT

Malcolm Corbett — infrastructure is absolutely essential in the West Midlands for all applications, including business and community.

Steve Somerfield, Service Birmingham — delivering education, telecare, local government services require high bandwidth. Exciting area for Service Birmingham and Capita as a whole is the transformation of public sector services as a result of developing technology. Exciting times ahead, time to pull all of this together into one coherent whole.

Peter Cromar — this is not a technology issue but a socio-economic issue. In the City Region, we are looking at how we can aggregate demand and make business cases; encourage public investment and ensure that whatever buildings we invest in (e.g. Building Schools for the Future) are fibre enabled. Addressing the digital divide, working closely with AWM because they are looking to inputting into planning systems to ensure that new developments are fibre-enabled. The role of the private sector — SMEs and others — are important because awareness of ICT in the region is ‘not great’. ICT awareness seminars towards the end of the year.

Mike Biddle — Digital Britain offers a great opportunity to rally round and make progress. 2 issues: 2Mb issue and next generation issue. Don’t conflate two — they are two separate issues and it’s good that we are looking to ‘leapfrog’ and get as many people as possible on extremely high bandwidths. Chicken and egg situation that needs working out: how do we demonstrate that we need high bandwidth access when we need to have it in order to demonstrate it? It nevertheless requires some working out of what the content and applications would be. A mix of technologies — wireless, satellite, fibre — are essential.

Not just about bandwidth, but about quality of service: people don’t care about contention; they want a good service.

Ian Wiebkin: 2Mb access is great — still a large number of people don’t have access at all — but what about those who wouldn’t even have a connection if they could have it for free?

Self-excluded group tend to be older and don’t have a need to access technology — although once they use it, they love it.

Financially excluded find technologytoo expensive, or claim they don’t have ability to use technology.

These two groups are the hardest to reach; but a lot of them already have Sky, Virgin, phones, or games controllers that would allow them to connect to the internet. They can use familiar technology — e.g. remote control — that is unintimidating.It’s very difficult for us to put ourselves into the shoes of these people.

‘Looking Local’, the digital TV service, has 1.5 million users per month and was set up to reach people whom the internet could not always reach. They are searching for jobs, looking for social housing, and booking GP appointments. 75% of service users don’t have PCs.

The return path is essential.

Two things report was lacking: commitment to return path, and commitment to this type of technology (i.e. digiTV)

Q: Wondering about gatekeepers to current and future networks, e.g. BT Vision. Worried about use of BBC iPlayer, resulting in bottle-necking. Digital Britain infrastructure is all well and good, but what about up front policy management for people using the service?

A (Dorothy Smith): It’s up to ISPs to pay for bandwidth.

Q (Stephen Dodson, DC10 plus): The fundamental problem is that we’re talking about small, low bandwidth, issues. The rest of the conversation is really boring — conversation about a weak infrastructure. TSB looked towards a gig — or whatever — in 10 years time. The DB report looked at small steps, and BT and others look to accelerate that. Without infrastructure, we are still running BMWs on mud. It’s everybody’s responsibility to lobby for appropriate infrastructure so that we can take Britain to the next level. We, the public sector, want to deliver damn good services cheaply. Otherwise UK Plc will go down the pan!

Q (Michael Ryan): Pleased that DB is at white paper stage. Has nightmares about all the skills in place, but held back by bad infrastructure. As well as benefiting business, the creative and cultural sector brings in other sectors too because they know the infrastructure is there. Must be inclusive to ensure that everyone has access to knowledge.

A: We need business models to reflect how we use the internet, i.e. we should pay for the internet to reflect how we use it.

Malcolm Corbett: We need fibre to the home, not to the cabinet. Understandable that BT is rolling out fibre to the cabinet; but we need to future-proof infrastructure so that we don’t have to dig up the roads again in a couple of years. Must be treated as a utility, so it can be paid off over a longer period; and ensure community engagement in process.

Used the example of Alstom in Cumbria, with a housing density of 24 per square km; put in fibre to homes for 2.5k instead of 20k.

Dorothy Smith’s response: we don’t control the regulatory environment, and perhaps Ofcom’s remit should be revised. At the moment it’s all about open markets, liberalisation — a significant constraint on private sector and presents a challenge to some of Lord Carter’s recommendations.

Q (Adam Silvester, freelancer): Re. Alstom and local solutions. There have to be national answers as well as local solutions, because we are looking at very high numbers if we are getting 99% of people online and the nature of the workforce is changing.

Dr. Parker, Director of Addit: Aspect of competition not mentioned so far: between regions. Now it’s more economically viable than ever to regenerate city centres. Some cities are looking to upgrade quicker than Lord Carter advocates — which will result in a patchwork quilt of different levels of coverage.

A: That’s a healthy thing, with trailblazers showing the ways to others.

Q: What variables might turn digital inclusion into social inclusion beyond vague concept of empowerment?

A: Transforming public services, which builds demand and business case for infrastructure.

General agreement that the way to sell technology to people is about looking at application of it, not talking about technology.

Chris Price mentions Aston Pride project.

CP: Most people who have access to technology would fight to keep it, which illustrates what we’re doing to people who are denied access to it.

Dorothy Smith: Pleased that BT is serving on digital inclusion taskforce, working with digital inclusion champion.

Chris Price: So, what messages do we want to pass on to Lord Carter?

The ‘patchwork quilt’ means that we run the risk of reinventing the wheel, so it’s important to set something up to co-ordinate.

Dorothy Smith: It’s not as though nothing is happening in the market. Watch this space, announcements coming soon. Things are moving faster than implied by proposals in report, which are to reach margins of country that won’t be reached by commercial roll out.

IDTV: Rollout is a one-in-a-lifetime opportunity: backchannel essential.

Malcolm Corbett: Remove lack of bandwidth as a barrier to innovation.

Steven Somerfield: Procurement, and how smaller companies can play a part in overall service delivery model.

Peter Cromar: Recognising this as an economic issue, social issue, and not a technology issue. More we can work together in the region the better.

Chris Price thanks audience. Goodbye.

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