UK committed to bridging the digital divide

A year ago this week the Government launched its UK online report that set the goal of everyone in the UK who wants it, being able to have access to the Internet by 2005.

Since that time the demise of some high profile dot.coms, together with the international slow down in the electronics and telecommunications sector, have caused some to question our aim of extending access and bridging the digital divide.

So now is an appropriate time not just to review progress but also to look afresh at the insights underlying our initiative. Few would question seriously that in the global economy access to information is unevenly distributed.

Certain major international cities have more telephone lines than the whole continent of Africa. Here, the latest figures indicate that the Internet now reaches one in three households. Yet delve behind these figures and it emerges that those on lower incomes and older people are far less likely to use the Internet. Only 7% of citizens in the poorest income group, for example, have home access, compared to 71% in the highest group.

For these reasons, our vision for a socially just and opportunity rich society means we have and will continue to act to bridge the digital divide. An even distribution of the social and economic opportunities provided by advancing technologies, unless addressed, would restrict opportunity and entrench existing inequalities.

That is why we are investing more that £200 million in a network of 6000 UK online centres in communities across the country where people can surf the Internet and get advice and training whilst doing it. We are connecting all public libraries as well - the biggest single investment in the UK libraries network since it was created in the middle of the 19th Century.

It is also why we are providing low-income families with low cost, recycled PCs and piloting initiatives to wire up all of the homes in some of the poorer communities in the country.

Yet economic as well as social reasons compel us to act. Of course the Internet has not re-written every law of economics. Nor has what many called the "new economy" proved to be as distinctive from the more familiar economy, as some suggested initially. Yet amidst all of the recent economic headlines, the information and communication technologies are systematically transforming products, services and every sector of the economy.

Indeed the great expansion of international capital flows that we have witnessed in the 80's and 90's - together with the technological advances that accompanied them - are set to continue reshaping every part of the global market place.

So the challenge for every government is how best to assist our communities and equip our companies in the face of these challenges. Those governments that can maximise the use and distribution of information and draw on the capabilities of all its citizens can add real competitive advantage.

In these circumstances, appropriate government action will not only strengthen social cohesion but also strengthen economic competitiveness.

That is why we are investing more than £1 billion in E-learning, and why we are putting ICT at the heart of the curriculum and ensuring that every school is connected to the Internet by the end of 2002. We already have 98% of secondary schools and 88% of primary schools connected to the Internet and are increasing the number of computers in schools.

We are also targeting late adopters, particularly those who are less well off and the not so young who may not have been exposed to the new technology yet. We aim to help them get their first experience of the Internet, all the way through to getting a qualification in IT or another course.

Already every adult in the UK is able to claim an 80% discount on computer literacy courses. And we are providing free UK online computer training for those out of work, helping them acquire the skills they need for the jobs of the future.

In the modern economy, governments do have a vital role - balancing the countless private choices of individuals and companies with public choices that we as a society make. That is why to extend opportunities in today's world makes both social and economic sense. To bridge the digital divide, is not a bridge too far - it's a bridge to a fairer and more prosperous Britain.