Stephen Timms, Minister for Digital Britain has  launched the National Plan for Digital Participation in which the Government sets a target of a 60% reduction in the 12.5 million people who are not online in the UK.

Minister for Digital Britain, Stephen Timms, said:

“Being online is crucial for participation in the 21st Century society – the Internet unlocks a wealth of information and services, giving people more choice in life and access to a range of education, health and financial opportunities.

“That is why we have set an ambitious target to get 60% of those 12.5 million people who aren’t online, online in four years. Our National Plan is an exciting project which will provide the leadership and framework for existing and emerging digital participation projects to drive a more inclusive Digital Britain.

“Bringing people online for the first time and enabling people to interact more creatively will enrich our society and we will ensure no one is left behind.”

The National Plan (pdf)

The Digital Participation Consortium website is now live to coincide with the Government’s launch of the National Plan for Digital Participation.  Go to www.digitalparticipation.com for more information on the work of the Consortium.

The newly published Independent Review of ICT User Skills carried out by Baroness Estelle Morris and commissioned by DIUS has informed the Digital Britain Report. It identifies over 11 million adults in England (2008) as digitally illiterate.

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Following the interrim report published in January 2009 (http://www.culture.gov.uk/images/publications/digital_britain_interimreportjan09.pdf), the Government has today published the final report.  

The Report is one of the central policy commitments in the Government’s Building Britain’s Future plan and draft legislative programme.

Digital Britain measures include:

• A three-year National Plan to improve Digital Participation
• Universal Access to today’s broadband services by 2012
• Next Generation fund for investment in tomorrow’s broadband services
• Digital radio upgrade by the end of 2015
• mobile spectrum liberalisation, enhancing 3G coverage and accelerating Next Generation mobile services
• robust legal and regulatory framework to combat Digital Piracy
• support for public service content partnerships
• a revised digital remit for Channel 4
• consultation on funding options for national, regional and local news

One surprise in the report is the inclusion of a levy on fixed telephone lines in order to pay for broadband rollout, thought to amount to a 50p a month for every household in the country with a fixed phone line.

Final report and executive summary: http://www.culture.gov.uk/what_we_do/broadcasting/6216.aspx