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Digital champion to promote inclusion 'coming soon'

The Government will soon designate a 'digital champion' who will actively encourage more UK citizens to use digital technology, said Paul Murphy MP, secretary of state for Wales and minister for digital inclusion.

"A high-profile person will champion the use of digital inclusion," the minister told the GovNet Communications’ Mobile Government 09 conference at the QEII Conference Centre in Westminster, on Tuesday March 24.

"Around 17 million people in UK are digitally excluded," said the minister, adding that it is a huge challenge for the government as lack of access to computers, the internet and other forms of digital technology could further increase the divide. "The dangers of digital exclusion are self-evident."

There will be fewer opportunities when it comes to education, entertainment, shopping and communication avenues, he argued. Most importantly, youngsters who do not have access to digital technology will miss out on job opportunities as "90% of job applications are done online now.”

The minister highlighted various government initiatives and the need for local authorities to lead the way in bridging the divide. In Wales, for example, a local authority is using 'digital plazas' instead of the traditional classrooms with blackboards, the minister explained in response to a query on how local authorities can play a bigger role.

But computers will never fully replace books or libraries, he also noted: "Libraries have to become something more ... we can bring in youngsters to libraries using computers and later get them to read books." He added that teachers now have the responsibility of making their students literate in both computers and books.

The minister also pointed out numerous security challenges in using the internet for financial transactions. However, Owen Pengelly, head of the Central Sponsor for Information Assurance (CSIA), also speaking on the day, said the Cabinet Office has formulated a variety of approaches to tackle the information assurance challenge at government level.

He said: “My team at CSIA is responsible for setting policy for information assurance across the government, ensuring the coordination of pan-government needs, mandating the compliance, audit framework and policing the outcome.”

It is imperative to transform public services while ensuring data security, Pengelly asserted, noting there will be continued focus on personal data and data protection as losses continue to surface. “These trends illustrate that information is both your asset and toxic liability,” he said, adding that to avoid “high-profile data losses” – like the incidents in 2007 – the government has taken efforts to make the process accountable, transparent and introduce tough mandates.

The Data Handling Review (DHR) set up in 2007 has achieved impressive progress in this regard, he said, while “most laptops are encrypted”. Key challenges remain throughout the wider public sector in delivery and culture change – people have to learn to value information, he added.

Case studies of mobile technology transforming the public sector were presented by Daniel Morrison-Gardiner, senior account manager, BlackBerry. He demonstrated how Glasgow city council was able to help its frontline carers work more efficiently once they were equipped with BlackBerrys. Bedfordshire Police, meanwhile, was able to place more officers on the streets once they started using BlackBerrys to update information on the go and even make some arrests.

Jo Tearle, marketing manager, UK public sector, BlackBerry, said the company was going ahead with more cooperative efforts with the public sector. “We are starting to mobilise more health sector initiatives,” she said on the sidelines of the conference.