The Digital Muddle-another missed opportunity for Digital Britain
Wednesday, 17 June 2009 09:59.
Well, I suppose that I am one of the lucky ones! I was able to download my 3MB file on the Government's much hyped "Digital Britain" in about 30 seconds. That meant I was able to take it home and read all 239 pages of it. Whilst you may all think that is madness for a Wednesday evening, I really think that the report is extremely important for all of our futures.
Unfortunately, I was pretty uninspired by the content. It was certainly a comprehensive document, but in my opinion misses the point completely. The very term "Digital Britain" describes the technology, but how the technology will deliver the results is hardly mentioned. Point 6 of the executive summary states that" the report aims to be a guide-path for how Britain can sustain its position as a leading digital economy and society". There is however no "guide-path" for the technology that I can see anywhere in the report.
As Robert Peston has quite rightly identified, the report seems to be obsessed with the media, (although I am also a little mystified as to why another member of the BBC's elite journalists is lumping "we technologists" together with the media). Peston is right in so far as there is plenty of attention on the role of Channel 4 and the BBC and preserving local and national media interests. However, in my opinion, the report seems fail to address the really fundamental issue.
This real issue, is that it is technology and people which really drives the internet and not content. It is only as people have recognised the power of the internet, that new applications and content have been devised for it. Without a doubt, new content has been a revelation, but has caused many issues and problems for users as well. A great example of this has been BBC's iplayer. This is fantastic content which could not have been rolled out before broadband was widely available. However,the report fails to acknowledge the problems that iplayer has caused or offer any solutions (other than suggesting the BBC offers out it's service to other media providers such as Channel 4)
I am sure there will be a number of people who disagree with me, but the fact that I am writing this blog is due to new technology. The power of Web 2.0 is that it allows new content to be created. This content in turn creates new challenges for technology and for traditional media and content providers.The report proposes new legislation to protect content providers Whilst it is right to protect IPR, proposed legislation can often be a blunt instrument with which to protect these providers. This does need to be thought through more carefully, particularly as the whole principle of the internet is supposed to allow free content across boundaries. Security and revenue protection for all organisations does need more research and the report does go some way to acknowledge the problems.
I do hope that this report does lead to a sensible debate about the type of technology which we will deploy and how this will be managed. Just saying that this will be paid for by a £6 pound a year levy on fixed lines is just not good enough and will only partly fund the technology. The gap will still have to be met by the Internet Service Providers(ISP's) or other government funding.
There are also many new technologies which can help to increase bandwidth for content distribution across the various networks. Optimising existing networks and applications is one method, with how we will manage the technology and pay for it being the other.
As a technology business leader who's company is at the forefront of developing optimisation solutions for networks data centres and security, I welcome the report as the start of a debate on the right technology. However, my initial view is that the report muddles content and media whilst failing to really address the fundamental technology and management issues to deliver a truly Digital Britain.
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