|
|
|
Posted: Mon, November 18, 2002
Office of e-Envoy speaks out on broadband, e-governmentICT Forum Wales 2002 is currently underway, providing Welsh business with seminars, workshops and training in numerous disciplines, including animation, mobile technology, information security and business applications for existing and emerging technologies.Organised by IT Network Wales and supported by a number of ICT businesses and agencies, the event was launched on 11 November by Beti Williams, programme manager for IT Network Wales. Nearly 200 businessmen attended the launch, drawn by the promise of a keynote speech to be delivered by Andrew Pinder, the UK e-Envoy working with e-Minister Patricia Hewitt to develop and promote a knowledge-based economy. However, it was Pinder's second-in-command Chris Parker who graced the occasion, after Pinder was called back to Whitehall at the eleventh hour. Parker's address touched on the increasing awareness among small and medium enterprises (SMEs) of the business benefits of ICT. He commented that despite encouraging statistics, there remained lots to do before the UK could reap maximum benefits of a knowledge-based economy. Parker left the question of whether the OeE has delivered on its promises thus far unanswered, deferring instead to the report which the e-Envoy and e-Minister are expected to deliver to Prime Minister Tony Blair at the end of November. Instead, he focused on the current topics at the top of the OeE agenda, broadband and e-government. Though the UK has been slow off the blocks in getting into the broadband marketplace, he said, it has since become a strategic national issue, and as a result of regulatory pressure placed on service providers, the market is moving in the right direction. Parker noted that though there remained the worry that the telecoms market might never deliver services to rural areas, the Broadband Wales initiative stands as an excellent example of strategic thinking in addressing this issue. On the topic of e-government, Parker admitted that there have been faults in the bid to deliver key government services online, and added that in terms of service delivery, government is better off operating as a `wholesaler' working in conjunction with third parties. There is already some work underway towards this aim, he said. It is a cultural, organisational and behavioural challenge to government in providing [the online services which] citizens want, he said. Links: Office of the e-Envoy http://www.e-envoy.gov.uk/ Broadband Wales http://www.broadbandwales.org.uk/ ICT Forum Wales http://www.ictforumwales.com/ |
|
|
Subscribe to ITWales Updates Click Here! |