UK Broadband Aggregation Project

The Manchester conference prompts me to forward information
about another UK event--a webcast and discussion about UK Broadband Policy.
(note: the Public Policy Forum site is sponsored by British Telecom and you
must subscribe, though free, to gain access to documents).
-Lon

http://www.publicpolicyforum.org.uk/index.html

PUBLIC POLICY FORUM
During the month of March the Public Policy Forum is looking into the
benefits and issues around the Broadband Aggregation Project, the
regeneration of local economies and the potential of broadband in the
community.

Broadband Debate
29th March - 2nd April ? following the webcast and in partnership with
eGovernment Bulletin, the Public Policy Forum invites you to participate in
an online debate hosted by this website, entitled: Broadband horizons:
releasing the public service potential, on the role of broadband networks
in improving central and local government services to citizens and boosting
local and regional economies across the UK. The discussion will cover how
small businesses are using broadband; the new system of 'aggregation' of
public sector bodies to buy network capacity; and the next generation of
public services.

E-Government Bulletin's specialist writers are producing three articles to
stimulate online debate, one for each of the debate's sub-themes.

These documents are available for download to registered members.

Making connections: aggregation and access to networks
Alongside plans to upgrade networks for the education and health sectors,
the Broadband Aggregation Project is a major effort by central government to
promote broadband to local government and the wider community. The task of
achieving this falls to nine Regional Aggregation Bodies (RABS),
partnerships between the regional development agencies and the DTI, but how
well are they suited for this role? Opinions diverge on whether RABs have
too much power, or too little; whether they can deliver results within a
national framework while respecting local needs; and whether they can
connect with disadvantaged parts of the community. Our first article will
dissect these issues.


The business potential: regenerating local economies
What competitive advantages do local businesses stand to gain from broadband
access? From high-tech companies using streaming video to farming businesses
able to field online orders in real time with an 'always-on' connection, we
will examine case studies and see what the future may hold. But why are many
small companies not yet choosing to connect to broadband? And is a lack of
IT skills among managers and employees of local businesses preventing their
growth? Our second article investigates.


The community potential: e-government in the broadband age
Local communities, though voluntary organisations, libraries or other
community organisations, can make use of broadband to create local history
archives using multimedia; or connect poeple together to offer support and
advice. Public bodies can also now begin to develop new services making use
of higher bandwidth connections such as videoconferencing to rural areas
for the next best thing to face-to-face advice. But is the funding there
for these projects?
Are public bodies making proper use of broadband for e-governmet services?
And how can social inclusion be ensured, when some people do not have
access to broadband?

BINNEH S MINTEH
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY

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