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 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/CGI/wa.exe?S1=gambia-l To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~