IT needs to get real

Oct 12 2004 By Helen Logan, Evening Gazette

I can just picture it now - us all "locked away" in small rooms by ourselves hunched over a computer.

A new report has said the greater use of broadband, including online shopping and working from home, could significantly ease the traffic congestion that is costing the UK £20bn a year.

Expanding broadband could eliminate about three years growth in car mileage, the report from BT added.

BT said that Department for Transport data showed that of the distance travelled by cars and taxis (81pc of the total distance driven), almost three-fifths can be accounted for by a combination of commuting (25pc), business travel (15pc), shopping (12pc) and personal business (7pc).

A 10pc reduction in these areas would save 14.5 billion miles a year.

BT believes that this could be substituted by broadband communications activities such as flexible working and online shopping.

BT also believes that 10pc of business mileage could be eliminated by audi, video and web conferencing.

Don't get me wrong, I am not a Luddite - a lot of new technology is a great time-saver.

But it is no substitute for getting out and about into the real world whether it is to do your shopping or meeting people face-to-face and IT cannot and should not replace this completely.