How do we make the internet part of all our lives?

Jul 22 2010 by John Hill, The Journal

The new Government's "digital champion" Martha Lane Fox wants everyone on the internet in the next four years. John Hill looks at what might be holding around 10 million people back, and how and why North East organisations are striving to get citizens online.

INTERNET entrepreneur Martha Lane Fox’s plan for Britain’s internet future was summarised by one sentence in its foreword.

“We will all be better off when everyone is online”, she says, a bold statement that promises efficiency savings, improved skills, reduced social isolation and lower bills.

According to PricewaterhouseCoopers statistics quoted in the lastminute.com co-founder’s Manifesto for a Networked Nation, the economic benefits of getting everyone in the UK online amount to £22bn.

This includes average consumer savings of £560 per year, a boost to total lifetime earnings of £10bn, and Government savings of an estimated £900m per year through reductions in telephone and face-to-face contact.

Fox wants industry and the State to make pledges, develop strategies, fund community groups and offer rewards to coax the estimated 10m offline Brits onto the internet. She announced that “by the end of this Parliament, everyone of working age should be online, and no one should retire without web skills”.

The North East is one of the regions noted for its high concentration of offline adults. As the coalition government’s “digital champion”, Fox’s advocacy of the internet as a wonder-salve is to be expected. But how are North East organisations going about it, and is there a magic solution that can help the UK meet this tight suggested deadline?

“I don’t think there’s one thing that you can do that will suddenly get people to use the internet”, says Dan Cook of Codeworks. Cook works with businesses on broadband projects such as NorthernNet, promoting the possibilities of high-speed media transfers.

He says: “Maybe it’s not as easy to get online as perhaps it could be. Some people don’t have cable and others might not understand how wireless works.

“But whatever internet speeds we have here, we’re used to them, so I don’t think that’s much of an issue in this respect. But there’s still an element of education that needs to be done.

“I don’t think we’re at the point where everyone who could benefit from the internet is on there. It’s about highlighting what people would gain from being on the internet.”

Gateshead fair trade organisation Traidcraft is one of thousands of UK companies with a strong internet presence.

Mail order and e-commerce manager Paul Oliver says: “On the online shop we’re able to put additional information on there. If you look at a case of wine, we can show you the person who made it and tell you how buying the product is aiding their work.

“We do a mail-order catalogue twice a year but we’re able to introduce guest products online such as flapjacks with fairtrade sugar in them. It allows us to be more flexible.

“More and more people are spending longer on the internet and online shops are trying to make the most of it. There are also people that like to speak to someone on the phone and have done so for 30 years.

“We have customers that read the catalogue with a coffee and then go online, but there are probably lots of people who have never been online and see it as quite alien. They need to be reassured of the steps that are being taken to safeguard security. It’s important to get people over the first step.”