UK Government Green ICT Report

The UK Government has released a "Greening Government ICT 2014 Annual Report". However, the report seems to be more about an abstract "Green ICT Maturity Assessment Model", than real reductions in energy use.


The report notes a lack of Green ICT skills and the use of the Skills Framework for the Information Age (SFIA). The ICT Sustainability course I run for ANU (this year's students are up to week 3) was commissioned for the Australian Computer Society who use SFIA and so is designed to align with SFIA (Version 4, Level 5).

Guide to Democracy in the UK

Dan Jellinek's book "People Power: A user's guide to democracy" (Bantam Press, 2013) is a useful overview, but concentrates on the UK. As an Australian I found the differences in levels of government and voting systems of limited interest. However, the book got interesting just before the end, when Dan discussed the potential of the Internet to be sued for governance. I would like to see a follow-up book which concentrated on this aspect, with examples from around the world. Before reading this book I didn't know Dan had an interest in government, as I only knew him through his excellent E-Access Bulletin on web accessibility.

Greening UK Government ICT Report

The UK Government have released their second annual "Greening Government: ICT Annual Report" (UK Cabinet Office, July 2013). This 19 page report is available in PDF and Microsoft Word. There is also an ODT version offered, but I was unable to open the document. It is curious that the report is not simply offered as a web page. The document is better designed than last year. Appended are the highlights. Curiously I could find no mention of education or training of staff in green ICT in the report.

4 Key highlights

Implementing the strategy

Over the past year we have made significant progress in implementing the Greening Government ICT strategy. Not only have the roadmap and maturity model been adopted across government departments, but these departments now have plans in place to reach level 3 of the model, the government target is to meet level 3 by 2015. The average green IT maturity score for departments is now 2.9 compared to 2.4 last year.

The Green ICT Delivery Unit (GDU)

A forum of government and wider public sector green IT sustainability leads. It’s primary function is to lead the development of the Greening Government ICT Strategy and drive forward its implementation.

Progress has been made in measuring our technology related energy usage and in signing up to the EU Code of Conduct. The Green ICT Delivery Unit (GDU) continues to drive efficiencies and is looking to modernise ways of working using technology to reduce travel, improve collaboration and find better ways to reuse and recycle IT equipment.

Data centres

With the increase in the use of online services for government transactions, data centres are a key focus of the GDU and government’s green IT strategy. Four government departments have endorsed the EU’s Code of Conduct for Data Centres¹ over the past year and a number of other organisations are progressing towards this goal. In addition a number of data centres used by suppliers to government are now registered as participants under the Code.

Defra is currently working to design guidance for buyers on effective practice for procuring energy efficient data centre services and ensuring sustainability has a high profile in contract management for the increasing number of cloud hosting services being used. The guidance has been discussed with Intellect, the UK industry body

representing both larger industry players and hundreds of smaller companies, and this is being coordinated with input from other government stakeholders. There have also been discussions with the European Commission via its EU wide Green Public Procurement process².

Recycling and reducing waste

IT Recycling

The GPS agreement was used to dispose of 66,448 items, of which 33,514 were resold, generating £405,881.68.  A further 8738 items were able to be donated, further reducing the items sent for disposal.

Recycling of IT is key to achieving efficiencies and being greener. The Government Procurement Service (GPS) offers organisations a method for recycling IT assets.  The service agreement has been used by at least 33 bodies including schools, councils, agencies and government departments.

Currently work is underway in the GPS to refresh the service agreement to increase the financial benefits. This will focus on money raised from the recovery and sale of components plus that of rare and valuable raw materials, and the sustainability benefits, for example, reducing waste sent to landfill or for incineration.  

Public service delivery

In the last year the Government Digital Service published the Government Digital Strategy. This was followed by the publication of individual digital strategies by government departments. These strategies are fundamental to shifting government’s approach to interacting with citizens and businesses. The shift will need to be supported by the right technologies and systems to make the most efficient use of hardware and power. Digital by default also reduces the environmental impact of physical and paper based processes by using technology to create more cost effective, efficient and user-centred online services.

The move to digital by default is crucial as shown by the shift to online in HMRC which has seen more than 80 per cent of HMRC’s tax returns submitted via the internet. These online submissions have resulted in a big paper saving alongside cutting the carbon emissions by 760 tonnes. The use of different channels like SMS for alerts, have also played their part in reducing paper. Streamlining processes has also improved sustainability and efficiency, HMRC now send one Tax Credits award notice to joint households, for example, whereas previously each person in a household would have received a separate letter.³

Exploiting collaborative tools

Departments continue to maintain effective working whilst reducing business travel by conducting their business via video, web and teleconferencing. The Home Office extended to all staff members its departmental contract for teleconferencing facilities (this was previously only available to a small number of staff). MOD increased its use of videoconferencing and teleconferencing as part of its travel budget cuts and efficiencies. Peer-to-peer instant messaging is now available and a peer-to-peer webcam trial is underway. These tools and other methods of remote working were used to help reduce travel by government employees during the Olympic games.

The Public Services Network (PSN) continues to drive sustainable savings and efficiencies by removing duplicate network connections, providing simpler procurement and greater competition, and allowing public sector employees to work in more flexible, collaborative ways.  PSN creates a common network of networks and a more open and competitive telecommunications marketplace for the UK public sector.  It provides assured networks, based on industry standards, over which government can safely share services, including many G-Cloud services, to collaborate in new ways, substantially reducing the cost of communication services across UK Government and enabling new, joined-up and shared public services.

Partnership

This year we have worked closely with colleagues in academia and are grateful to the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC)⁴ for sharing use of its tools to record the use of energy from operating ICT. We have also discussed our plans and sought and received feedback from Industry through Intellect events. Colleagues in local government and the National Health Service (NHS) sit on the GDU and share knowledge about green IT which helps others learn effective practices.

1 http://iet.jrc.ec.europa.eu/energyefficiency/ict-codes-conduct/data-centres-energy-efficiency

2 The European equivalent of the UK’s Government Buying Standards, which identify sustainability requirements for public procuring authorities.

3 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/greening-government-commitments

4 http://www.jisc.ac.uk/

From: Greening Government: ICT Annual Report, UK Cabinet Office, July 2013

British Strategic Failings in Iraq

Greetings from the Australian National University in Canberra, where Brigadier Richard Iron, British Army (ret.) is speaking on "The Iraq war: A case-study in British strategic failure". Brigadier Iron started with the concerns the UK military had even before the start of the Iraq war, with different objectives of the UK and USA. One difference was the intended end state, with the USA setting out to destroy the Iraq government, whereas the UK wanted to put in place a new government. Brigadier Iron put up a WW2 photo of the USA, UK and USSR political leaders at the Yalta Conference,  with their military advisers behind them. He contrasted this with Iraq policy, which was decided at meetings with no military input. In Iraq, the original plan was to invade via Turkey into northern Iraq, but Turkey did not agree to this. Brigadier Iron argued that the planning should have considered what the British interest was in Northern or Southern Iraq and should have had their own diplomatic effort in Turkey.

In the actual operation, Brigadier Iron argued that the British failed to build up the Iraqi police and ensure the allegiance of the militia they supported was to the Iraqi state, not their own group.

The main message from Brigadier Iron seemed to be that a country going into a coalition war needs to be clear what its own interests are and that the political and military strategies need to be coordinated.He was relatively upbeat about the current security situation in Iraq.

Lecture Topic:
How do the British, and especially the British Army view the Iraq war? In this lecture, Richard Iron, British Army (ret.) argues the invasion of Iraq in 2003 represents a case of strategic failure.

Drawing on his own experience planning, participating in and later analysing the conflict for the British army, Iron examines the British role in Iraq and what it has meant for the United Kingdom. He draws on his personal experience, such as the retaking of Basra in 2008 to provide insight into how the war was fought.

Finally he will touch on Iraq today, and examine the political, military and economic changes and the US 'legacy' ten years after the conflict.

About the speaker:Brigadier Richard Iron, British Army (ret.)
Richard Iron commanded 1st Battalion of the King’s Own Royal Border Regiment, serving in Bosnia and Macedonia. During two years as an instructor at the UK’s joint staff college he was responsible for development of campaigning concepts. He was subsequently appointed Assistant Director Land Warfare (Doctrine) responsible for the development of British Army doctrine, including its capstone Army Doctrine Publication Land Operations. In this latter post he also deployed to the Coalition Land Component HQ in Kuwait in 2002-03, where he led a UK/US planning team. He was also responsible for the British Army’s subsequent analysis of the Iraq War. He was a Visiting Fellow of the Changing Character of War programme in 2009/10 and occasionally returns to Oxford, most recently to assist with developing a new funding strategy in November 2011.

The Iraq war: A case-study in British strategic failure

Brigadier Richard Iron, British Army (ret.) will speak on "The Iraq war: A case-study in British strategic failure" at the Australian National University in Canberra, 5:30 PM 3 July 2013.

Lecture Topic:
How do the British, and especially the British Army view the Iraq war? In this lecture, Richard Iron, British Army (ret.) argues the invasion of Iraq in 2003 represents a case of strategic failure.

Drawing on his own experience planning, participating in and later analysing the conflict for the British army, Iron examines the British role in Iraq and what it has meant for the United Kingdom. He draws on his personal experience, such as the retaking of Basra in 2008 to provide insight into how the war was fought.

Finally he will touch on Iraq today, and examine the political, military and economic changes and the US 'legacy' ten years after the conflict.

About the speaker:Brigadier Richard Iron, British Army (ret.)
Richard Iron commanded 1st Battalion of the King’s Own Royal Border Regiment, serving in Bosnia and Macedonia. During two years as an instructor at the UK’s joint staff college he was responsible for development of campaigning concepts. He was subsequently appointed Assistant Director Land Warfare (Doctrine) responsible for the development of British Army doctrine, including its capstone Army Doctrine Publication Land Operations. In this latter post he also deployed to the Coalition Land Component HQ in Kuwait in 2002-03, where he led a UK/US planning team. He was also responsible for the British Army’s subsequent analysis of the Iraq War. He was a Visiting Fellow of the Changing Character of War programme in 2009/10 and occasionally returns to Oxford, most recently to assist with developing a new funding strategy in November 2011.

UK Government Service Design Manual

The UK Government Service Design Manual has been issued by the UK Cabinet Office.  This sets out four phases for services: Discovery, Alpha, Beta, and Live. While being very clear (and making use of graphics), the manual is somewhat cryptic and also lacking in important metadata. In particular the manual does not explain who or what type of services it is provided for, when it was released, which version it is or who is responsible for it.

Planning UK Vocation Skills Requirements

The City & Guilds Centre for Skills Development (CSD) issued the 104 page report "Britain's Got Talent: Unlocking the demand for skills". The UK Government has introduced a loan model for vocational students, as is being done in Australia. While better than direct government subsidies, the authors of this report argue that this will discourage students from enrolling in courses which have out of pocket expenses, even if these have better job prospects. The authors propose payment by results, with the institutions receiving payments proportional to the higher salary the graduate obtains after graduation. This sounds cumbersome to implement, but the tax office will have the past and future salary details of the students who take out loans, and so would be able to calculate a bonus for institutions where the student gets a salary increase.

Executive summary

...

Many adult skills courses offer excellent wage returns, and the average return for vocational qualifications the Government funds is 8%. However, too much of the UK’s provision fails to match the underlying demand. This is because the main government lever – subsidy of training – tends to aggravate misplaced incentives for learners and employers.

Would-be learners lack information about the skills that are most likely to secure the best employment outcomes, and so err towards courses they find interesting, rather than skills that will maximise their productivity. When government subsidises individuals, by offering them a range of free or reduced-cost courses to take, it reinforces the tendency to pick a course based upon its ‘consumption’ value, instead of a hard-headed appraisal of the benefits. While the extent to which a learner enjoys a course is an entirely legitimate aspect for teachers and learners to consider, it should not be the primary consideration of public subsidy, which should aim to maximise the productivity and employability of learners. Where learners are not putting their own money on the line – or less of it – they need appraise the course less as an investment and more as something to consume. Subsidy handed to individuals therefore weakens the link between government investment and employers’ demand for skills. ...

Improving the system’s performance depends upon strengthening accountability in order to reduce the number of:

• Types of qualification taken that do not lead to good employment or earnings outcomes
  
• Subjects taken within those qualifications that employers do not value
  
• Providers that teach to a mediocre or poor standard.

The Government therefore needs a mechanism to encourage learners to take the types of qualification and those subjects that add value, and which puts pressure on poor and mediocre quality providers to improve. Marginal improvements on each dimension could have a substantial impact on labour market outcomes, and hence the productivity of government skills spending....

The Government is introducing income-contingent loans, along the lines of the student loans model in higher education.

This reform will ensure that learners over 25 and those who already have qualifications must co-invest alongside the state. This should encourage learners to view training as an investment and appraise the costs and benefits of each course. But it will swap poor state investment under a more subsidised regime for under-investment by individuals under the new regime, as people are less likely to take a course if they have to invest themselves. ...

The state’s investment in human capital would be far more efficient if an actor in the system was liable for the labour market value of the skills delivered. Providers are the obvious candidate. They are 13 embedded in local economies, so are in a position to understand, forecast and supply the skills local employers need, and steer candidates towards more profitable courses. Exposing providers to the demands of the labour market would also make them more accountable for how well they impart skills employers value: the quality of their teaching as defined by the labour market.

A payment by results model would achieve this. Providers could be paid according to learners’ pay uplift and employment rates upon finishing courses. This would incentivise providers to act upon the ‘prices’ set by the demand for skills – higher pay and employment rates arise for those skills that are in relatively short supply. As they would be paid a premium for a course that led to good employment outcomes, providers could have strong incentives to invest in skills that local employers demand, and which allow workers to build the transferable skills that allow them to navigate the market.

Under such a system, providers would offer courses in, and steer individuals towards, skills that are most likely to lead to labour market success. Providers would have an incentive to seek out information from employers about what mix of skills they need and supply suitably trained workers. ...

From: Britain's Got Talent: Unlocking the demand for skills, John Springford and Ian Mulheirn, City & Guilds Centre for Skills Development (CSD), 2012

UK Greening Government Report

The UK Government have released "Greening Government: ICT Annual Report" (UK Cabinet Office, 2 July 2012). This 19 page report is available in PDF, Word, and ODT formats, but curiously not as an ordinary web page (which would be more useful). Unfortunately the document has not been well designed and more than half of the space is taken up with an excessively large photograph of John Taylor, CIO Ministry of Defence.

The document reports on progress of implementation of the October 2011 strategy detailed in:

1. Greening Government: ICT Strategy
2. Green ICT Maturity Model
3. Green ICT Roadmap,
4. Green ICT Workbook
5. Green ICT Case-Studies

All UK department reported they have action the strategy. Of these, 12 Departments completed the maturity assessment, including the Department for Work and Pensions, HM Revenue and Customs and the Ministry of Defence. The average Green Maturity was assessed at 2.4 (below the target of 3).

Here are some excerpts from the report:

Contents

Foreword 3

1 Introduction 4

2 Key Highlights 4

3 Key Challenges 6

4 Progress on Green ICT Commitments 8

5 Maturity Model Assessment 10

6 Roadmap Assessment 11

7 Case Studies 14

8 Forward Look 16 ...

Maturity Assessment

The Green ICT Maturity Assessment gives a measure of how well Government departments are adopting Green ICT standards and principles into their processes and practices. Twelve (12) Government Departments completed the maturity assessment, including three of the largest departments (The Department for Work and Pensions, Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs and The Ministry of Defence) which between them account for the largest proportion of ICT energy usage across Government. They achieved a level of Green ICT Maturity ²of 2.6 compared with the average across all departments of 2.4. Overall four (4) departments are already at or above the target for an average level of maturity of 3.

Roadmap Assessment

Twelve(12) Government Departments completed the Green ICT Roadmap. Six (6) departments reported achievement of five (5) or more of the fourteen Key Target Outcomes (KTOs) on the Roadmap, with eight (8) departments already reporting work in progress towards achieving the target of ten (10) or more by 2015. An estimated 232,000 tCO₂³ emissions has been saved with an estimated cost saving across government of £1.262m over twelve (12) months to end March 2012 from adopting and embedding Greener ICT practices and principles.

Green ICT Metrics

Three (3) Green ICT Metrics and Milestones were incorporated into the Government ICT Strategy Implementation Plan (SIP) These metrics gave a measure of the Government Data Centre Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) level (indicating the proportion of the overall energy taken by a data centre that is required to cool it), energy consumption cost and volume of tCO₂ of its data centres.

Across ten (10) Government Departments submitting returns, the average PUE for data centres was estimated at 1.87. Government expects to move to a PUE of 1.5 or better as data centres are rationalised. Those departments with high PUE values, greater than 1.5 are already working to put in place key data centre energy saving programmes to reduce power for cooling and thereby the PUE. The total energy consumed by the data centres used by these departments is estimated to emit some 101,000 tCO₂ at a cost to the Government of £17.5m.

Six (6) Government Departments (including the three largest) reported 100% adoption, in their existing contracts for ICT services, of Government Buying Standards (GBS) for sustainable purchase of ICT assets, where these exist, for the type of ICT asset being purchased.

Data Centres

The Government is committed to rationalising the number of data centres across its estate. In the short term the Government ICT Strategy Hosting Consolidation work stream is identifying and taking tactical opportunities for consolidating and sharing existing data centre and hosting services, predominantly within departments at this stage, thereby realising energy, cost and carbon emission savings. In parallel it is developing data centre standards as part of a new government Hosting procurement framework which is due to be in place by end Dec 2012.

In support of this work, departments are asked to endorse the EU Code of Conduct for Energy Efficient Data Centres and adopt its best practices to reduce PUE, energy consumption and costs for all their data centres.

Partnerships

The GDU has members of academia and representatives of the wider public sector as part of its membership. Also recognising the need for greater industry alignment, innovation and engagement, the GDU is engaged with suppliers and the Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) community through the Intellect Green Government Group. ⁴ The GDU will seek to build on these partnerships and alliances over the coming years. Finally, in order to ensure coherence across Government, the GDU has forged strong links with a number of other Government ICT Strategy work streams, namely those for End User Devices, Procurement, Cloud, Hosting and Capability. ...

Digital Democracy Down-under

Chris Quigley, co-founder of Delib UK discussed Gov 2.0 over lunch today at Old Parliament house in Canberra. He outlined campaigns run for the former and current UK governments. One interesting point was that contrary to conventional wisdom, there was less legal liability where the public's posting to a forum were not moderated before being posted. Provided any offensive postings are removed promptly when there is a complaint, this works better than having a moderator who attempts to check postings in advance.

Chris described the "Citizen Space" software his company developed with the UK Government for online government consultations. He described this as "open source" but I could not find where to download a copy of the software.

Chris commented how US government staff adapted to online consultations more readily than UK civil servants. At question time I asked about the need for training for such staff. He said there was a need, so I am looking to include this in my course "COMP7420" which starts at ANU 14 February. At present the course is called "Electronic Document and Records Management" which has not proved a crowd pleaser. So I might change it to "Consultation techniques and technology for e-government". This course would then support the Austrlaian National University's "Australian Centre for Dialogue Project" and the Australia Forum.

Chris's experience crosses viral marketing, social media and e-democracy. He has an ongoing interest in how people, business and government interact, and how the internet (especially social media) are changing relationships.

He has been working in the Open Government space for almost ten years across both the UK and the US. He was involved in some of the earliest crowd-sourcing projects in the US, under the former President George Bush.

Chris's company, Delib, was asked by the current US government to build an ideas-sharing website to "crowdsource thoughts" about how to design a portal that would monitor the US's $787bn (£510bn) stimulus plan. The result was recovery.gov.

Chris was also involved in the design of the UK government's 'Your Freedom' website, designed to allow UK citizens to discuss laws they wanted to see changed or removed. The site received 11,546 ideas, 72,836 comments and 190,175 ratings.

Alongside his Open Government work, Chris is also a co-founder of The Viral Ad Network, a specialist automated syndication platform for branded content and of Rubber Republic, a specialist viral ad agency (which also has a strong interest in socks).

Learn more about Chris in The Guardian's article, "The man opening up government".

From: Craig Thomler

Canberra Gov 2.0 Drinks with Chris Quigley

Chris Quigley, co-founder of Delib UK will be discussing Gov 2.0 over drinks at the Wig and Pen, Alinga Street, Canberra, from 5.30pm on Monday, 7 February 2011.

Chris's experience crosses viral marketing, social media and e-democracy. He has an ongoing interest in how people, business and government interact, and how the internet (especially social media) are changing relationships.

He has been working in the Open Government space for almost ten years across both the UK and the US. He was involved in some of the earliest crowd-sourcing projects in the US, under the former President George Bush.

Chris's company, Delib, was asked by the current US government to build an ideas-sharing website to "crowdsource thoughts" about how to design a portal that would monitor the US's $787bn (£510bn) stimulus plan. The result was recovery.gov.

Chris was also involved in the design of the UK government's 'Your Freedom' website, designed to allow UK citizens to discuss laws they wanted to see changed or removed. The site received 11,546 ideas, 72,836 comments and 190,175 ratings.

Alongside his Open Government work, Chris is also a co-founder of The Viral Ad Network, a specialist automated syndication platform for branded content and of Rubber Republic, a specialist viral ad agency (which also has a strong interest in socks).

Learn more about Chris in The Guardian's article, "The man opening up government".

From: Craig Thomler

Students as Scholar not Customers

Greetings from the Australian National University in Canberra, where Professor Paul Ramsden, Chief Executive of the UK Higher Education Academy, is discussing changes to the way universities plan courses and reward teaching staff. Professor Ramsden's paper "The Future of Higher Education - Teaching and the Student Experience" is available online, along with appendices and bibliography. He will give another talk tomorrow.

Much of what Professor Ramsden discusses is applicable to Australia. Professor Ramsden commented that the Australian response to the Bradley Report was more radical than its UK equivalent. He asserted that students need to feel part of a community of scholars, rather than just customers of service delivery. He went on to show a graph from the Bradley Review which showed that Australian students were much less satisfied with what they get from education than UK students. This is worrying particularly where Australian universities are relying on international students who can choose to go to another country.

Professor Ramsden asserted that a revolution in education was needed. One area for improvement was better description of course and more relevant assessment. Traditional descriptions of degrees are of little value, as are transcripts. He propose a higher education achievement report. None of this seems new or radical to me after having to prepare a golbally accredited professional course for the ACS which is described in terms of a standard set of skills for the profession.

Professor Ramsden pointed out that for many years teaching was seen as important but little had been done about it. However, apart from saying this was worrying, he did not appear to have any solutions to propose.

Professor Ramsden described overspecialisation in curriculum as a "disease". He called for more cross disciplinary work. He also argued for an international perspective. This seems like a solved problem to me, as I have international students in my Green ICT course. Some of these students are in Australia, others online around the world.

Professor Ramsden said that UK students have the expectation unviersity will be like school, with a spoon-fed program with lots of staff contact, whereas they should expect to learn to read and research themselves. He commented that he was worried by Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA), which may reduce the scope for student input into courses.

More future of higher education in the UK and Australia

Professor Paul Ramsden, Chief Executive of the UK Higher Education Academy, will discuss changes to the way universities plan courses and reward teaching staff at the Australian National University, 2.30pm, Wednesday, 2 December 2009 in Lecture Theatre 1, HW Arndt Building (RSVP: Deborah Veness). This is in addition to the previously scheduled talk, 3 December 2009.

Future of higher education in the UK and Australia

Professor Paul Ramsden, Chief Executive of the UK Higher Education Academy, will discuss changes to the way universities plan courses and reward teaching staff at the Australian National University, 3 December 2009.

Professor Ramsden's paper "The Future of Higher Education - Teaching and the Student Experience" is available online, along with appendices and bibliography.

Much of what Professor Ramsden discusses is applicable to Australia. He advocates reforming curriculum and assessment with new models of curriculum, interdisciplinary study, flexible transfer between part-time and full-time modes, and global perspectives. I have been doing some of this in the Green ICT course run for ACS and ANU. This is available for ICT and other professionals, with full and part time students from around the world in the same class.

ANU Teaching Forum

Seminar

The Future of Higher Education - Teaching and the Student Experience

Professor Paul Ramsden
Chief Executive, The Higher Education Academy, UK

Thursday 3 December, 1-2pm
The Tank, Haydon Allen Lecture Theatre, Building 23, ANU, Canberra

A light lunch will be served preceding the lecture from 12pm, Seminar from 1pm.

Please email RSVP to: andrea.benson@anu.edu.au by Friday 27 November and include any dietary requirements for lunch

To be introduced by Professor Lawrence Cram, Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President of The Australian National University

This talk is based on Professor Paul Ramsden's contribution to the forthcoming framework for higher education in England. It will examine the quality of teaching and learning in UK higher education in the light of recent critical comment in the media and parliament, and consider the kinds of experiences that will enable graduates in the UK and Australia to contribute to the world of the future. He will identify some key drivers in the process, including recognition of teaching, curriculum change, and the need for a different relationship between students and universities.

UK Government VPN

The UK Cabinet Office is building a Virtual Private Network called the "Public Sector Network" for national and local government agencies to use for voice and data. This is intended to save money and set technical and service standards. The network will be built from existing commercial infrastructure. There are a set of detailed planning and specification documents. The AGIMO strategy is for a less ambitious network for the Australian Government.

The Public Sector Network vision

1.1.1 The Public Sector Network (PSN) vision one of creating ‘the effect of a single network across UK government’, delivered through multiple service providers in order to ensure ongoing value and innovation.
1.1.2 In some respects, this is similar to the Internet model, whereby ‘service consumers’ experience flexibility and inter-working without much concern for underlying inter-network ‘plumbing’. However, the vision is also one of a ‘private network of networks’ for the public sector, addressing the various special security, resilience, service and availability needs of public sector organisations.

The PSN in practical terms

1.1.3 The PSN is a supply-side ‘network of networks’, making network-oriented services utilitylike for the public sector. Hence, it is essentially an inter-working and standards framework for the suppliers of network-oriented services to the public sector, governing both interconnection of supplier services and the relevant key service characteristics/attributes that ensure inter-working and end-to-end service assurance across supplier portfolios. As such, it includes:

• an overarching PSN Operating Model and governance approach – including a Code of Interconnection (CoICo) and Code of Practice (CoP) for service providers, and a Code of Connection for service consumers;
• new standards that ensure inter-working across network-oriented services and end-toend serviceability across suppliers;
• a ‘marketplace’ for PSN Services, established through procurements; and
• various core enabling infrastructure, including:
  • a Government Conveyance Network (GCN), this being the interconnect ‘glue’ between the individual service providers conforming to the CoICo;
  • central technical infrastructure providing for service inter-dependency analysis across suppliers, supporting end-to-end service management and assurance; and,
  • an appropriate commercial settlements regime for suppliers, underpinning endto- end service management and assurance where the chosen delivery model involves peered service providers.

1.1.4 To be clear, this standards framework will not replace current quality (ISO 9001), service (ISO 20001) and security (ISO 27001; Security Policy Framework) management standards, or Next Generation Network (NGN) standards; rather, it will compliment these by extending standards to various technical, commercial and service inter-working arrangements for government’s suppliers of network-oriented services. ...

From: GCN Service Description, Version1.1, PSN Core Infrastructure project team, UK Cabinet Office, 24 April 2009

Path to Greener Government

The report "The Path to Greener Government", was launched 2 July 2009 by the UK non-profit group Global Action Plan and Cisco. This reports that most UK public sector ICT managers were not confident about meeting the carbon reduction targets in the UK Government Green ICT Delivery Unit's Greening Government Information Communication Technology (ICT) Strategy. Also reported is that the use of electricity in UK government buildings increased by 3%, with ICT one likely cause.

This has implications for Australia, as the Australian Government ICT strategy is based largely on the UK government approach.The architect of the Australian Government ICT Reform Program is Sir Peter Gershon, from the UK. If the UK strategy is not working , then it is likely the same approach will not reduce Australian Government greenhouse gas emissions. The Australian Government was to release a plan for Green ICT Quick Wins by the end of 2009, but so far there is no documentary evidence of any plan being prepared.

The report is 24 pages of PDF. Here is the executive summary:

Executive Summary

Background

Government is Britain’s largest purchaser of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and when used this equipment is responsible for up to a fi fth of the Government’s carbon emissions - 460,000 tonnes a year1. In total, Government estates spend over £13 billion on ICT annually2. Computer systems are an essential element in the delivery of effective public services, but this delivery may sometimes come at a cost to the environment.

Government recognises the critical importance of ICT not only as a large consumer of energy and primary resources but also as an enabler for environmental and cultural change. Given this level of importance, Central Government has taken a leadership role producing an overarching Greening Government ICT Strategy, developed by the UK Government Green ICT Delivery Unit of the Chief Information Offi cer (CIO) Council. Introducing this strategy, Tom Watson, then Minister for Transformational Government stated:

We want our technology to be effi cient; we want it to be more sustainable and above all we want to be responsible in the way we use it’.

The Greening Government ICT Strategy contains a number of targets and initiatives including the following:

Government has set itself the target of achieving carbon neutrality for all of its Central Government offi ce estates by 2012 with the overarching commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 80% by 2050.

A Green ICT Delivery group has been established by the CIO Council to increase best practice for informing green ICT.

The CIO Council’s Green ICT SOGE (Sustainable Operations on the Government Estate) Map now obliges every Chief Information Offi cer (CIO) and Chief Technology Offi cer (CTO) to complete a Green ICT Roadmap with 18 steps. On 17th April 2009, the CIO Council formally mandated action on 10 of these proposed 18 steps.

The environmental charity Global Action Plan was commissioned by Cisco to explore how effective the Government’s leadership role has been in creating change across the whole of the public sector. The research consisted of two main elements; interviews undertaken by Global Action Plan with leaders in green ICT, from the public sector, its stakeholders, the private sector and ICT suppliers; and a questionnaire sent out by Computer Weekly specifi cally for this study which generated 173 responses.

Key Research Findings

Leadership

The leadership role Government is playing in green ICT thinking is widely recognised and praised. The strategy is believed by respondents to be comprehensive and considered.

Last year, Central Government recorded a 3% increase in carbon emissions from electricity use in its buildings, with ICT identified as one of the likely key drivers in this increase.

If Central Government does not speed up the implementation of the strategy it could potentially be adversely hit by its own Carbon Reduction Commitment. Awareness and response to the Government’s Greening ICT strategy

Overall 60% of respondents were not aware of the Government’s Greening ICT Strategy. 41% of national government respondents were not aware of the strategy even though it specifi cally covers their area of activity.

67% of respondents that are aware of the Greening Government ICT Strategy are concerned or extremely concerned that targets contained within the report will be diffi cult to achieve.

70% of respondents feel green ICT is important despite the credit crunch.

According to the survey fi ndings, only 16% of respondents are currently sharing knowledge and learning with other public sector organisations in order to achieve their targets.

Implementation Strategies

Only 20% of responding ICT departments pay for some or all of their organisations’ energy bills for which their ICT is responsible. This does not help to incentivise the introduction of energy effi cient technologies.

Only 13% of respondents calculate the carbon footprint of their ICT activities. This should be baseline data for the development of a green ICT strategy.

Only 22% of respondents have set internal green ICT targets. This suggests that distinct green ICT advances which are being implemented are not part of a wider coherent strategy or that internal communication mechanisms may not be effective.

39% of respondents are not aware of the percentage utilisation of their server estate which is important baseline data in the development of a green data centre strategy. Implementation of specifi c initiatives

Take-up of server optimisation, decommissioning idle server equipment and reusing equipment is high (between 59%-69% implementation across all respondents). There are lower implementation levels around server virtualisation, ambient room temperature initiatives and undertaking a data centre layout audit.

44% of respondents have changed replacement procedures in order to extend the lifecycle of equipment.

A high level of respondents have implemented initiatives around shutdown of PCs when out of hours, reuse of PCs and not over-specifying equipment (between 59%-75%). Lower levels of implementation were reported for time switches on non-network equipment and reducing PC and laptop numbers.

There is a consistently reasonable level of implementation around greener printing initiatives with take-up ranging from 53-64%.

The majority of green ICT initiatives focus on reducing the impact of ICT directly e.g. switching off and reducing printing, rather than initiatives using ICT proactively to generate environmental savings in other organisational activities e.g. travel. For example, there was low implementation of initiatives to promote fl exible working (TelePresence/video conferencing etc.) to reduce travel and to enable smarter use of energy in buildings.

Future support required

Respondents identifi ed three areas where they need more support from Central Government:

1. Clearer evidence of the benefi ts of green ICT and how it can help public sector bodies.

2. A green ICT capital investment fund to enable public sector bodies to invest in green ICT technology solutions.

3. More internal leadership and direction.

Recommendations

Leadership

Government is to be congratulated on the proactive leadership role it has undertaken with its Champions Chris Chant and Catalina McGregor as well as the wider CIO/CTO Council for developing a Green ICT Strategy.

The implementation of this strategy needs to be accelerated if Government is to hit its carbon targets and to ensure that public sector services are not adversely hit by the Carbon

Reduction Commitment.

Government should consider how it can better use its procurement weight to drive change across the wider ICT sector, leading to more effi cient technologies.

Government should adopt the targets set in the Strategy for the wider public sector outside of the CIO Council structure, including Local Government.

The CIO/CTO Council Green ICT Delivery Unit is a part time, voluntary body. Government should look to establish dedicated posts from within this experienced group to ensure implementation of the Strategy is accelerated and completed by the most informed minds in the sector.

Awareness

Government and CIOs in particular should consider creating a stronger communications strategy to ensure that the Green ICT Strategy and its deliverables better reach Central Government Departments, Executive Agencies and wider public sector organisations.

It remains unclear what exact CO2 savings can be achieved by delivering the 18 steps in the Strategy and Government must look to provide more concrete fi gures, indicative metrics and methods for public sector bodies to measure their own ICT related carbon emissions.

Strategic support

Government should encourage public sector organisations to place their green ICT initiatives within a coherent overall strategy, which links to each organisation’s sustainability strategy.

This strategy needs to ensure that internal targets are set and that essential baseline data is collected (such as a scorecard). Data should include carbon footprints and the energy costs of running and cooling ICT.

Green ICT targets should be incorporated within Government’s current SOGE target structure to ensure a coherent picture is provided to the public.

Implementation support

Public sector organisations are concerned about hitting green ICT targets and need support. Government should consider how best it can demonstrate the positive impact green ICT initiatives may have by promoting transparency and case studies, increasing collaborative working possibly through knowledge transfer networks and establishing a green ICT stimulus package.

Government should consider how it can better incentivise green ICT initiatives that can create environmental savings in other areas e.g. employee travel, as implementation of this type of initiative is currently low according to the survey results. ...

From: "The Path to Greener Government", Global Action Plan and Cisco, 2 July 2009

UK to Get 2Mb/s Universal Broadband

The UK Government released "Digital Britain: The Interim Report" 29 January 2009. The report sets five objectives for the UK: Upgrading digital networks, better investment climate for UK digital industries, quality digital content, universal broadband access, and e-Government. The headline objective is universal broadband at up to 2Mb/s. This is much slower than the 12 Mb/s the Australian Government promised to deliver using FTTN. However, the Australian Government is unlikely to be able to deliver on its promise and the UK figure seems more feasible, as does delivery by a mix of wireless and wired services. It is likely the Australian Government will have to water down its promise to something like the UK proposal within the next few weeks.

The contribution of ICT to a Low Carbon Economy is mentioned in the report, but not given the prominence it deserves. The emphasis on digital broadcast technologies, such as DAB seems a little old fashioned and misplaced (DAB being a very limited one way pre-Internet technology). The use of a graphic of what appears to be a USB flash drive seems at odds with the report's emphasis on digital telecommunications. The report makes an interesting contrast with the Australian Government's recent Digital Economy Future Directions Paper.

Available are:

• Section 1: Introduction & Executive Summary PDF (132kb)
• Digital Britain: The Interim Report - Full Report PDF (1.5mb)

The full report is provided in MS-Word as well as PDF. The individual sections of the report are also in PDF.

• Foreword PDF (58kb)
• Section 1: Introduction & Executive Summary PDF (132kb)
• Section 2: Digital Networks PDF (204kb)
• Section 3: Digital Content PDF (205kb)
• Section 4: Universal Connectivity PDF (174kb)
• Section 5: Equipping Everyone to Benefit from Digital Britain PDF (112kb)
• Section 6: Conclusion PDF (81kb)
• Glossary PDF (97kb)
• Annex 1: Key trends and issues in UK media and telecoms to 2012 (PDF 631kb)
• Annex 2: Digital Britain: An Audit PDF (842kb)
• Annex 3: Government Response to The Next Phase of Broadband UK PDF (179kb)
• Terms of reference
• Steering board
• Debate and response in the House of Lords

It is unfortunate that the report was not made available in an easy to read HTML format. Here is the text of the introduction:

Introduction and Executive Summary

Around the world digital and broadband technologies are reshaping our Communications, Entertainment, Information and Knowledge industries, the wider economy, and the way of life for all of us.We are at a point of transformation. The success of our manufacturing and services industries will increasingly be defined by their ability to use and develop digital technologies. A successful Britain must be a Digital Britain.
Digital technology has led to a quiet revolution over the past decade in our lives at work, at home and at leisure. Many of us now take for granted a world of constant communication; of large-scale data transfer from home to work and vice versa, leading to new, more transport-efficient and family-friendly patterns of working; hundreds of television and radio channels; user-generated content; instant connectedness with virtual communities of interest and friendship; and keeping extended family networks in touch with images as well as words.

The Communications Sector is one of the three largest sectors in our economy alongside energy and financial services. The UK’s digital economy accounts for around 8% of GDP. It has been one of the fastest growing successes of the past decade. We pioneered digital television and radio and have led the way in a national switchover programme. Our take up of first generation broadband has grown faster than that of almost all the other major economies. Britain has the highest proportion of internet advertising of any developed economy. By 2012 £1 in every £5 of all new commerce in this country will be online.

More importantly, the digital economy underpins our whole economy and builds our national competitiveness. Our readiness to adopt digital technology has driven productivity gains throughout our wider economy. Over the last ten years the UK has been consistently closing its historic productivity gap with the other leading European economies, based largely on our take-up and adoption of digital technology.
But our productivity still lags well behind the USA and we face new challenges from the innovative companies of the successful Asian economies. At their best, they combine fierce competition, providing innovation and consumer services, with a regulatory framework that balances the value of investment in the next generation of technologies against the benefits for the consumer of a competitive market place.

So Britain’s competitive position as a user and producer of digital technology cannot be taken for granted. In the USA, the development of the digital economy, deployment of modern networks and universal broadband internet access are a central part of the new Administration’s programme. The French Government has launched an ambitious reform strategy for their Communications Sector. The European Commission’s global league table of digital adoption, skills and use shows that the UK, having been in the top seven earlier in the decade, has slipped to twelfth place.

Against this backdrop, this report assesses the UK’s readiness fully to exploit the dramatic shift to digital technology as the basis of huge parts of our economy and private lives. This revolution is only a decade old - still in its infancy. Our demands and expectations of it will rise at an accelerating pace. Are we positioned to meet those demands and expectations?

The first, crucial conclusion of the analysis we have done shows that, as a country, we must ensure that our wired and wireless communications and broadcasting networks can meet the demands of a modern knowledge-based economy. Much work has already been undertaken, but over the next five years we will need to upgrade these networks in order to maintain our position and meet our ambitions.

This makes the need for an active and strategic approach from government indispensable if we are to close the gap. We need to plan now, identify the market failures that are standing in the way of a full roll out of digital infrastructure in the UK, and act swiftly in Government to help the market in the timely delivery of the high-capability infrastructure we will need. This industrial activism from government will be critical to ensuring that the UK gets the most out of the digital economy.

The growing global focus on digital technology
President Obama’s technology-based American presidential campaign changed the face of US elections and the new President has made it clear that he sees both technology and a strong communications infrastructure as vital to economic recovery and growth. This includes a radical approach to the deployment of a modern communications infrastructure, including redefining universal service to extend its scope to broadband and unleashing the power of the wireless radio spectrum.

The President’s digital ambition is being replicated across the globe. The French Government has recently launched its France Numerique 2012 plan, an ambitious communications sector strategy designed to strengthen France’s digital position and enhance its broader competitiveness at a time of global economic slowdown and crisis. The message laid out in the plan is clear: the digital economy is the most dynamic sector in the world and as the global recession bites, it is essential to nurture those parts of the economy that can generate growth potential and jobs.

This is not simply a question of economic competitiveness, but also of fairness. We are at the point of technology development where we need a programme to ensure that everyone can connect to the digital economy, that its benefits and advantages are available to all. This means ensuring that all have access to the skills to participate effectively; and that the content and services available give everyone a good reason to take part.

The digital society offers us, as citizens, increased access to information, participation and influence, not least in the democratic process – the recent Presidential Election in the USA was the first to be decided as much online as offline. In addition to news and democratic participation, the digital world gives individuals scope for a broader and richer range of public service content than ever before, that truly informs and educates as well as entertains.

The necessary education, skills and media literacy programmes to allow everyone in society to benefit from the digital revolution will be a central part of the Digital Britain work and key to our success. We must ensure that being digital is within the grasp of everyone. If we do not, we risk leaving significant parts of our society disenfranchised and permanently behind the mainstream. In so doing, we would fail to secure the full potential of these technologies for our country.

It is important for the UK that we enjoy content over digital networks that relates to our culture and experiences as a society and informs us as citizens in a democracy. In practice, this means content generated in the UK for UK consumers, and plural sources of informed, accurate and impartial news, as well as of informed comment and analysis. The market will always provide some of this content, but we need to decide what else we require, and make policy decisions to achieve that. What do we, as a society, expect and require, and what institutions and policies will best deliver it?

Today, Britain has a range of institutions and interventions mostly designed for the analogue age. To date, only the BBC has the reach, the strategic and operational capability, and the funding to be a provider of such content at scale across the digital landscape. In this interim report, we examine the scope for other modern interventions that could provide for plural British digital content and the possibility of a new organisation of the scale and reach needed for the multi-media, multi-platform digital world, able to work alongside the BBC but with a distinct role.

At the same time, we need to ensure that Britain is well positioned to take advantage of the opportunities around innovation in new media content. Our track record in creativity and technical innovation in existing media provides an excellent base, but this needs to be married to development of business models that enable content creators to flourish on new platforms. We must also have the research and development programmes that will help us maintain our position.

For us as a society, digital technology also offers the prospect of more effective delivery of wider public services in terms of quality of service, connectivity and reach for the individual – as users of online services today, from NHS Direct to the DVLA’s Car Tax Renewal Service, can attest.

Equally important, the digital society can offer more efficient public service delivery. This will be crucial in an era of very tight constraints on public spending in the years to come, with an additional £5m of efficiences announced in the 2008 Pre-Budget Report. Using the money in the service rather than its delivery is a major benefit for both the user and the taxpayer.

Delivering Digital Britain will require an ambitious and clear strategic vision from Government and a new and stronger sense of co-operation between Government, regulators and industry. We will play our part to ensure open and effective government, including ensuring, through bodies such as the Information Age Partnership, Government and industry have regular, open and constructive fora for discussion.

The Information Age Partnership
The Information Age Partnership (IAP) is a partnership for action between industry and Government, comprising Ministers and Chief Executives of the UK’s leading IT, Electronics, Communications and Content companies.

The purpose of the IAP is to ensure that ICT is effectively deployed to accelerate innovation and productivity growth across the economy and to impact directly on the priorities of small and medium sized businesses. This helps the UK to take maximum global advantage of the technological, economic and political developments that characterise the information age and can drive the UK’s economic recovery.

We believe that the Information Age Partnership will become an even more important and valuable forum for engagement between Government and industry, with a mission to ensure that the promise of Digital Britain is realised.

We need a comprehensive programme for Digital Britain: a programme that has five objectives for 2012 which drive the analysis and proposals in this Interim Report.

Digital Britain: Five objectives

• Upgrading and modernising our digital networks – wired, wireless and broadcast – so that Britain has an infrastructure that enables it to remain globally competitive in the digital world;
• A dynamic investment climate for UK digital content, applications and services, that makes the UK an attractive place for both domestic and inward investment in our digital economy;
• UK content for UK users: content of quality and scale that serves theinterests, experiences and needs of all UK citizens; in particular impartialnews, comment and analysis;
• Fairness and access for all: universal availability coupled with the skills and digital literacy to enable near-universal participation in the digital economy and digital society; and
• Developing the infrastructure, skills and take-up to enable the widespread online delivery of public services and business interface with Government.

Readers of this interim report will see that there are varying levels of detail and analysis in the different sections of the report. This is inevitable in an interim report and reflects the fact that there are some areas, where the problems are pressing, where existing knowledge of the issues, informed in particular by previous reviews and the work of Ofcom among others, have allowed us to move forward faster in our thinking and policy development. There are areas where this interim report reflects emerging findings; and those areas where we need to undertake much wider consultation and consideration, including across Government, before we bring forward detailed recommendations to provide a more comprehensive programme for Digital Britain. The process to date has been far from exhaustive. There are many aspects of this vital sector and its wider linkages to our economy and society that we only touch on – from smart grid technology to the links between the Knowledge Economy and a Low Carbon Economy, to the specifics of the next generation delivery of public services online.

Based on the five objectives above the main actions set out in this report are as follows:

Digital Networks
In relation to Next Generation Access Networks, we propose a number of specific actions:

ACTION 1
We will establish a Government-led strategy group to assess the necessary demand-side, supply-side and regulatory measures to underpin existing market-led investment plans, and to remove barriers to the timely rollout, beyond those declared plans, to maximise market-led coverage of Next Generation broadband. This Strategy Group will, by the time of the final Digital Britain Report, assess the case for how far market-led investment by Virgin Media, BT Group plc and new network enterprises will take the UK in terms of roll-out and likely take-up; and whether any contingency measures, as recommended by the Caio review, are necessary.

ACTION 2
Between now and the final Digital Britain Report, the Government will, while recognising existing investments in infrastructure, work with the main operators and others to remove barriers to the development of a wider wholesale market in access to ducts and other primary infrastructure.

ACTION 3
The Valuation Office Agency has provided new, clear guidance which addresses the problem of clarity over business rates identified by Francesco Caio in his report, and will ensure that they respond to any queries from existing and new investors and maintain clear, helpful guidance. For its part, the Government will ensure that the guidance is widely understood by potential investors.

ACTION 4
We will, by the time of the final Digital Britain Report, have considered the value for money case for whether public incentives have a part to play in enabling further next generation broadband deployment, beyond current market-led initiatives.

ACTION 5
The Government will help implement the Community Broadband Network’s proposals for an umbrella body to bring together all the local and community networks and provide them with technical and advisory support.

In relation to existing and Next Generation Mobile Wireless Networks:

ACTION 6
We are specifying a Wireless Radio Spectrum Modernisation Programme consisting of five elements:

1. Resolving the future of existing 2G radio spectrum through a structured framework, allowing existing operators to re-align their existing holdings, re-use the spectrum and start the move to next generation mobile services. This must be achieved whilst maintaining a competitive market. If this can be done, the economic value of the spectrum would be enhanced. Existing administered incentive pricing (AIP) levels would be adjusted to reflect that enhancement. The Government believes that an industry-agreed set of radio spectrum trades could represent a better and quicker solution than an imposed realignment. There is an opportunity for industry to agree a way forward by the end of April 2009. In the absence of an industry-agreed trading solution by then, Government will support an imposed solution.
2. Making available more radio spectrum suitable for next generation mobile services. Ofcom has proposed the release of the so-called 3G expansion band at 2.6GHz. The Government will support proposals from Ofcom to play a key role in a pan-European alignment of the Digital Dividend Review Spectrum (the so-called Channel 61-69 band), being released by the progressive switchover from analogue to digital broadcasting, pioneered by the UK. This will free up radio spectrum particularly valuable for next generation mobile services.
3. Greater investment certainty for existing 3G operators: The Government wishes to encourage the maximum commercially-sensible investment in network capacity and coverage. But the further into a fixed term licence one goes the greater the disincentive to invest. We want to resolve this issue now as part of the structured framework. As part of the structured trading framework existing time-limited licences could be made indefinite and subject instead to AIP beyond the end of the current term. If this were achieved the Government would look to ensure that the AIP then set reflected the spectrum’s full economic value and hence would capture over time the return equivalent to the proceeds that would have been realised in the market from an auction for a licence of the same period.
4. Greater network sharing: the Government and Ofcom will consider further network sharing, spectrum or carrier-sharing proposals from the operators, particularly where these can lead to greater coverage and are part of the mobile operator’s contribution to a broadband universal service commitment.
5. Commitments by the mobile operators to push out the coverage of mobile broadband eventually to replicate 2G coverage and mark their significant contribution to the broadband universal service commitment.

In relation to Digital Television Networks:

ACTION 7
We will consider at what point and at what cost the standard offer provided by the Digital Television Switchover Help Scheme could have a return path capability, and we will ensure that such capability is available as an option.

ACTION 8
We will examine how the marketing and communications activity around Digital Switchover could be enhanced to use the region-by-region programme of publicly funded information and advice on one form of digital transition to provide impartial information on wider opportunities of digital beyond digital broadcast television.

In relation to Digital Radio Networks:
ACTION 9
We will take action to support DAB digital radio in seven areas:

1. We are making a clear statement of Government and policy commitment to enabling DAB to be a primary distribution network for radio;
2. We will create a plan for digital migration of radio, which the Government intends to put in place once the following criteria have been met:
   
   • When 50% of radio listening is digital;
   • When national DAB coverage is comparable to FM coverage, and local DAB reaches 90% of population and all major roads.
3. We will create a Digital Radio Delivery Group which includes the retailers, the Transmission Networks, the BBC, the Commercial Radio Companies, the Car Manufacturers, consumer representatives and the device manufacturers, whose role would be to increase the attractiveness, availability and affordability of DAB and to advise on the Digital Migration Plan.
4. We will work with the BBC to explore how they could extend their digital radio coverage to replicate at least current FM analogue coverage.
5. As recommended by the Digital Radio Working Group, we will conduct a cost-benefit analysis of digital migration.
6. We will consult on new legislation to allow a one-off five-year extension of existing community radio licences, to bring them in line with other radio licences and recognise the important role they have in delivering social gain. We also intend to re-consider the rationale for the current restriction of 50% of funding from any one source.
7. We will commission an independent expert examination of the economic viability, continuing social contribution of, and most effective delivery methods for, local radio services and the relevance of the existing localness legislation.

Digital Content

In relation to the Economics of Digital Content:

ACTION 10
In the final report we will examine measures needed to address the challenges for digital content in more detail, including opportunities for providing further support to foster UK creative ambition and alternative funding mechanisms to advertising revenues.

In relation to Rights and Distribution:

ACTION 11
By the time the final Digital Britain Report is published the Government will have explored with interested parties the potential for a Rights Agency to bring industry together to agree how to provide incentives for legal use of copyright material; work together to prevent unlawful use by consumers which infringes civil copyright law; and enable technical copyright-support solutions that work for both consumers and content creators. The Government also welcomes other suggestions on how these objectives should be achieved.

ACTION 12
Before the final Digital Britain Report is published we will explore with both distributors and rights-holders their willingness to fund, through a modest and proportionate contribution, such a new approach to civil enforcement of copyright (within the legal frameworks applying to electronic commerce, copyright, data protection and privacy) to facilitate and co-ordinate an industry response to this challenge. It will be important to ensure that this approach covers the need for innovative legitimate services to meet consumer demand, and education and information activity to educate consumers in fair and appropriate uses of copyrighted material as well as enforcement and prevention work.

ACTION 13
Our response to the consultation on peer-to-peer file sharing sets out our intention to legislate, requiring ISPs to notify alleged infringers of rights (subject to reasonable levels of proof from rights-holders) that their conduct is unlawful. We also intend to require ISPs to collect anonymised information on serious repeat infringers (derived from their notification activities), to be made available to rights-holders together with personal details on receipt of a court order. We intend to consult on this approach shortly, setting out our proposals in detail.

In relation to the provision of Original UK Content:

ACTION 14
To inform whether any change to the merger regime is yet desirable or necessary in relation to the local and regional media sector, the Government will invite the OFT, together with Ofcom and other interested parties, to undertake an exploratory review across the local and regional media sector and make appropriate recommendations.

ACTION 15
The existing Terms of Trade between the independent producers and broadcasters have worked well. In light of new entrants to the market, new business models and new distribution channels, it makes sense to have a forward look at how the relationship between independent producers and those who commission their ideas could evolve.

This review will focus on the appropriate rights holding agreements and definitions required for a multi-platform digital future, on the overall health of the sector and on continuing to ensure that viewers, listeners and users get the best and most innovative content and programming.

ACTION 16
In the final Digital Britain Report, we will establish whether a long-term and sustainable second public service organisation providing competition for quality to the BBC can be defined and designed, drawing in part on Channel 4’s assets and a re-cast remit. It would be a body with public service at its heart, but one which is able to develop flexible and innovative partnerships with the wider private and public sector. While it makes sense to begin by looking at public sector bodies- Channel 4 and BBC Worldwide- the Government is currently evaluating a range of options and organisational solutions for achieving such an outcome.

Universal Connectivity

In relation to Network Universal Connectivity on Digital Networks:

ACTION 17
We will develop plans for a digital Universal Service Commitment to be effective by 2012, delivered by a mixture of fixed and mobile, wired and wireless means. Subject to further study of the costs and benefits, we will set out our plans for the level of service which we believe should be universal. We anticipate this consideration will include options up to 2Mb/s.

ACTION 18
We will develop detailed proposals for the design and operation of a new, more broadly-based scheme to fund the Universal Service Commitment for the fully digital age – including who should contribute and its governance and accountability structures.

In relation to the take-up of universally available broadband:

ACTION 19
We will encourage the development of public service champions of universal take-up. The Digital Inclusion Action Plan recommended the appointment of a Digital Inclusion Champion and expert taskforce to drive the Government’s work on digital inclusion. Clearly, the work of the Champion will be important in encouraging take-up.

ACTION 20
We are inviting the BBC to play a leading role, just as it has in digital broadcast, through marketing, cross-promotion and provision of content to drive interest in taking up broadband. With other public service organisations, the BBC can drive the development of platforms with open standards available to all content providers and device manufacturers alike.

ACTION 21
A Public Service Delivery plan: we commit to ensure that public services online are designed for ease of use by the widest range of citizens, taking advantage of the widespread uptake of broadband to offer an improved customer experience and encourage the shift to online channels in delivery and service support.

Equipping everyone to benefit from Digital Britain

In relation to Digital Media Literacy:

ACTION 22
The current statutory and specific remit on Media Literacy is contained within s.11 of the Communications Act 2003. As this report makes clear, since 2003 there have been significant market changes in the availability of digital technologies and how they are used. We will ask Ofcom to make an assessment of its current responsibilities in relation to media literacy and, working with the BBC and others, to recommend a new definition and ambition for a National Media Literacy Plan.

This interim report sets out the background to these actions and the analysis on which they are based, as well as providing more detail on how we intend to fulfil them.

I am grateful to the Expert Advisers on the Steering Board and the many stakeholders who have given so generously of their time to produce these emerging findings and proposals and to the project team who have worked tirelessly since last Autumn.

From: Section 1: Introduction & Executive Summary, Digital Britain: The Interim Report, Department for Culture, Media and Sport and Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, Page 1
The Stationery Office (TSO), UK Government, ISBN: 9 78 010175 4828, 29 January 2009