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2009-10-13 05:36:02
Getting online can save people money and allow them to earn more, says Martha
Lane Fox.
Ms Lane Fox, the UK's Digital Champion, is considering ways to get the four
million poorest Britons to sign up to the internet.
Research commissioned by her office showed that technology can provide a "route
out" of poverty,
She is also hoping to galvanise broadcasters to put internet storylines in soap
operas.
"The jury is still out" on whether broadcasters will adopt such a storyline,
she told the BBC.
But it could be a good way of bringing the issue of digital exclusion to a
wider audience, she added.
The co-founder of lastminute.com was describing her new role and how she
intends to tackle the issue of digital exclusion.
Some 10 million adults in the UK have never been online and Ms Lane Fox is
targeting the poorest 4 million, with the aim of getting a large proportion of
this group online by 2012.
Route out
She commissioned a report from PricewaterhouseCoopers to make the economic case
for getting online.
It found that digitally excluded households could save between 270 and 560 a
year, depending on their economic circumstances, by going online.
Being online can help the unemployed increase their lifetime earnings by
12,000, while internet-savvy workers can increase their earnings by 8,000.
The study also found that the government could save at least 900m a year if
all digitally excluded adults got online and made just one electronic contact
per month.
Ms Lane Fox has put the lobbying of politicians high on her agenda.
"Over half of MPs don't think digital exclusion is an issue and one of my roles
is to keep up the pressure on government," she said.
The government recently dropped its Digital Inclusion Minister and the role now
forms part of Digital Britain minister Stephen Timms' remit.
Ms Lane Fox is also keen to build a "peer-to-peer network" of people who have
received online training and are prepared to pass that training on.
She acknowledges that it is going to be a hard movement to start.
People's taskforce
"We will have to build this up person by person. It is worth having a big
ambition and if I can get a thousand people to volunteer and have an impact on
another thousand, then that's a start," she told the BBC.
As part of this she intends to set up a "people's taskforce", made up of
individuals from the economic group she has targeted, who will give their
opinions on future strategies.
Ms Lane Fox has also been in talks with retailers to see if any are prepared to
provide a package of services and offer bonuses for those who go online.
Electrical retailer Comet has agreed to offer a service aimed specifically at
older people.
She told the BBC she remained "passionate" about her role.
"I get frustrated when I feel I get back only negativity. I don't see this as a
controversial issue," she said.
"The projects I have visited prove that technology can provide a route out for
people in a spectacular way and I hope to bring continued focus on the issue,"
she insisted.