BBC iPlayer success exposes UK’s poor broadband speeds
Government operations and procurement to be more environmentally friendly.
Cabinet Office minister Tom Watson is taking responsibility for making government operations and procurement more environmentally friendly.
His remit will include IT, and he is likely to look for greater energy savings from technology, including wider use of IT management systems to help switch off PCs and printers when they are not in use.
To coincide with Watson’s new role, the Cabinet Office’s Centre of Expertise in Sustainable Procurement, based in the Office of Government Commerce, has published a plan which focuses on actions that have to be taken in order to meet government sustainability targets. These include mechanisms for saving energy used by computers.
Northern Ireland fund 1.9 Million to develop broadband services
The Northern Ireland Executive has unveiled a £1.9m fund to promote the extension of broadband services. Economy minister Arlene Foster has launched the £1.9 million Northern Ireland Broadband Fund, which aims to provide support to businesses undertaking technology trials related to the roll out of high speed broadband.
The fund, which is financed under the European Regional Development Fund Sustainable Competitiveness Programme 2007-2013, will have a particular focus on the delivery of broadband services into rural areas as the Department for Enterprise, Trade and Investment believes there is a need for more competition among suppliers in rural areas, and to increase average speeds.
view the full story at http://www.detini.gov.uk/cgi-bin/morenews?utilid=1288
digital inclusion overlooked as a key enabler for sustainable development
The UKCeeds UK-wide report , supported by BT “Making Sustainability Real – A Challenge for Regional Agencies” which looked at how digital inclusion is being supported has found that Information and Communications Technology is being overlooked as a key driver of knowledge and skills to the economy and environment and noted that it should have greater prominence in future strategies as a core enabler for sustainable development.
Wales set to switch in 2009
Wales is confirmed as the first to start the switchover to digital television in 12 months time. Digital UK, has announced that west Wales will be the first area to switch, going digital on the 12th August 2009.
Gwenllïan Carr, Digital UK’s national manager for Wales, said: ‘Today is a real milestone in the programme for switchover in Wales.
‘From 12 August 2009, thousands of viewers in the west Wales area will be able to enjoy digital television and radio free through their aerial. By 2010, freeview channels will be available to more than 1.3 million Welsh homes.’
find out more at http://www.digitaluk.co.uk/
Open Access network to serve residents and businesses in Belfast.
Titanic Quarter Ltd announced today that Redstone plc has been granted exclusive rights to develop an advanced ‘fibre to the home’ infrastructure for the £5.5bn (€7bn) regeneration scheme in Belfast.
All future residential and business occupants of Titanic Quarter will have access to fully fibred high-speed and high quality Telecoms, Internet, IP Television and a range of innovative services.
Read the full story at http://www.groupe-intellex.com/projects/19-broadband/154-titanic-quarter-next-generation-network.html
Alliance for Digital Inclusion’s workshop: Can the Games be Serious?,
Government Minister visits Stream IPTV project
Hull company Broadband Capital will welcome a second MP in less than three months when Ivan Lewis will see first hand how the Steam IPTV system works.
Mr Lewis, who is Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Care Services and MP for Bury South, will visit the offices at Norwich House, Saville Street, Hull on Tuesday August 5. 2008.
The visit comes after West Hull and Hessle MP Alan Johnson saw the Steam IPTV project, an interactive television service for older people, in April and promised to speak to Mr Lewis.
On his visit, he will meet the Broadband Capital team and watch a live demonstration of the services as well as discussing current progress and the future development.
Also attending during the minister’s visit will be Kim Ryley, chief executive of Hull City Council; Diana Johnson, MP for Hull North, Angela Dunn, head of Hull City Council Community Care Services; Steve Fleming, Hull City Council Group Manager Knowledge Economy; Claire Brown, Locality Manager, Community Care KHCC; Councillor Stephen Baker, Portfolio holder for health and voluntary services; and Jean Templeton, Chief Officer, Hull Churches’ Home From Hospital. Mr Lewis’ private secretary, Dr Edward Scully will also be there.
Managing Director of Broadband Capital, Dr Mark Jones, said, ‘To have two ministers visit the project, and win a national award, all within the space of three months is, to say the least, encouraging! We know that the issues of independent living for older people and service transformation are currently very high on the government’s agenda, so I guess we’re moving in the right direction.’
Chief Executive Officer Kim Ryley said: “I am delighted that the STREAM project is attracting the attention of senior ministers. This is a great compliment to the creativity of the team who has developed this unique service. We are already receiving an extremely positive response from residents and businesses and are currently exploring how we could develop the STREAM project across the whole of Hull.”
Councillor Stephen Baker added: “We are continually looking for new ways to improve the service we provide to our most vulnerable residents. The STREAM project helps local people to live independently, by giving them access to a range of information about local services through their existing television. I am pleased that the service is attracting government attention.”
Around 50 people use the service (dubbed the Independent Living Campaign) to access information, communication and transactional services through their television. Additional users are currently being connected, and the target is to connect 250 by the end of March 2009.
Last month, the STREAM project, representing Hull City Council, won the award for IT Project Innovation, at the Local Government Good Communications Award 2008. The award was given to the team in recognition of their achievement to improve communication with residents. The judges, in awarding first place to Hull, said of the project that it “lays a foundation for future delivery of services from both the Local Authority and their chosen partners.”
For more information/photo opportunities please contact:
Craig Lazenby
Press Office for Stream
Tel: 01482 649343
Or
Alan Mumby
01482 482900
Notes to editor
Sample content from Stream’s Independent Living Campaign can be seen at: http://www.streamonline.co.uk/intial.asp?tag=Health and http://www.streamonline.co.uk/intial.asp?tag=Community
More information on the Independent Living Campaign, including a video interview with a user, can be seen at:
http://www.broadbandcapital.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=24&Itemid=44
Background
The STREAM project started in 2005 and has been developed and delivered by Broadband Capital, a company set up and funded by Hull City Council to address the issue of digital exclusion. [www.broadbandcapital.co.uk] In 2006, Stream launched an online, on-demand broadband TV service for the local business community [www.streamonline.co.uk], and Learning Stream, an IPTV pilot project delivering school TV to six city schools.
The third project, Stream TV (Independent Living Campaign) was launched in January this year, and provides vulnerable older people with access to local programmes and services through their existing television, using an IPTV application developed by the Stream team. Each person receives a digital television set top box that gives them access to the free digital television channels, and a broadband connection that provides them with access to interactive local services entirely on demand on the Stream TV channel.
In 2007, Hull City Council came third in the Government’s Digital Challenge competition with the STREAM project, and became members of the finalist network, the DC10plus. The Independent Living Campaign has been part funded by money provided through the DC10plus. DC10plus is a collaborative body of local authorities and their partners whose vision is to drive forward the digital inclusion agenda. http://www.dc10plus.net/
http://www.accessibilityworks.com/dc10plusblog/
Tackling the digital divide in Wales
For the past two and half years Communities @One, has been working towards bridging the digital divide by helping citizens in Wales most deprived communities engage with technology in ways relevant to their lives.
As Communities @One initiative is coming to an end, Mark Smith of the Wales Co-operative Centre reflects on what the project has achieved in helping overcoming peoples fear of technology. Read more at the NS website http://www.newsector.co.uk/articles/80_bridgingDigitalDivide.html
Charities urged to go web2.0
Fundraising experts have stressed today that new media such as youtube, Facebook, blogging, Flickr are increasingly being used by the public to launch and support fundraising appeals and have encouraged charities to embrace web 2.0 as a powerful marketing and customer relationship management tool. For the full story visit the guardian