Tony Blair's speech... (part two)

Advances in ICT will represent a major shift in the way we work. Many people have drawn parallels between the technological breakthroughs of the past steam, electricity, the internal combustion engine. But electricity began as a source of power for the telegraph, it took years to revolutionise industry by powering machines on the production line. The opportunity for an ICT revolution is there, but only if we apply the technology in the same radical way in which electricity was applied some eighty to a hundred years ago.

And we must extend the opportunities of the information age to all. The networks of the digital age will be more powerful and more productive as the number of people and businesses connected increases. Digital transformation cannot be restricted to the few. Our success depends on extending it to the many.

In 1998, I set a target to make the UK 'the best environment in the world for e-commerce by 2002'. I want to thank David Jordan and the Information Age Partnership for their work in this area and for sponsoring the report released today.

The report makes clear that the UK has made a great deal of progress since 1997 - but we haven't quite made it. The benchmarking places us in second place behind the USA but we are the best in Europe and ahead of Japan. We have achieved more than many expected and laid the foundations for further improvement. We have made real progress in some key areas a growing ICT sector, a strong venture capital market, among the world's lowest prices for internet access and the highest penetration of digital TV in the world.

But we need to do more to convert progress into a real and positive impact on our economy. We plan to learn from around the world, whether it is the progress Canada has made in creating attractive online government services or the effectiveness with which Sweden has encouraged take up of PCs.

I want to highlight five issues.

First, we must promote effective competition. Competition drives innovation and competitiveness. It underpins improved business performance. Without it companies will be weaker and consumers will face higher prices and poorer service.

Take broadband as a specific example. It is high speed and always-on. It makes using the Internet just like turning on a light. It enhances our ability to communicate, to exchange information and ideas. Some countries have chosen the planning route to drive up broadband numbers. We have deliberately chosen the competitive route. If we want broadband to work for businesses and consumers it has to be available at the right price on the basis of a world class service.

Prices are now falling to among the lowest in the world, spurred by the many different products in the market. Take up is now rising towards 30,000 a week, a rate of growth among the best of the world's major economies.

Second, we need to create the right incentives and support for businesses to seize the opportunities of new technology. That means investing in skills at every level, and raising the proportion of R&D spend in UK firms - precisely why we introduced the R&D tax credit. It means offering incentives for firms and individuals to invest in ICT. We have introduced capital allowances for small and medium sized enterprises investing in ICT equipment. And a PC leasing scheme through which employees in the UK can now claim a personal tax exemption against the cost of leasing PC's from their employers.

But incentives need to be matched by support. We have created UK Online for Business. 100,000 businesses have sought and received advice from UK Online during the last year.

Third, we must make the opportunities and benefits of the knowledge economy inclusive. Today, we have reached a milestone in ensuring 'access to the Internet for everyone who wants it by 2005'. In September 2000, I set the government a target of having six thousand UK online centres by the end of this year. We have now opened our six thousandth centre, meeting the target and providing a crucial entry point for those unable to afford PCs and connections. At least 126,000 new users have already come through the doors - a quarter of them unemployed or on benefits. To build on this we will launch an 'Online Nation' campaign next spring.

My fourth theme is skills. Imagine the enormous benefits to our economy and society if not just a fraction, but all our young people can master 21st century skills. The productivity gap between the UK and other major competitors is more closely related to skills than any other single factor. We know that around 7 million adults in Britain lack functional literacy and numeracy skills. The number of adults with poorly developed ICT skills exceeds this. We are addressing this through the University for Industry, the Union Learning Fund and a range of workforce development measures. We now have 1,800 ICT learning centres with training in basic ICT skills available free to the unemployed and people with few skills. Since we launched 'learndirect' some 600,000 people have taken 1.5 million courses, of which 950,000 have been ICT courses.

For improving skills and for tackling the digital divide our schools are fundamental. I want to thank the Broadband Stakeholders Group, led by Keith Todd, for highlighting this issue and for the constructive contribution they are making on the future of broadband.

We agree with the BSG that schools are key to taking advantage of the broadband revolution. We plan to build on the progress we have made in providing thousands more PCs and achieving the highest level of Internet connection for schools in the G7. As part of our next steps, I can announce today that the Government will provide funding to deliver broadband connections to every school by 2006.

Because education is the number one priority, and because we believe in opportunity for all, every Primary and every Secondary in the country will have high speed, always on access to the vast resources of the Internet. Every school will be able to benefit from the experience of Ashcombe School in Surrey where whole classes of students now use broadband video streaming to support their foreign language GCSE work. Audio and video are combined with an interactive quiz which can be paused and replayed to cater for individual learning speeds - an exciting and effective way of improving the quality of education in our schools. Broadband access will be backed by new interactive content and support material that will be made available through the digital curriculum.

Bursting to find out what number five is? Read on... http://www.silicon.com/a56456