Saw the attached in a social work forum I subscribe to. Meantime, aware
of the proportion of Primary Care sites with patient info. material etc.
Wondered whether there wd be any interest then in developing the health
profile within any of the developments that the 'IT for All' campaign
might be able to sponsor/broker?
I'll be in touch with the original poster (is this the right word?) -
based as he is with 'Communities Online' - from an SW/C'care point of
view generally and could report back if people found that useful. All
assistance with ensuring appropriate health perspective gratefully
received, though!
Peter Ashe
[log in to unmask]
attached (reasonably lengthy) message follows.....
The UK Government launched its IT for All campaign today with high profile
presentations from Ministers, high tech displays from BT, ICL, Microsoft
and other industry leaders, and a photo-opportunity before the massed
keyboards for Prime Minister John Major.
The good news is that ordinary people could get a look in later;-)
The strong message at the launch event at the conference centre in
Victoria
Street , London, was that Government and industry should work with public
and voluntary sectors to raise public awareness of the potential benefits
of IT.
'The overall 'IT for All' goal is to increase the number of the UK adult
population who are confident in their use of a broad range of ICTs from
the current estimate of 46% to 60% by August 2000,' says the launch
material.
Department of Trade and Industry research behind the campaign - which
extends the Information Society Initiative from business to citizens -
showed five group of users/non-users
Enthusiasts - 25%
Acceptors 21%
Unconvinced 20%
Concerned 18%
Alienated 16%
The research suggests that broadly speaking the enthusiasts are young,
male
and well off, and the alientated poor and/or elderly. In between, the
acceptors may be well-off suits who don't see the point of taking the
technology home with them, and the unconvinced (with a high proportion of
women) just don't see the benefits. The concerned are nervous about the
technology.
'IT for All seeks to move Concerned and Unconvinced individuals (38% of
the UK population) upwards on this confidence ladder to the point where
they are ready to use and embrace these new technologies, or, in other
words, to join the growing Information Society.'
IT for All is planned as a four-year 5million pound promotional campaign
including:
- Several million copies of a leaflet 'It could change the way you live,
think, and play'
- A consumer PR campaign
- Teletext pages
- An information phone line
- An Internet site (http://www.itforall.gov.uk)
- A free 'Guide to how IT can help you' and a 'Connect to IT' newsletter
- A further free guide on 'How you can use IT in the Community' (which
DTI
and BT Labs are funding Communities Online to produce - so my comments may
not be wholly dispassionate!)
.... plus a project office which will aim to broker initiatives with
partners. It seems to me that this is where the major benefits could be
for
those interested in community applications of IT. Just walking around the
stands with displays at the launch showed the scope, for example:
- BT and ICL were showing impressive touch-screen 'kiosk' systems for
public access which can carry a wide range of commercial, public and
community content.
- Microsoft is sponsoring Family Technology Nights with Habitech and the
Parents Information Network
- The Woolwich Building Society is looking at ways in which its
sophisticated information systems might be used for public access and
community information
- IBM were showing a network computer which could provide low-cost public
access to the Net - maybe 500 pounds - ideal for libraries and community
centres
- Youthnet - with a range of sponsors -is about to launch a new Web site
with a very wide range of information for young people
The conversations being struck up between exhibitors and others suggested
many did not know what others were doing, and were receptive to joint
initiatives.
Sadly Apple Computers, strong champions of community networking in the US,
were nowhere to be seen.
The Ministerial presentations (available at
http://www.dti.gov.uk/build_is/index.htm ) showed three main motives
behind
the campaign
- Increasing workforce IT skills to make the UK more internationally
competitive
- Increasing the market for IT products
- Getting citizens online so that they can access Government information
and engage in licencing and other transaction online, so cutting costs of
paper-based systems.
In all instances Ministers referred to the need for public, private *and
voluntary* partnerships, but community and voluntary sector organisations
were strikingly absent from the event. This may be because the main
emphasis of IT for All at this stage is raising awareness and providing
direct access - not fields in which the sector is traditionally strong.
I think that gap opens up substantial opportunities for anyone interesting
in promoting the community applications of IT. Government - whether Tory
or
Labour - may well wish to work with anyone who can
- provide information that is useful to 'ordinary users' and so
demonstrate the value of IT
- promote the benefits of technology through community IT projects that
reach the Concerned and Unconvinced
- show that the Information Society Initiative is concerned about
'have-nots' and social inclusion as well as international competitiveness
and selling more kit
- form local partnerships with the private sector - supermarkets and
buildings societies as much as IT companies
It is easy to be cynical about Government initiatives like IT for All,
which offer partnership 'badges', invest in PR, talk about citizen
benefits, but don't provide direct support to community-based initiatives.
On the other hand, the Department of Trade and Industry project team have
been receptive to ideas and have encouraged Communities Online and others
to develop partnership proposals, and I sense there is an open door for
further ideas. No money, but possible brokerage with sponsors, and a slice
of that promotional budget.
There are details of how to become a partners, Ministerial speeches and
research findings on the IT for All Web site (http://www.itforall.gov.uk).
I found it quickest to turn off frames and go to the 'map of the site' to
find items. The project managers publish their email addresses, rather
than
hiding behind info@:
[log in to unmask]
[log in to unmask]
Ian Taylor, Minister for Science and Technology, writes: 'Any type of a
business or organisation, commercial or non-commercial, is welcome to
become a partner. What is required is the willingness to participate and
contribute to an existing or new project which shares or meets the aims of
the initiative'.
As I mentioned, Communities Online will be producing a booklet on
community
use of IT early next year with DTI and BT funding, and we hope to organise
an event to bring together public, private, voluntary and community
interests to coincide with that. Meanwhile content for the publication -
and more - is on our Community Internet Forum Web site:
http:www.communities.org.uk. It is still under construction, but has a
fair
number of articles and a new list of UK local projects.
I would be interested to hear from anyone who would like to contribute to
the booklet and/or Web site, or is interested in promoting community and
voluntary sector opportunities in the IT for All campaign.
Regards
David
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
David Wilcox, editor, Communities Online
13 Pelham Square, Brighton BN1 4ET, UK.
Tel: +44 (0) 1273 677377. Fax: + 44 (0) 1273 677379
[log in to unmask] http://www.communities.org.uk
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
|
