IN THE week that Lord Carter published his Digital Britain report, we’ve seen the widespread and diverse use of digital communications technology, from rallying political opposition in Iran to helping police trace missing persons in the UK.
The same digital technology that provides tennis fanatics with real-time updates from Wimbledon to their mobile phones also allows Jenson Button’s pit crew to calculate that he had no chance of victory in Sunday’s British Grand Prix within seconds of the field completing its first lap at Silverstone. Clearly, for some people, the Digital Age is already in full swing. Lord Carter’s report draws attention to some pretty startling digital facts.
For example, three-quarters of British households will be online by the end of the year, according to research from the regulator Ofcom. The UK sits in 11th place in the global broadband league, with 28.5 broadband subscribers per 100 inhabitants, according to statistics from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. The OECD’s list was topped by Denmark at 37.2 subscribers per 100 inhabitants, with the Netherlands at 35.8 and Norway at 34.5.
That’s fair enough.
Less satisfactory for a country facing a £6 “broadband tax” is the fact that massive disparities in internet usage between the different age groups exist in the UK. Ofcom’s Media Literacy Audit from last month showed 64% of 16 to 24-year-olds uploaded photos to the internet, and 54% had a personal profile on a social networking site. Of the over-60s, however, only 25% had uploaded a photo and just 4% had a social networking profile.
The top use of the web for the over-60s is as a communications tool – mostly through email – with 62% of older web users saying they use email to communicate at least once a week. That compares with a national average for web users of 76%. The over-60s do, however, use the web more for news – 22% check the web for news at least once a week, compared with 21% of 16 to 24-year-olds, and a national average of 24%.
Ofcom’s recent survey showed 42% of adults without broadband at home cited lack of interest or need as their main reason for not having it, rather than cost. Many said they thought the web was just for the young.
These figures demonstrate the extent to which education is still needed to create a truly Digital Britain.
DIGITAL SLOW LANE: P8-9
MATT JOHNSON is chairman of Mando Group.
