Digital Connectivity in Cities: the role of policy

The Directors of GRS attended a panel discussion in Cambridge on 14 November 2013 about digital connectivity in (UK) cities and the role of policy. Another excellent event arranged by the Cambridge University Science and Policy Exchange (CUSPE). The audience consisted of a good cross section of people of all age groups from academia, government and private industry. Everyone was made to feel welcome!

Speakers included:

Zach Wilcox, Urban Commentator and Senior Analyst, Centre for Cities
John Souter, Chief Executive Officer of the London Internet Exchange (LINX)
Haidee Bell, Programme Manager within Nesta’s Creative Economy Team
Noelle Godfrey, Project Director, Connecting Cambridgeshire

The evening started with each panel member giving a short presentation about themselves and their link with digital connectivity.

Zach kicked off by saying that connectivity is about ‘place and space’. He stated that for Knowledge Intensive Business Services (KIBS) proximity is important and therefore cities matter. He also showed a slide which cited UK cities in order of top Broadband speed: amazingly Luton was first with Cambridge second – not quite sure what to make of that!

John explained how the Internet in the UK is made up of over 42 different networks and that the key internet exchange is in the Docklands, London behind the Thames Barrier – not really a comfortable place to be! He said the UK is “horribly London-centric – I blame the Romans!” In his opinion “if you have a good idea, you have to go to London to realise it with the exception of Cambridge. Almost everything happens in Cambridge because we’re in an economic bubble”.

He also explained that, on the whole, City Councils just “don’t get it”, they seem to think that “data centres are dark satanic mills”; this “hostility to data centres is just daft”.

Next was Noelle of Connecting Cambridgeshire. She explained how Peterborough and Cambridgeshire have invested Ј23 million and have received Ј6.7 million from central government funding in order to increase digital connectivity in the region. The objective is that 98% of premises will have access to fibre optic broadband by 2015. She emphasised the speed of change in the digital age by reminding attendees that 4 years ago no-one had an iPad – makes you think!

Haidee spoke about the digital society and how citizens can (and are) shaping the future of their cities by digital means. She used www.mysociety.org as an example of how this is done. MySociety’s mission is to “help people become more powerful in the civic and democratic parts of their lives, through digital means.” Only a few weeks ago, Brighton adopted MySociety to help develop their future.

Next it was the panel discussion with questions from the audience. One attendee asked “how far will London be irreplaceable?” John responded:

“This is a political question. We’ve lost a bit of diversity in the UK. 90% of consumer broadband is supplied by 4 providers. My vision is for it to be easier for a small ISP to survive out in the regions. Scotland will be really challenging to get broadband to because no one is interested”. He feels that the danger for the future is that the UK will stay London-centric.

Another question was about trust: “how do you build trust?” (a key topic at the moment with this very subject being hotly debated in the media at the moment!) “as human beings, we do this face to face.” There wasn’t really a definitive answer to this. The general consensus was that trust models are changing but that “policy is lagging behind”. The emphasis then shifted to “digital inclusion and digital literacy” and how, if you are not digitally literate this could result in digital exclusion and ultimately, social exclusion. The panel also mentioned how people who are not digitally connected are being penalised. For example, energy prices are cheaper on line so if you are not digitally connected, you are worse off – discrimination comes to mind.

Still on the subject of trust, there was also discussion about open source software i.e. software that can be freely used, changed, and shared (in modified or unmodified form) by anyone and that “openness is the first step towards trust”.

The final comment from the audience was about telemedicine and how connectivity will be much more important to provide a more personalised service. Noelle replied that it is something the Cambridgeshire County Council are looking into especially with an ageing population: they need to find solutions.

John quoted: “We still haven’t thought of 99% of the uses of this thing” and went on to say that we “need networks to co-operate”. It was also highlighted that IBM is building platforms for better healthcare so maybe it’s a case of “watch this space”?

So to go back to the subject of the evening “Digital Connectivity in Cities: the role of policy”: it was certainly debated but there wasn’t anything really conclusive except it was mentioned that the public “need to stop electing idiots to Government”! In fact the evening ended on a question:

“Digital connectivity: what are the health challenges in cities?” May be the subject matter for a future debate?

Author: Greer Deal, Director of Global Regulatory Services