Digital Britain report

I have been reading the Digital Britain report www.culture.gov.uk/images/publications/digital_britain_interimreportjan09.pdf

which is certainly to be welcomed. It takes a ‘whole population’ approach rather than specific sectors and has things to say about media literacy and also copyright which is not surprising as Andrew Gowers, the author of the Gowers report on copyright,  is a member of the Steering Board which produced it. Although an interim report it offers definite actions.

There are a number of welcome quotations:

p.5 ‘ The necessary education, skills and media literacy programmes to allow everyone in society to benefit will be from the digital revolution will be a central part of the Digital Britain work and will be a key to our success’

p.5 ‘Five objectives for a Digital Britain’ include:

• Fairness and access for all: universal availability coupled with the skills and digital literacy to enable near universal participation in the digital economy and digital society 


• Developing the infrastructure, skills and take-up to enable the widespread online delivery of public services and business interface with Government.

An encouraging emphasis on skills development there.

p.11 Actions 11-12 proposes a Rights Agency to bring industry together to agree how to provide incentives for legal use of copyright material. The need for copyright education for consumers is also advocated. I wonder how it can be done. Is there a role for public libraries here?

p.13 Action 22. ‘We will ask Ofcom to make an assessment of its current responsibilities in media literacy’. The need for a national Media Literacy plan is also mentioned.

p.16 calls for an ‘information rich interaction between the citizen and the provider – health and education are good examples’.

p.63 tackles the  education and skills agenda by identifying three categories of skill:

• Digital Life Skills – needed by all


• Digital work skills – needed by most


• Digital Economy Skills – needed by some

While on page 64 the need to start education and training for digital life skills at a young age is emphasised, together with appropriate teacher training which fits in rather well with the early years work which we will be doing with Learning and Teaching Scotland. The needs of socially disadvantaged young people need special attention. There is also a section on media literacy which draws heavily on the Byron report.