…or even decide that seeing as the UK Government has hidden the reboot switch – perhaps its now time that old "’Blighty’ switched the whole thing off, brought in some new hardware, OS, software and tools (metaphorically speaking of course this means remove the current Government – and replace with what……..?)
Now I’m not going to deliver this as a distinct political blog – but with Digital Britain (Lord Carter – cut & run) and yesterday Reboot Britain, there just seems to be this constant knee jerk reaction that in this current economic climate, the “easy” money is “what those Americans did in Silicone Valley, they made a lot of money…” So to save the UK’s economic downturn we should become Southwark Valley for the world to see, and in return deliver untold billions of traditional US $$ into the UK economy – thus creating jobs and a thriving technical and innovation centre!!
To me that seems like a complete kick in the teeth to the already countless UK Entrepreneurs that have made their way in Retail, Travel, Engineering (Branson, Dyson etc..) and for the countless start ups that had great ideas, but twinned with the traditional British “stiff upper lip” and the immense greed that I always see in the UK (the What's In It For Me gang!) means that a lot of ideas just fade away due to lack of continued or sustained investment, interest or again greed where some UK / European VCs looking for a massive chunk back within a ridiculous timeframe – and the biggest impact the UK’s total attitude to FAILURE – if your start up fails for whatever reason, hang your head in shame and never darken our door again – or even better just hang your head from London Bridge so the world can see how crap your venture was?!?!?!
I just don’t subscribe to that idea at all – allow growth, development, sustainability and innovation – instead hang the greedy fat cats from London Bridge and let business leaders help, not city “gamblers” that will never understand a complex business model if it slapped them in their face! This should also be aimed at the current UK Government and the swathe of Civil Servants that are just stuck milking the system (just like the majority of UK MPs and their expenses) with no real answers or solutions to some of the issues facing the UK and how collaboratively we can address these and overcome the problems.
There were plenty, and I mean plenty of passionate, highly vocal and intelligent people at the Reboot Britain – all speaking with a similar tongue that the UK Government had a chance to really set out its stall and show the world that the UK is undergoing a transformation from its traditional output – to one of revolution and innovation. To do this they will enlist collaborative groups from within specific sectors and verticals that will help shape, define and ultimately deliver the infrastructure and tools required for our next generation to lead the way, while allowing this generation to feel that they are part of a UNITED Kingdom (the key that Government missing is in the title – if we are united then we can succeed) Instead the Digital Britain report was full of finger in the air guesses, disparate factions (again WIFM) wanting to have their say to ensure that they can overcharge the UK Citizens, milk the coffers for all their worth, and in the end actually deliver a piss poor offering – I’m not going to mention any names in here – but they all know who they are and continue to this day to milk this country dry and do a bad job in the process!
Lee Bryant of Headshift, said it perfectly in his inspiring talk that the 20th Century is over and that we are still governed, managed, run and talked AT from 20th Century values! It is of course the 21st Century (actually were almost approaching the first decade) – and yet we have not moved on that far at all. As our social spheres get wider and we talk and collaborate more, our Government thinks that we still need to know when to stay out of the sun, how to apply sunscreen and to wear a hat. This dictatorial, keep the citizens in check – no longer works! At the other scale we see around 0.03% of the Iranian citizens decide that their voice is not being heard and that after so many years of being told what is the status-quo, decided to stand up and say no more!! Using Twitter as their voice to the outside world for help, pleas and to make it be known what is happening within their country. Of course this will never happen here, British people are not like that, but there is the ever growing next generation that will not just take it – they are not of the “being talked to” generation and its for them that the Reboot Britain, and Digital Britain must work…
However there are a certain percentage of the population that has no internet, 17million to quote a figure from Martha Lane-Fox, of those 6million are banded in the lower social class that she is now going to be their champion and get them online and give them the skills that they need to flourish… I like Martha and what she did at Lastminute.com (even though she probably sold at the right time it was a 1st generation web that now is neither relevant or innovative) and she is riding on her noble steed to bring these people into the 21st Century – very admirable indeed, but is this Martha or Government initiative? Just as Alan Sugar’s role in Government is also politically focused, rather than actually be of use or value. Again I like Alan Sugar and what he did in the 80’s – but as a business is he relevant now? NO – he is an old dog / guard of the Thacher’ite 1980’s and did very well out of it – and now he makes his continued cash flow from property investments and not as a shrewd business magnet delivering innovation on the scale that we saw with Amstrad. So Martha, my concern is for those 6 million people, that there is something more fundamental at stake here – and it has nothing to with having web access. They need training, skills and education – yes I agree whole heartily – and there needs to be better support to enable these people to seek out these tools that can start to enrich their lives. It is more than that as well, where do they live, what amenities are available for them locally, what conditions are they living in, do they have enough money for food, heating, clothing etc.. will them having a £100 Free PC and 2mbps broadband help them? No they will probably worry about how much electricity it’s using, worrying that someone will nick the PC, worried incase this new internet world will get them hooked on online gambling (remember these people that are at the bottom end of the spectrum will look for a quick way out of their situation, and the ease and speed of gambling sites can get them on a path to ruin.
So what should Martha be doing – firstly she shouldn't be doing this on her own – get support from PC companies, Software partners and people that can help continue the UK Online Centres around the UK. I overheard some Civil Servant at the Reboot Britain saying, “these bloody centres never make any money, and they cost a fortune to set up” I looked at him and thought, as most of us did that day, another 20th Century thinker! This should not be about making money, unfortunately it always is, but by creating more of these local Centres, you create local community hubs where people can go to learn skills, meet for a chat, advice and help, training. These centres need to be supported by the massive corporations that made billions from their software from the likes of you and I – who were privileged to be part of the internet revolution at the end of the 1980’s – we paid our money to have these tools and access – and now the same should be given to the people that have not. I do not think that you should have a mandate to ensure that the 6 million people MUST be on there – as I’m sure there are more pressing issues with them that must be addressed first – but allow them access to understand and learn.
The worrying thing here – is as I talked about more local councils going digital and we can start to look at electronic polling and referendums etc.. the reason why the UK Government want these people online… Electronic benefits – again overheard a Civil Servant talking about the amount of money that they would save if this was all done electronically – and in that one sentence there lies Martha’s remit from Government, glossed over with an early web entrepreneur, as helping the poorest in our country gain the skills needed as not to be left out, or rather that there is money to be saved and cheats to be caught!!
Radical views? Controversial? Stepping over the line? Well I’ll finish this first delve into Reboot / Digital Britain with another great speaker yesterday – Charles Leadbeater - “The people who will lead the shift are regarded as renegades, mavericks and pirates” as well as a threat and occasionally MAD!
The Madman continues….