Digital Britain

Citation

U.K. Department for Culture, Media and Sport & Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, Digital Britain Final Report (June 2009) (full-text).

Background

"In October 2008, after a decade during which some felt that the UK government had failed to respond promptly and in a coordinated fashion to the advent of online trading, websites, 3G networks, broadband, etc., the government launched an initiative called Digital Britain. The aim of Digital Britain was to survey and analyse the current state of the UK's digital communication infrastructure and economy, and to ascertain what the UK needed to do in order to retain a competitive edge in those areas. This initiative culminated in the 'Digital Britain Final Report,' which was published in June 2009."

Overview

Digital Britain outlined the U.K. Government's strategic vision for ensuring that the United Kingdom is at the leading edge of the global digital economy. The report contains actions and recommendations to ensure first rate digital and communications infrastructure to promote and protect talent and innovation in its creative industries, to modernize TV and radio frameworks, and support local news, and it introduces policies to maximize the social and economic benefits from digital technologies.

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A world class approach to digital security, built on a safe, secure and resilient cyberspace, will bring significant benefits: UK networks will be seen as safe and reputable (where perhaps others are unreliable or more vulnerable to criminal exploitation); The intellectual property of businesses, universities and other institutions, which underpins a knowledge economy, will be better protected; Businesses using UK networks will gain a competitive edge in the global marketplace; UK citizens and business will prosper as the volume of business transacted securely online continues to increase; UK citizens will have greater confidence in public service transactions, thus yielding efficiencies and cost savings; The businesses that have delivered secure functionality will have opportunities to sell their services globally on the back of UK success.

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