Information society : agenda for action in the UK : evidence received after 31 March 1996 / Select Committee on Science and Technology.
- Great Britain. Parliament. House of Lords. Science and Technology Committee.
- Date:
- 1996
Licence: Open Government Licence
Credit: Information society : agenda for action in the UK : evidence received after 31 March 1996 / Select Committee on Science and Technology. Source: Wellcome Collection.
54/324 page 356
![23 April 1996 ] [ Continued — encourage private sector investment, with Government funding aimed at facilitation and promotion . of the right environment and ways of living and working. The DTI Information Society Initiative is an encouraging start. — provide support services such as training, technical expertise and administration for the users and implementers of the new services. INWARD INVESTMENT An open approach to regulation should encourage the development of new services and thus inward investment. However, this inward investment should not be favoured or subsidised at the expense of established UK businesses. Government should exploit its power to ensure reciprocal market openings for UK companies overseas. In general a company established and owned in the UK provides greater benefits to the UK economy than those controlled from overseas. UK GLOBAL INTERESTS The Information Society involves global markets in which, thanks largely to the benefits of liberalisation, the UK has some particular strengths. Global competition on a truly level playing field will be vital. Communication services liberalisation must become a reality in the EU in 1998 and apply to all players, not just telecoms. Reciprocity in the opening and development of markets should be a key factor in international negotiations. We must accelerate the rate of development if we are to stay abreast of other regions. A clear vision of what can and should be achieved by the UK over the next decade should be developed and facilitated, but not directed, by the Government. Rigorous implementation and enforcement of EU and worldwide open markets will be required. This is an area for energetic and forceful action by the UK Government. NETWORK COMPATIBILITY Standardisation and compatibility issues are being addressed in many national and international fora. The Government and regulators should encourage support of these bodies and concentrate on encouraging open interfaces across commercial domains and in particular to information content. ACCESS TO GOVERNMENT INFORMATION Special emphasis should be placed on the Government as a user—bringing the superhighway directly into millions of people’s lives—in areas such as health, education and social services. The Government’s expertise makes it uniquely well placed to stimulate specific sectors of the economy and move the superhighway from concept to reality with knock-on effects elsewhere. We recommend a concerted search for government applications that could be put out to open tender. Government funding of these applications would encourage the rapid development of the supplier community which could offset development costs for later customers. SECURITY OF PAYMENT AND VERIFICATION OF INFORMATION These issues must be agreed in principle at international level and detailed implementation driven largely by commercial fora. There may be failures but the winning payment systems are likely to be more efficient and robust. A system of key depositories and public key certification may be needed. DATA PROTECTION, CONFIDENTIALITY AND CENSORSHIP Intellectual property rights, copyright and data protection laws must all be kept or brought up to date, but not reinvented for particular services and technologies that are constantly changing. Censorship, for the protection of minors for instance, tend to vary in scope and application from nation to nation—a distinction which the superhighway ignores: This has given cause for concern. There is a trend towards “self censorship”, where service providers enable users to control or block access to particular services. This is eminently more practical than any Government attempts to impose detailed controls. These matters should be the responsibility of service providers rather than network operators.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b32218631_0054.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
