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.
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![23 April 1996] [Continued — Multinational corporations already attracted by the sophistication of Britain’s leading telecommunications infrastructure which also gives European and global access, will be further encouraged to base European operations here. BT’s world leading advanced global networks have a major part to play. — The manufacturing base within the supply industry will be increased since it would be well positioned to tender for supply within the UK and in export markets. — The service sector for the provision of Information Technology services will be enhanced, and a substantial new industry in this area could be created. This would include both service provision and content creation sectors. — Leading edge R&D capability will be created in multimedia, broadband and opto-electronic technologies, which could replace the traditional stimulus from the UK defence sector. — Anincreased capital investment programme would create employment by direct stimulation of the economy. The UK telecommunication supply industry has already shown itself to be internationally very competitive in this area with the encouraging development of small start-up companies. — Employment prospects for groups such as people with disabilities would be very much enhanced. Greater access to information for those currently least able to access it will be possible and the barriers of discrimination will be reduced. Those physically unable to get to an office, for example, can work at home. Extrapolating forecasts for the US would suggest that UK GDP can be enhanced by up to £12 billion over a 12 year period, provided that Government removes the regulatory inhibitions on investment, and encourages users to adopt broadband technology. This extensive range of benefits has now prompted international awareness of the potential value of information networks. Any nation that invested in such a network would see benefits. However, we would expect that there would be considerable disadvantages to those that committed late: lost opportunities in establishing a manufacturing base; a worsening in balance of payments through technology imports; a reduction in size of the service sector involved in information provision; and a reduction in overall GDP as large multinational companies locate in countries with a superior infrastructure and expertise. Question 8. Is the dominance of mass-market US software a threat or an opportunity? What hard commercial initiatives can be made (as opposed to “collaborative” ventures such as RACE or ESPRIT) to respond to this dominance? Software is taken to mean information content such as films and books as well as applications that run on computers. INFORMATION CONTENT SOFTWARE Open access to the global information superhighway will increase greatly the information from overseas (eg US films and TV programmes) readily available within the UK. Rather than the imposition of quotas or restrictions on overseas material, however, UK content creators should be encouraged to exploit their skills and make full use of the opportunities arising in the UK and overseas to deliver their material. APPLICATION SOFTWARE The relationship between the Microsoft Network and the core Microsoft Windows products is a major concern. Microsoft appear to want to exploit their dominance. Regulators within the USA are paying attention to this potential abuse and the UK Office of Fair Trading (OFT) should do so as well. There is little reason why UK companies should not emerge as market leaders in the area of Internet software, if they have a world-class product. The Internet removes geographical boundaries and the US becomes an easily accessible market from the UK. The area is therefore a huge opportunity if we make an early entry, or a threat if we are late. f _ Hard commercial initiatives can only spring from true competitive advantage. BT itself has a number of initiatives which it will seek to develop worldwide. The Government can encourage such initiatives, and work with our global trading partners to ensure that the equivalent of Fair Trading rules are strictly applied.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b32218631_0056.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
