DEPARTMENT FOR
CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT News Release (058/09) issued by COI News
Distribution Service on 16 April 2009
Technology and
communications experts will debate how best to equip Britain for a
digital future, at a Digital Britain summit in the British Library tomorrow.
Speakers including telecoms CEOs Ian Livingstone, Neil Berkett
and Ronan Dunne, technophile Stephen Fry, Universal Music's
Lucian Grainge, Johannes B. Larcher from Hulu, Hirouki Hishinuma
from the Japanese Government and Will Hutton, Chief Executive of
the Work Foundation, will join 250 industry leaders to address how
to secure Britain's place at the forefront of the global
digital economy.
Culture Secretary Andy Burnham, Business Secretary Peter
Mandelson, Sly Bailey (Chief Executive, Trinity Mirror) and John
Fingleton (Chief Executive, Office of Fair Trading) will deliver
keynote speeches.
Stephen A. Carter, Minister for Communications, Technology and
Broadcasting said:
"The health and success of our digital information and
communications sectors are crucial to the future strength of
Britain's economy. In the interim Digital Britain Report, we
set out our ambition to fully exploit the shift to digital technology."
He added:
"This summit will bring together some of the leading
thinkers in the Digital Economy. Their views on how to develop our
infrastructure, develop our content and creative industries and
keep pace with international competition will be invaluable as we
finalise our thinking over the next two months."
There will be four panel discussions to debate the key challenges
set out in the interim Digital Britain Report:
Fixing the Plumbing: preparing for tomorrow's digital
networks today
Expert Moderator: Francesco Caio, Vice
Chairman, Nomura International
Panellists: Neil Berkett, CEO,
Virgin Media, Ronan Dunne, CEO, Telefonica O2 UK, Ian Livingston,
Chief Executive of BT Group, Stuart McIntosh, Competition Partner, Ofcom
Infrastructure issues will determine the UK's readiness to
fully exploit the dramatic shift to digital technology, and
require that our wired and wireless communications and
broadcasting networks are upgraded to maintain our position and
meet our ambitions.
The New Digital Arms Race:
Panellists: Stephen A. Carter,
Samuel Sun, CEO, Huawei Technologies,
Hirouki Hishinuma,
Director for New Competition Policy, Ministry of Internal Affairs
& Communications, Japan.
While UK Plc is internationally
recognised as being strong in digital technology, other countries
are increasingly making the development of a digital, knowledge
economy a centrepiece of their own economic development. This
session will look at different approaches around the globe to
achieving a successful digital economy.
Promoting the Poetry: joining the dots between creativity and
digital content
Expert Moderator: Anthony Lilley, Chief
Executive, Magic Lantern Productions
Panellists: Lucian
Grainge, CEO, Universal Music, Johannes B. Larcher, Senior Vice
President of International, Hulu, Dan Hon, Co-Founder & CEO,
Six to Start
Jess Search, Chief Executive, Channel 4
Documentary Film Foundation
Whilst digital is creating a
richer, more colourful world for us all as consumers, it is also
bringing new challenges for content creators.
Being Digital: Equipping our society for the digital
future
Expert Moderator: Andrew Chitty, MD, Illumina
Digital
Panellists: Will Hutton, Chief Executive, The Work
Foundation, Lynne Brindley, Chief Executive, British Library,
Caroline Thomson, COO, BBC, Stephen Fry, Broadcaster &
Technophile
The average British adult spends almost half of
all their waking hours using the services of the communications
sector, so the Digital Britain initiative is not simply a question
of economic competitiveness, but also of fairness. We need to
ensure that everyone can connect to the digital economy and that
its benefits and advantages are available to all. This means
ensuring that all have access to the skills to participate
effectively; and that the content and services available provide
everyone with a good reason to take part.
The summit can be followed online at http://www.digitalbritainforum.org.uk.This
will include a link to the live video stream of the event so you
can follow proceedings and submit comments as well as questions
for the speakers and panel.
Interested parties can also follow
proceedings via twitter at http://www.twitter.com/digitalbritain
or tweet questions to @digitalbritain.
The discussions will inform the final Digital Britain Report
which will be published this summer.
Notes to editors
1. The full agenda can be found at http://www.digitalbritainsummit.co.uk.
2. Background information and the interim Digital Britain Report
is available here: http://www.culture.gov.uk/what_we_do/broadcasting/5631.aspx
3. The interim Report highlighted a number of areas where further
detailed analysis was needed. New reports have been published
today. Government welcomes the work that has been put into these
reports and will consider them carefully, along with the other
input the Government has received, in preparing the Final Digital
Britain Report this summer. They can be found here: http://www.culture.gov.uk/what_we_do/broadcasting/5942.aspx
Public enquiries: 020 7211 6200
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