Posted: 15th Oct, 2009 By: MarkJ

Ofcom, as part of the governments final Digital Britain report, has formed a new consortium for the promotion of
Digital Participation, which among other things will seek to boost the take-up of UK broadband services. It is also a part of the
Race Online 2012 initiative by the Governments Champion for Digital Inclusion - Martha Lane Fox.
Stephen Timms, Minister for Digital Britain, said:
"The benefits to being online access to online health, financial, recruitment and communication services can significantly enhance a persons quality of life both economically and socially. I am pleased to be part of the Consortium for the Promotion of Digital Participation which will lead this project to ensure all the UK can enjoy the benefits of the internet for a brighter digital future."
The Consortium for the promotion of Digital Participation is obviously only in its early stages and will initially focus on increasing the number of people who can access the Internet. It will later encourage people to change their attitudes and behaviour towards digital communication technologies by providing information, motivation and support to become engaged in a Digital Britain.
It’s all good news of course but we can’t help but shake the feeling that all of these new initiatives are starting to jumble together into one big pile of political and bureaucratic mess filled with plenty of words and yet eerily short on practical promises. The work of the Consortium will be evaluated by Government after 12 months and the outcome of that will probably depend upon who is in power at the time.