Tory Party launches Technology Manifesto

The Tories believe that high-speed broadband is imperative to the UK's future

The Conservative Party launched its Technology Manifesto today, outlining its position on the digital agenda in the run-up to the general election later this year.

Chief among the proposals is a commitment to providing 100Mbit/s services to the majority of the UK, which the party argues will be 50 times faster than those proposed by Labour.

Shadow culture secretary Jeremy Hunt said that providing high-speed broadband is imperative to the UK's future economic position.

"Our ambition is to ensure that the next generation of Googles, Microsofts and Facebooks are British companies, and to achieve this we need to ensure that we have a superfast broadband structure," he said.

The Tories will open up access to government data sets on request, which it claims will provide a "multi-billion pound boost to the UK economy".

The Manifesto also outlines plans to create a level playing field for government IT procurement projects by making them available to smaller service providers and vendors as well as large multi-nationals, in order to "break up large IT projects into smaller components".

The Labour party has faced significant criticism in the past for its IT projects, particularly those in the NHS, where it has been accused of wasting billions of pounds.

"Our proposals will make the UK the most technology friendly government in the world, introducing a right to government data, extending superfast broadband, and offering a more level playing field for small firms," said shadow Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude.

The launch of the Manifesto has drawn mixed reactions from rights groups and consumer organisations, as well as technology companies.

Jim Killock, executive director of the Open Rights Group, welcomed the news that the data sets were to be released, but said that any disconnection policies would be "totally contradictory" in the light of trying to build a future dependent on the internet.

"The Open Rights Group calls for [Tory leader] David Cameron to ditch support for disconnection, which would kill open Wi-Fi, damage businesses and libraries, and punish the innocent," he said.

Tristan Wilkinson, director for the public sector in the UK at Intel, and a member of the Digital Inclusion taskforce, approved of the ongoing debate between the political parties competing to demonstrate their technology credentials.

"We need serious policies that enable innovation to flourish and thrive, and we must focus on fast action in order to avoid being overtaken by other nations. Let us not allow the dividing line being drawn between the parties to become a digital one," he said.

Mike Wilson, broadband manager at Moneysupermarket.com, welcomed the Tory Party's continued pushing of 100Mbit/s broadband for all, but warned that it is important that the entire population benefits.

"It is imperative that the rollout of 100Mbit/s does not deepen the digital divide. The government and Ofcom will need to ensure that providers offer competitive packages, as high-speeds won't be as attractive if they're accompanied by a high price," he said.