2009 in review: Rising to the Digital Britain challenge

John Higgins: IT can deliver much needed growth to the UK economy

It is just possible that we could look back on 2009 as a turning point in the technology industry in the UK. One of the most significant events of the year was the publication of Lord Carter's Digital Britain report, which outlined plans to create a competitive digital economy in the UK.

His recommendations on opening up access to broadband and improving digital literacy were warmly welcomed by the industry. But, more importantly, the report upped the ante for policy makers on all sides. And, while Intellect is relatively neutral on what policy gets us to a truly digital Britain, I hope all parties will go into the election with that destination.

Most of what Lord Carter recommended, plus some beefed up measures to prevent illegal file sharing, has been taken up by the government, and the Digital Economy Bill, published in November, is currently making its way through parliament.

Downing Street has also committed to providing universal service for broadband across the UK, and has plans to introduce a 50p a month levy on phone lines before the election to help pay for next-generation access for the final third of households that the market cannot reach alone.

Access to high-speed broadband across the UK will be vital for our competitiveness. It will not only create a platform for innovative new businesses, but will enable the new generation of services and products to be delivered to citizens and consumers.

Meanwhile, a pervasive universal service, even at a relatively low speed, allows public services to be delivered online in ways that are more personalised to the user and at less cost to the tax payer in straitened times.

However, the present political landscape, and the prospect of a general election, have introduced an element of uncertainty into this picture. While Labour has favoured investing directly in network deployment, the Conservatives appear to be more focused on finding market mechanisms to leverage private sector investment and encourage competition across the infrastructure.

Only Gordon Brown knows when the general election will be called, so we cannot be sure whether the legislation to support the 50p levy will pass before parliament is dissolved. Nor can we be sure of a clear victory for one party or another, as the two main contenders are increasingly close in the polls.

A hung parliament operating in a recession would make it seriously difficult for any party to push through a major infrastructure project of this nature, leading to further uncertainty and delay.

The most obvious challenge for 2010 will be bringing Britain out of recession and restoring growth in the economy. While there is an expectation that we will see a return to growth in 2010, Bank of England governor Mervyn King has recently predicted that it will be late 2011 before the UK recovers to the level it was at before the recession.