Minister leads VIPs on digital fact-finding tour of Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire
Hilary Benn, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, will meet with IT entrepreneurs in Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire today to show how digital technology is transforming rural economies and lifestyles.
The tour, arranged by the Commission for Rural Communities (CRC), gives IT companies the opportunity to see firsthand how access to digital technology is crucial to realising the full potential of rural businesses. It is the latest in a series of successful Rural Experience visits designed to give senior executives a unique insight into current rural issues.
The delegates will hear the hopes and concerns of rural businesses as the Government pursues its commitment to provide universal access to broadband by 2012. They will first visit The PhoneCo-op in Chipping Norton, the UK’s only telecommunications co-operative, to discuss regulatory issues before moving on to Everyclick in Moreton-in-Marsh, a search engine which enables online charitable giving. Delegates will also visit Oasis, a specialist tent hire company who have relocated from a cow shed at the bottom of a Gloucestershire garden to a business park in Moreton to take advantage of a faster, more reliable internet connection.
Speaking ahead of the visit Hilary Benn said: "Technology has helped rural entrepreneurship to grow, and broadband is transforming lives, communities and jobs.
"I know that broadband is essential for rural communities and businesses. I will make sure that access for rural areas is a central part of government plans for the future of broadband."
Dr Stuart Burgess, Chairman of the CRC and the Government’s Rural Advocate, explains: "Broadband take-up is growing quickly in rural areas as more and more people realise the potential of the internet to connect them with vital services and markets. Inequalities remain however, especially in the speed, quality and cost of services. Today’s event demonstrates the creative ways people in rural communities are using digital technology, whilst also explaining the opportunities still waiting to be exploited.
"The future of broadband in these areas is a serious issue. Rural areas have seen some of the steepest rises in unemployment rates and high-speed, reliable broadband is essential for people looking for work and accessing benefits, and for businesses targeting new markets and seeking to reduce costs.
Dr Burgess concludes: "The companies we are meeting today are typical of many up and down the country who are bringing imagination and innovation to the challenges of rural unemployment and remoteness from essential services but they can’t meet these alone. Public sector investment is vital to ensure that rural areas are not left out of plans for future generation broadband. Everyone attending today’s event has a part to play in achieving this and I am delighted that so many key industry figures are able to experience for themselves the creativity of rural communities in meeting these challenges."
