Gordon Brown urges Britain to embrace digital revolution
Prime Minister Gordon Brown has said Britain must take the lead in the global digital revolution in order to maintain its position at the front of the world’s stage.
Speaking at today’s Digital Britain Summit, the Prime Minister said digital creative and infrastructure could become the “backbone” to the UK economy.
Brown said, “Only by embracing a digital Britain and taking the lead in the global digital economy can we retain our competitiveness as one of the world’s leading industrial and economic powers in years to come.”
He declared the UK needs to be the flag-bearer for a digital world and must recognise the importance of the changes digital services are making to our lives.
Earlier Andy Burnham MP, Secretary of State for Culture Media and Sport, rued the demise of local media, saying that digital must help turnaround the decline of local news sources.
Burnham said, “Local media is currently feeling the full force of the global downturn, and the structural changes brought by digital technology. The continual closures [of local media sources] risk leaving local families adrift and local citizens disenfranchised.
“It’s clear continual cost-cutting is not the answer. We need to find creative solutions and models,” he continued. “Are there innovative models that work both for high quality content and for local skills development, providing apprenticeships, internships and training and work experience for budding young journalists.”
This story first appeared on newmediaage.co.uk
