Digital Manifesto How can we shape development of the internet so that it benefits all citizens - and so avoid a 'digital divide' between those who are connected,and those who aren't? To start the debate, a group of community networking experts have drafted an 'open manifesto' which will be developed through public discussion. The manifesto will then be presented to the UK Government Policy Action Team due to report to Prime Minister Tony Blair later this year. The initial suggestions for the manifesto are: 1 Every citizen, regardless of their economic circumstances, should be able to share the benefits of the Information Age - including better communications, greater participation, electronic life long learning, and e-commerce. To achieve this they should have access to local community technology centres, plus public online forums and services to create an online community. The centres will provide technical support and help 'on the ground', the forums will be 'virtual spaces' for online communities related to localities. 2 Centres and online communities should be easy to find - signposted locally, and through a national gateway. 3 Public support should be available, particularly in low-income neighbourhoods, where the market is unlikely to provide facilities on a sustainable basis without public funding. 4 Development of centres and online communities should be piloted through pathfinder projects, with community participation. 5 There should be a network and support for the local champions and partnerships who will develop the centres and online communities. 6 A virtual resource centre should be developed to provide sources of advice for local champions and partnerships, and a neutral space online for discussion of the development of centres and online communities.
Notes: 1 There is a downloadable rtf file at the 'UK Charter' BBC message Board http://www.bbc.co.uk/cgi-bin/forums/cgi?fid=271&pg=forum
2 There are html versions at http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/webwise/communities/manifesto.shtml and also at http://www.partnerships.org.uk/cyber
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