Manifesto for a Networked Nation

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Created on Sunday, 11 July 2010

Today Race Online 2012 publishes its Manifesto for a Networked Nation.  This Manifesto is a rallying cry for us all to create a truly networked nation – and a chance to get millions more people online by the end of 2012.  An Olympic legacy that would benefit us all – this is a challenge for people and organisations in every sector and in every corner of our country to work together to inspire, encourage and support as many new people as possible to get online by the end of the Olympic year.

The 10 million people in the UK who have never been online are already missing out on big consumer savings, access to information and education.  They will be even more isolated and disadvantaged as government and industry expand ever faster into digital-only services.  We must change our mindset from one that shields people from using the internet to one that helps empower them to get online and enjoy all the benefits. We cannot wait for new technology solutions or for better and faster infrastructure.  We need to recycle and join up our existing infrastructure to exploit the assets and the skills that we already have.

We need to be ambitious, ‘think internet first’ when we design services, and put the needs of the hardest to reach at the heart of industry, charity and government.  There is a social and moral case to make sure more people are online but there is a clear economic case too.  We will all be better off when everyone is online. I hope that you read this manifesto and feel inspired to help build a stronger UK.

For more information and the full manifesto doc please visit http://raceonline2012.org/manifesto