UK Could Be Set To Lead The World By Becoming First Online-Society

Conference to be staged in Britain next year reveals findings of MORI survey on what over 2000 Britons think about the Internet

Survey findings announced today show the British do not think that Government is looking after their interests on the Internet and that those without Net access are at a disadvantage. The research undertaken by the World Internet Forum with MORI also indicates the crucial roles the Internet can play in education and in our relations with Europe. The responses of the 2000 plus respondents demonstrate that the British public is accepting the benefits of an Internet Britain but has important reservations.

The Government has promised that by 2008 all government services will be available online. However, when the survey asked what the UK politicians are doing to look after citizens' rights on the Internet, the picture emerges that most Britons feel it is not enough. Just over a fifth of those surveyed (21 per cent) believed that the UK Government was currently looking after the interests of Web users. There also appears to be a lot of confusion with over half of respondents saying either they did not have an opinion on what the Government was doing (28 per cent) or they just did not know (a further 28 per cent).

Following the summit on economic growth in Florence last month with President Clinton's speech on the Internet creating the world's new have and have-nots, the World Internet Forum can reveal that Britons are also concerned. The question of Internet privilege was posed before the summit took place, yet almost half of the British public (47 per cent) recognised that the Internet was creating a disadvantage in society (with only 21 per cent disagreeing). Significantly there was a difference in the answers of those working, who recognised the importance of the Internet (50 per cent agree and 24 per cent disagree), and those not working (44 per cent and 17 per cent respectively), who might currently be unable to access the Net.

The advantages that the Internet brings to learning were recognised in the survey. Three-quarters of respondents (74%) claimed that children are benefiting educationally from using the Internet in schools. Unsurprisingly the figure was even higher in households with children (81%) but what might not have been expected was that 70% of households without children could see the benefits too.

It emerged from the survey that the growth of the Internet may prove to be a facilitator in integrating the UK with Europe, an issue traditionally fraught with difficulties. More than half the British public (53%) believes that because the Internet improves international communication it will bring us closer to Europe. Furthermore, only 17 per cent of Britons disagreed. Interestingly there was no difference in opinion on this issue between those connected at home (58 per cent agree, 24 per cent disagree) and those with no Internet connection at all (58 per cent agree, 23 per cent disagree).

Derek Wyatt MP, chairman and founder of the World Internet Forum and chairperson of the all-party House of Commons Internet Select Committee, commented on the findings: "I hope that no one is surprised by the research, which indicates how quickly Britain is embracing the Internet culture. I do, however, worry that some people might be taken off guard by the results. Each of these areas, privilege, Europe and education, show how the Internet is pervading our lives currently. In particular there does appear to be a huge communication job for government, and I suspect not just the Government of the UK, to do in enlightening citizens on what they are working towards on the Internet and all the opportunities this presents."

"The World Internet Forum was set up specifically to ensure that, as governments work towards this end, they do so in a climate of shared world knowledge and business experience. This is the message that I delivered last week on behalf of the World Internet Forum to the 37 Ambassadors and High Commissioners from around the world, who gathered at the Houses of Parliament to hear what the first world forum, to be hosted in Oxford next year, will discuss."

In 2000, Britain plays host to the World Internet Forum, when 500 global business leaders will talk to 500 government officials from around the world. For four days next year The UK will be the capital of the world in debating the future of the Internet and how governments for its citizens in education, health, social security, culture and commerce.

Future annual World Internet Forum conferences will be will be held around the world. It is being organised by ICP Ltd which has a long track record in the management and execution of international events such as the British Government's 1998 EU Council Technology Exhibition and the DTI's Information Society Initiative (ISI).

World Internet Forum www.icp.co.uk/wif

Technical details

The survey was placed on MORI's Omnibus, and a nationally representative quota sample of 2059 adults were interviewed by MORI/Field & Tab across 155 constituency-based sampling points. Interviews were carried out using CAPI (Computer Assisted Personal Interviewing) face-to-face in respondents' homes between 22 & 25 October 1999. Data have been weighted to reflect the national population profile.