Cameron retains Lane Fox as beefed-up Digital Champion
Gordon Brown's 'Digital Champion' Martha Lane Fox will continue in her role under the Coalition Government with an expanded brief.
Lane Fox, the co-founder of LastMinute.com. was appointed by Brown to work on getting the 10 million Britons who have never used the internet online.
Under the coalition administration, she will continue to explore how to bridge the so-called “digital divide”, but will also also working with the Cabinet Office to establish how new technologies might be used to encourage efficiencies across government.
Her role will also be to “advise and challenge” the current ways of working. "The government could save millions each year simply by doing transactions online rather than on paper or over the phone,” said Lane Fox. "Whilst helping to bridge the digital divide is hugely important in its own right, there are also compelling economic reasons why we need to get everyone online.
“There are more than 10 million adults in this country who have never used the Internet and it is my mission to get as many of them online as possible. At the moment they are missing out on the massive advantages of being online which the rest of us take for granted, including average consumer savings of over 560 pounds a year and the ability to access vital public services."
Confirming Lane Fox’s appointment, David Cameron said: “Getting online can help people save money, find a job, access services in a way that works for them, and make connections with each other and with their community. It will also help us all to drive down the cost of delivering public services”.
Source: Public Technology