The Story Unfolds
Nottingham as a Core City
Connectivity Digital
Led by: Accelerate Nottingham
The problem:
Information is the crucial 21st century commodity, as important to our future prosperity as coal was in the past. It allows individual businesses to be more competitive, helps to create clusters of interdependent industries, and it supports economic growth. Much of Nottingham is covered by broadband, but the infrastructure is still piecemeal. Some sectors cannot afford the high bandwidth they need.
The answer:
All sectors need to acknowledge that we need a high quality ICT network. We must work together to plan and implement it. Accelerate Nottingham - a public/private partership - is developing the Connected Nottingham brand for ICT investment. Projects include Connected Communities providing a service to Learning Centres, and the WiCity network of wireless internet "hotspots" - already up and running in over 100 bars, cafes and at both universities. The eBusiness training project will teach small companies how to trade on the internet.
| Action | Who leads? | Timescales |
|---|---|---|
| Develop partnership to promote ICT | Accelerate Nottingham | ongoing |
| Develop demonstration pilots, like WiCity | Accelerate Nottingham | ongoing |
| Ensure that physical regeneration plans include ICT provision | NRL / City and County Councils | ongoing |
| Give internet trading training to businesses | Accelerate Nottingham | ongoing |