September Panel meeting
19 September 2009
This month the Panel devoted a good chunk of our meeting time to developing, what we have been calling a framework for digital participation. We want this framework to provide an overview of what different groups of consumers need to get online and make the most of being online - everything from the motivation to take a look, through accessible products and services, to the skills to create content and participate in e-exchanges. (You can find an early version here, but it has already changed a lot). We want this framework to start from the consumer perspective, which is why we have rooted it in research; in particular, the deliberative research we did on the future of communications and the work Ofcom has done amongst those not yet on the internet, have influenced the shape of the framework.
We hope this framework will be used by everyone who will be involved in supporting consumers and citizens in getting online and deepening their digital engagement. We think using the framework will help to ensure that the work that is done meets consumer and citizen needs and priorities - so we have less of what policy makers and industry want to tell us, and more about what we want to know and learn. We are already discussing the framework with the people we hope will use it and once it is complete we will publish it and use it to inform what the Panel says about all the digital participation and inclusion work that is going on.
The Panel also had discussions with Ofcom teams about the complaints and ADR review and the Mobile Sector Assessment. We had just received the results of our own mobile coverage research among consumers and were able to share early thoughts on this with Ofcom. The research confirms the importance of network coverage issues for consumers and small businesses. It will be published in the next couple of weeks, so watch this space.
We also reviewed our work on superfast broadband (NGA) and agreed an update of the paper we published on local NGA schemes. Finally, we did a quick stock take of the work going on under the Digital Britain banner, especially in relation to the legislation that will affect Ofcom's future duties, bearing in mind that any change in Ofcom's responsibilities raises issues about the role of the Panel.
Anna