§ The Earl of Northeskasked Her Majesty's Government:
By what criteria they intend to measure the target of achieving universal Internet access in the United Kingdom by 2005; and whether the target is to be applied to access at home, at the workplace or in the community. [HL1357]
§ Lord Falconer of ThorotonIn March 2000, the Prime Minister announced our commitment that everyone who wants it will have access to the Internet by 2005. In doing so, he made clear that access could be at work; at home through a personal computer, digital television, games console or other devices; on the move by telephone or other wireless device; or at a nearby public access point.
The Office of National Statistics monitors Internet access and use at home, work and in the community on a quarterly basis. We will continue to track our progress against this research.
In addition, colleagues at the Department for Education and Employment have recently set up an ICT Research Centre whose remit includes assessing access to ICT by age, gender, socio-economic group, disability and ethnicity.