Multimedia (Hansard, 22 November 1994)

§ Mr. Ian Taylor

I have been asked to take responsibility for co-ordinating the DTI's interests in broadband communications and multimedia for the information society. I aim to encourage the public and private sectors to exploit the technology available and to take full advantage of the opportunities emerging. By spreading the benefits to businesses and households, we can boost our international competitiveness and improve the quality of life in the United Kingdom.

In taking this forward, I want to be able to draw on the best expert opinion from the private sector. My new role will require me to get to grips with the powerful technological and commercial changes now affecting the media, communications, information technology, and publishing industries. I have therefore asked a number of senior figures from those industries to join a group which will advise me on such matters. The group also includes individuals with experience in education and health-care, since these are two of the most important application areas for multimedia.

I see the group as a collection of expert individuals rather than a representative body. I envisage it acting both as a source of ideas and as a sounding-board for some of our own thinking.

The members of this Multimedia Industry Advisory Group are:

Mr. Hayden Abbott
Managing Director, Sony Professional Products,
Europe
Professor John Arbuthnott
Principal and Vice-Chancellor, University of Strathclyde
Mr. Mark Burrell
Group Strategy Director, Pearson
Mr. David Clementi
Group Chief Executive, Kleinwort Benson
Mr. Don Cruickshank
Director General, Office of Telecommunications
Mr. Robert Devereux
Chairman, Virgin Communications
Mr. David Elstein
Director of Programming, BSkyB
Mr. John Greetham, CBE
Chairman, Yorkshire Regional Health Authority
Dr. Peter Home
Managing Director, Apricot Computers
Mr. Peter Job
Chief Executive, Reuters
Mr. Tim Jones
Chief Executive, Mondex
Mr. Nick Kane
Group Managing Director, Videotron
Mr. Robert Phillis
Chairman, BBC Worldwide
Mr. Giles Pugh
Director, Corporate Strategy, W H Smith
Dr. Alan Rudge, OBE
Managing Director, Development and Procurement, BT.

Lord Astor, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department of National Heritage, and Robert Hughes MP, Parliamentary Secretary, Office of Public Service and Science have agreed to join the group. The membership of the group may be altered from time to time.

Separately, I will be receiving advice on multimedia and information highways from Mr. Peter Bonfield and Mr. Peter Davies, who were members of the High-Level Group formed by European Commissioner Martin Bangemann at the end of last year. I will also continue to benefit from the views of the many other individuals and organisations with which the DTI has contacts.

Within the DTI, a multimedia steering group has been established to bring together the wide range of multimedia interests inside the Department. This is chaired by Alistair Macdonald, the Deputy Secretary in charge of the DTI's industry command. Mr. Macdonald will be assisted by a new multimedia unit in telecommunications division of the DTI.

These various initiatives are referred to in the command paper, "Creating the Superhighways of the Future: Developing Broadband Communications in the United Kingdom", published today.