§ Mr. David ShawTo ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement of the work his Department has carried out in the last 12 months in making information about his department available to the public via the Government world wide web server known as "www.open.gov.uk" and his plans and policies to make additional and new information available electronically on the server in the next 12 months. [34685]
§ Mr. Ian TaylorIn his speech to the Institute of Directors super-highways conference on 14 June 1995, my right hon. Friend the Member for Henley (Mr. Heseltine) announced the launch of the Department's own Internet server on that day, containing publications and practical information such as the DTI guide for business, ministerial speeches, DTI command papers, and so on. This is known as "www.dti.gov.uk" and is complementary to the CCTA GIS Server "www.open.gov.uk", which has made information available since last autumn. Due to the nature of the world wide web, these connect seamlessly to each other. To date, there have been some 9,000 inquiries to the DTI server.
I am encouraging the Department and others to consider making greater use of this medium, not only for the supply of information—such as export opportunities, scientific reports, DTI services, and so on—but also to enable more efficient and effective methods to be employed in the collection of data from industry, for instance, in order to award licences. The DTI has one of the largest internal E Mail networks in the country and increasingly our dialogue with industry is being enhanced by the use of electronic mail. My own office now regularly corresponds with people outside the Department via the Internet.
My E Mail address is "taylor @ mintech.demon.co.uk"