§ Mrs. RocheTo ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement on the operation of the two pilot schemes running in Manchester and Harlow under the information society initiative. [30728]
§ Mr. Ian Taylor[holding answer 4 June 1996]The information society initiative pilot local support centres at Manchester and Harlow are both open. The Manchester centre, based at the national computing centre, was formally opened on 13 February and the Harlow centre, which is based at the Harlow information and technology training centre, ITEC, was opened on 19 March 1996.
Both have facilities for businesses to get "hand-on" experience of using the Internet, world wide web, etcetera for commercial purposes, to encourage electronic commerce, and provide advice sessions and training courses for small businesses. Both are working with local business link partnerships in the development of services. The Manchester centre has been running training course for business link advisers and counsellors.
458WA countrywide network of local support centres will be established over the course of the information society initiative.