Knowledge Economy

HC Deb 13 December 2000 vol 359 c168W

14. Mr. Simon Thomas

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what steps he is taking to support the knowledge economy in Wales. [142015]

Mr. Hanson

The Government have three overarching goals for the knowledge economy:

• To make the UK the best place in the world for e-commerce by 2002;
• To achieve universal access to the internet by 2005;
• To put all Government services online by 2005.

This year, through the Budget, the Spending Review, and UK Online, the Government have already put in place a number of initiatives, in addition to existing measures, aimed at meeting these overarching goals. These measures will help to support the knowledge economy in Wales as well as the rest of the UK.