One thought, and it’s a very local thought, but I imagine that this situation is replicated elsewhere…. Here in sheffield we have a number of grassroots technology centres, most prominently AccessSpace (http://www.access-space.org/) who are at the centre of trying to address digital inclusion issues. IMO, these orgs are doing an amazing job with a miniscule budget in the grand scheme of things. My slight concern is that these grass roots organisations exist almost with the sole effect (Not so sure about purpose ;)) of closing the digital divide. Whatever MLA’s do in the area of inclusion (And comparatively, MLA’s are rich organisations indeed) I hope it’s sensitive and works with community driven initiatives like AccessSpace rather than being seen as “THE solution”. To me it’s important that MLA’s recognise that there are other charitable and non-commercial groups working in this area and that input from all groups is seen as part of a greater strategy in addressing digital divide issues.

On a related note… We’ve got this ultra high speed digitial region network appearing in south yorkshire over the coming months/years… Be worth following http://twitter.com/yorkhannah for info on digital divide issues in SY… Be really interested in knowing if the MLA’s have any cool content that could actually exercise this amazing network we are building.. as my gut feeling is that we’re going to be scratching our heads for good content when the network finally goes live.

Cheers,
e.