Martha Lane Fox, co-founder of lastminute.com, was made 'digital inclusion champion' under the last government tasked with getting more people online, with a particular focus on the poorest six million. The Times is reporting that Lane Fox will be given a stronger role in the government in the coming days which will see her take over some responsibilities that currently lie with Ofcom, particularly the areas covering digital participation. She will also be advising on how the government can make efficiency savings through moving more government services online.
The Conservatives previously said that Ofcom would "cease to exist" in its current form under a Tory government through its aim to cut quango's, and this could be one step toward that goal of rejigging the regulator. The Conservatives want to move policy making back in to government under the control of ministers and leave Ofcom's remit narrowed to a technical and enforcement role.
great stuff. Martha is doing a great job for digital inclusion via raceonline2010, if she could take the place of ofcom and get us some decent broadband in rural areas wow, that would be good. Martha is well aware of all the problems with line length and how it puts people off going online if the connection is too weak. It has not been in her remit to do anything about it - perhaps it is now?.