Digital Economy Bill Now Act

Having been wandering about the Digital Economy Bill's status, today I found out that it was passed in the final days before the dissolution of Parliament and is now the Digital Economy Act.

The Digital Economy Bill comes out of the Digital Britain Report which was published in June last year and involved everything from the digitisation of Government services to the transfer from analogue to digital radio in the coming years. Being over 300 pages long it may not be your chosen night time read(!) but it will have far reaching consequences. You can find the full Digital Britain Report here. Most relevant to what this blog discusses is Chapter 4: Creative Industries in the Digital World as well as the discussion of privacy and safety in Chapter 7, although it is very detailed. A useful introduction to the Report's consequences can be found here.

A question about the Act also formed part of the very sparsely covered Youtube/Facebook primeministerial debate yesterday. This has had 160,000 views at the time of writing. Interestingly far lower than the TV debates...

Embracing the "bottom-up" nature of the Internet

"The companies that will thrive - the companies that are thriving - are those that embrace the bottom-up nature of the Internet culture." In the final chapter of his book Joe Trippi outlines what was learnt through the course of the Dean Campaign in the prospective 2004 Presidential election campaign, which acted as a pioneer and record breaker in use of the Internet.

As they are very relevant to business and non-profit sectors alike, I will write tomorrow in more depth on his seven points for businesses/instiutions/candidates. Trippi argues that the companies that "...make the turn[to embracing the bottom-up internet culture] will be those that figure out how to empower their customers to have a say in the products they buy and use." That as a result customers will become part of the process, naturally forming a community around the product or service. And that your company will improve for it. Customers will offer better and more appropriate ideas than your organistion alone can produce.

The idea that so many businesses and charities seem to be missing is that we the users and customers can be part of so much and can be far more engaged than at any time previously by what the internet makes possible. Where feedback can be instant. Where ideas can be discussed and improved upon without the need for formed and polished presentation beforehand. In which customers are valued and given ownership and sense of belonging. Do you agree? Are you engaging on the Internet?

What is this?

Answer: This is a space to show you and others the research that I am conducting into the use of Digital Media. I hope it will be an informative and occasionally interesting(!) mashup of formed and unformed thoughts, ideas, links and resources which come out of my research degree. For reference, the following is the working thesis title for my MSc by research:


Digital Media in a Social Networking Age: How can organisations better harness the power of an array of digital media tools, including social networks, to communicate their purpose/vision and unique message?