Martha Lane Fox launches campaign at Liverpool Innovation Park

Martha Lane Fox opens LIP's UK Online Centre with Jack Stopforth (Liverpool Chamber) & Wayne Locke (Ashtenne)

The Merseyside event was part of the nationwide campaign ‘Give an hour’ which calls on the internet savvy to give an hour of their time to discover the value of the web in an initiative to help 8.7 million people who have never been online get to grips with the internet.

The regional arm of the campaign ‘Go On It’s Liverpool’ aims to recruit 5,000 Liverpool Digital Champions who between them will help 25,000 people in the city get online between November and March to end the city’s digital divide.

Ms Lane-Fox, known for co-founding Lastminute.com in 1998, now stands as non-executive director of Marks & Spencer and Channel 4. Addressing the delegates at LIP, Ms Fox said: “It’s great to be taking part in the discussion on how the cultural and creative community could encourage the 100,000 Liverpudlians who have never been online to take their first steps, by introducing them to inspirational digital content through the Give an Hour campaign.”

Ms Lane Fox was joined in an extended discussion which was opened up to the floor by Ashtenne Industrial Fund regional director Wayne Locke, Google’s head of communications Peter Barron, Fred Mendelsohn chairman of AXM VC Limited which manages the Creative Capital Fund (CCF) and the North West Fund 4 Digital & Creative, AIMES Grid Services CE Dennis Kehoe, and director of Liverpool-based Glow New Media, Phil Blything. The forum was chaired by Liverpool Chamber of Commerce CEO Jack Stopforth.

The discussion turned from the importance of getting individuals online to look at small businesses and the role of the internet in growth. Ashtenne’s Wayne Locke said: “Having basic digital skills is essential for businesses in today’s market and we work hard with our tenants already to develop this in order for them to grow. LIP is pleased to join the campaign not only as a UK Online Centre which will help reduce digital exclusion, but also make our pledge to open our wifi and also encourage our staff to become digital champions. We will also be supporting this campaign by engaging our local business community with it.”

Professor Dennis Kehoe, chief executive of LIP tenant AIMES Grid Services, spoke about its lead in the Digital Inclusion & Enterprise Programme which provides internet access to thousands of homes in the Merseyside region.

Glow’s Phil Blything discussed the importance of Smart Phone technology and how its made the internet more inclusive for everyone. Speaking about small businesses and the vital role of getting online, Mr Blything said: “If small businesses fail to embrace the internet there’s a risk that we all end up customers of Amazon or Google, and all we end up with is a big warehouse in Warrington. That’s not an economy any of us should want.”

The Go On Liverpool Launch Panel Members are shown above. From left to Right: Phil Blything (Glow Media), Fred Mendelsohn (AXM Ventures), Wayne Locke (Ashtenne), Jack Stopforth (Liverpool Chamber of Commerce), Martha Lane Fox, Peter Barron (Google), & Dennis Kehoe (AIMES).

Ms Lane Fox added: “The whole idea of this campaign is to try and bring partners together. I really feel that we can repeat what Liverpool has done in other places around the country. Everyone benefits when everyone is online.”

Overall the event displayed a great response with a number of LIP-based businesses having made pledges on the day. These included AIMES, e-blueprint, sdesign1 and MSA Tech.
For more information on how to become a Digital Champion, visit www.go-on.co.uk/giveanhour