[HLUG] libdems Monday 19th September

[dicegeorge at hotmail dot com]

Libdem Policy Paper: Preparing the Ground
http://www.libdems.org.uk/autumn_conference_papers.aspx
Executive Summary
Liberal Democrats believe that Information Technology has the power to
transform our society by empowering citizens, improving and extending
services, creating new businesses and enabling innovation. In order for the
potential of IT to be realised fully, it is essential that everyone is given 
the
opportunity to benefit from the digital revolution.

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Monday 19th September  motion to libdem conference...

 Preparing the Ground: Stimulating Growth in the Digital Economy 
(Information Technology
Policy Paper)
Federal Policy Committee
Mover: Dr Julian Huppert MP (Chair of the Policy Working Group)
Summation: To be announced
Conference believes that IT has the power to transform our society by 
empowering citizens,
improving and extending services, and enabling innovation. Conference 
therefore endorses
the proposals in policy paper 101, Preparing the Ground: Stimulating Growth 
in the Digital
Economy, to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to benefit from the 
digital revolution by:
A. Creating a fair environment for innovation and business.
B. Improving digital inclusion and skill levels in the population and in 
government.
C. Reducing regulation and red tape.
D. Safeguarding the essential freedom of the internet, while ensuring the 
reasonable.
E. Protection of individuals and businesses.
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Conference in particular welcomes the paper's proposals to:
1. Create a focus on growth in the creative industries by:
Option A:
a) Supporting the rights of creators to benefit from what they do and make.
b) Targeting government policy at helping existing businesses grow and 
supporting
innovative start-ups.
c) Repealing sections 3-18 of the Digital Economy Act, which lack a robust 
evidence
base and democratic legitimacy.
d) Setting up an independent review of the true impact of file-sharing on 
the creative
industries to establish more clearly the relationship between illegal 
activity and legitimate
sales.
Option B:
a) Recognising the importance of and protecting the intellectual property 
rights of
creators.
b) Targeting government policy at helping existing businesses grow and 
supporting
innovative start-ups.
c) Reducing red tape, repealing sections 17 and 18 of the Digital Economy 
Act, and only
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implementing other sections (especially 9 to 16) if and when there is a 
robust evidence
base and democratic legitimacy to justify so doing.
2. Protect the essential freedom of the internet by:
a) Putting in place additional safeguards for online freedom of speech.
b) Making it clear that the Government will not allow a two-tier internet, 
and will hold to
the principle of net neutrality, if necessary through regulation.
3. Create a level playing field for business by:
a) Broadening the definition of research and development tax credits to 
apply better to IT
research and development, and ensuring that they are more accessible to 
small and
medium-sized businesses.
b) Taking a leading role in establishing links between universities and the 
creative
industries.
c) Suspending IR35 in order to gather more data on permanent abolition.
4. Restore the ownership of data to citizens by:
a) Establishing the central principle that data should belong to the 
individual to whom it
refers.
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b) Making all government data consistent with open standards, and ensuring 
that all
public data belongs to the nation.
c) Ensuring that all data is held securely within its specific department, 
and cannot be
accessed by other departments without passing established levels of 
authority.
d) Returning to elected representatives (typically the Secretary of State 
concerned) all
decisions relating to the balance between liberty and security.
5. Close the government skills gap by:
a) Establishing a new government office, encompassing the work of the 
current Chief
Information Officer and staffed with experts in the IT field.
b) Ensuring that all procurement policy and oversight of major IT contracts 
across
government is channelled through this office, thereby promoting 
interconnectivity.
c) Driving up experience and skills in the Civil Service and local 
government across all
departments by encouraging all staff above a certain grade to undergo a 
period of
initial training upon appointment, which is refreshed annually.
6. Improve digital inclusion by:
a) Ensuring that all appropriate public services are available online and 
are accessible by
an average retail mobile phone.
b) Working with the telecommunications industry to make government services 
and data
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free to access via mobile phones and on public wi-fi networks.
c) Accelerating and improving the roll-out of faster broadband by promoting 
online
government services and working with industry to improve infrastructure 
where
necessary.
7. Stimulate political involvement by:
a) Encouraging Parliament to present information on its business that is 
aimed at
members of the public, not procedural experts.
b) Introducing online public consultations during the writing stage of the 
legislative
process.
c) Giving citizens the right to petition government at all levels, and to 
receive a
proportionate response from decision-makers.
Applicability: Federal, except 3 b) (lines 35-36), aspects of 5 b) and c) 
(lines 50-54), and aspects of
6 (lines 55-62) which are England only.
Mover and summation: 16 minutes combined; all other speakers: 4 minutes. For 
eligibility and
procedure for speaking in this debate, see 'speaking at conference' on page 
13.
In addition to speeches from the platform, it will be possible for 
conference representatives to
make concise (maximum one-minute) interventions from the floor during the 
debate on the motion.
See 'interventions' on page 11.
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