Yesterday’s Times reports on a £20m scheme to create Europe’s largest active broadband community - in Shoreditch. The Shoreditch Wired Network will bring high-speed internet along with digital television and phone lines to a huge community that would otherwise have remained on the wrong side of the digital divide. The scheme has been developed by the Shoreditch New Deal Trust in partnership with IBM.
IBM are providing set-top boxes to every household allowing previously offline households to connect to the internet through their television. This connection will also allow householders to access a wide range of local community resources, including online NVQ courses, local classifieds, GP bookings, and community discussion forums. In addition to these services, the scheme is also promoting the group buying of utilities. By allowing residents to buy utility services in bulk as a group, they will receive a sizeable discount and thus a modest gain in their disposable income. That rise in disposable income could be enough to cover the £3.50 per week (approx.) of the network subscription fee. It’s not only residents that will benefit; businesses will be able to access a wide range of network services and business support, including the ability to check CCTV security systems online.
Shoreditch is home to over 1,000+ Small-to-Medium Enterprises (SMEs), a third of which are in “knowledge economy sectors” such as design, IT and new media. Unfortunately, the area also is one of the most deprived areas in Europe - 40% of residents are “economically inactive” (ie. not making any income through work). The Wired Network aims to improve this situation. The online courses and support it will bring should help residents gain the skills they need to become part of the local knowledge economy that is situated on their door step.
The Shoreditch Wired Network is a strikingly well-rounded project, because it provides not only connectivity, but also hardware, services, and benefits to both businesses and individuals. As a result, it could turn out to be one of the most successful community broadband projects yet. The brief for the Network states that it “is self-financing and scalable outside of Shoreditch, across London and beyond". If the Shoreditch scheme is as successful as it promises, we could see similar projects across the country in the not-too-distant future.