I've talked a lot about the power of how digital media and direct to consumer will start to penetrate the mass market over the coming years – but for early adopters that time is most definitely here now.. If you are a retailer or reseller in the Entertainment sector – you better hold on to your boots and have some very smart thinkers helping you shape where you play a part in the Digital Future..

Microsoft's approach last week to release Grand Theft Auto – The Lost & Damned Episode 1 - as a download only to XBOX Live may have gone under the radar by most – but to me that was the discussion that I had with Sony’s Playstation division back in the days prior to the launch of the PS2 – where I talked to them about broadband penetration and when Sony could deliver a D2C proposition. Back then although we knew that broadband would penetrate – the idea of avoiding a retailer and delivering direct to the consumer over the internet was in someway a bridge to far. The games were GBs in size it could take days for it to come down the pipe. FFWD to 2009 and Virgin delivers 50Mb broadband speeds now – and technology is such that we can deliver a progressive download that delivers enough of the game for the user to start playing before its downloaded entirely. I had another challenge for Sony back then was – “Pay as You Play” I had thought that by that time would the kids of that generation really care about having a stack of games that cost them £50 that they may either play until their eyes bleed or – actually play a few times and then lose their money as they trade it back in – why not let them pay as they play – slicing up the game in such a way that they have 20% of the game for £10 – and as they complete they move on to the next step – I also showed them that in effect a £50 game would now become £60 actually costing more if the user ended up playing the entire game – as well as delivering hidden elements, community aspect, more maps and levels that – heaven forbid could be designed and adapted by other developers by opening up parts of the games SDK? (Look at Nintendo’s Wii Ware as a close example) – This was of course back in 1999!!!

 So FFWD onto 2009 10 years later – and I tip my proverbial hat to Microsoft for entering this space with such a high profile game such as GTA – just as music retailers watch their physical formats vanish from their stores – and deliver direct to a consumers PC – the entire games industry is moving this way slowly and steadily. Next step I hope that we can work with the Movie studios to deliver Worldwide Premiers of movies direct to peoples homes – think of all the people that cant get out to cinema because of children, disability etc.. – as per the above business model – say to a consumer – pay £25 for a “Golden Ticket” and then deliver the Worldwide Premier of Batman – WOW what a compelling offer for the consumer – almost creating an “at home event” friends family around the 50” HD LCD then as its hits the cinema {{ BEAMED DIRECT TO YOUR TV}} – this would help the business model of the movie industry where they will start to see a diminished set of sales as we all move into digital movies – and as per my first example – why have a stack of plastic? – stream the movie and I’ll pay to watch it when I want to – therefore why do I need to purchase more plastic to watch it once or twice if I'm feeling that way inclined…

These ideas to some are futuristic and way off – maybe because in part its down to peoples perception and understanding on where these new business models are and monetisation – however the technology, ideas and a whole new host of business models are already here!! Albeit rattling around within frustrated futurists and strategists that are speaking but seems that no one is (or wants to listen)

Whilst working and thinking around what new possibilities can be attained by the pending IE8 launch - wanted to try and push the boundaries of how and why we use Internet browsers - and from that in 2009 and what is the latest trend around e-commerce and web browsing.

Ladies & Gents let me introduce you to "nano-browsing"
Nano Browsing is a term that we have devised as an “extremely small” browsing experience - where you use tools such as the new IE8 web slice technology (Mozilla has a similar experience) and rather than having a simple cut or slice of the metadata tendered and saved - you start to make this much more dynamic and ultimately browseable. The user experience should not be compromised though and still deliver an experience no matter how small with the end user in mind allowing them to do the basic functions within this environment.

Add to the mix the IE8 "accelerator" and suddenly you can search based on a keyword, someone else's website - neat to a point - however use a spot of nano-browsing thinking and this simple comparison tool suddenly becomes a real richer nano-browsing experience. Start to delve deeper into the page that you are looking for comparisons and look for much more rich detailed metadata, such as the image itself or even the image itself with colour recognition (something like the Idée method) and you have an all together greater nano-browsing experience.

Looking on more detail of the "web slice" it will sit within the favourites on the browser bar - however have that in a concertina effect, dynamically update the slice when changes to that product ID are created and alert the user to the fact that there are changes within their slice.
How much of an experience is that for your customers that really goes beyond a traditional wishlist - and without visiting the website you are instantly aware of a price change, low stock or out of stock. The user can get into their slice and nano-browse their selection and the point here is to prompt, promote and push them into action "only 2 left, I'd better buy them now!!"

This leads nicely onto how the end user purchases the item(s). Tradition and current thinking is that you push the user back into the main website - allowing the user to run through the traditional means of e-commerce (log in or register.. etc..) WHY?
Just because we are used to this - time to move this much mooted and in a lot of cases clunky experience and bring micro e-commerce into play. We have discussed micro distribution a lot last year – and looking forward to more of this in 2009 - (just as an aside the recent move from MTVN to block their APIs and the embedded video player in peoples blogs, sites etc.. is somewhat confusing – they now want to push people to only MTV and not enjoy a video experience within the location where the user landed – goes against the grain of micro-distribution and as such a loss in terms of penetration and viewers) we will push the boundaries of nano commerce and micro e-commerce where we can start to deliver a checkout experience from within a banner size or simple DHTML flyout. Keeping the security elements as such that we can deliver a secure experience for both the consumer and the reseller. However this brings other challenges such as micro payments – why the need to pump your credit card into a site each time – the old adage around wallets will come out again – but thinking more around simple integration from PayPal, mobile number – this way keeping the amount of data to an absolute minimum – but at the same time allowing speed of transaction and convenience.

The example here would be something like I have arrived on a website that I found – however I know that just a single right click away I have a similar store set up to compare against. I right click the image which has both metadata as well as colour recognition – and delivers me a similar and comparable product  that has been designed to show me price and stock availability. The company that delivered me the comparison also has micro e-commerce built in there as well. So I can buy it direct and with my mobile number short code (which I set up as I shop with them a lot) I have gone through a simple quick direct e-commerce transaction on a competitors website without ever leaving and going to my favourite store.

This can also be the same for micro distribution – lets take the Fox Family Guy example. Where I have arrived on my friends blog who is showing daily clips of Family Guy direct from Fox. I watch the episode snippet (normally 10mins or so) love it so much that my friend has also implemented the micro e-commerce functionality to allow me in a tasty concertina effect from one screen to the next – I can check out and have a link with reciept delivered to my email account. Where I download the content and using my unique ID unlock the content and enjoy. I am assuming that FOX has already put all the content in the cloud already protected – and can only be unlocked after a HEX Key is delivered – the file itself can be delivered either with or without DRM. The content storage is what is secure in the fist instance – so when a request of the dynamic URL is requested there already is a record of the transaction – then once the content is downloaded this sits with the content owner to either DRM or non-DRM. Not forgetting my friend who also got a nice kickback from eyeballs watching the snippet – he also gets a kickback from the transaction..

The world of nano technology has just arrived on the web – time to embrace it and reach an ever wider audience without breaking a sweat – as your biggest fans and advocates are the ones that are pushing and promoting your content. The micro e-commerce part is handled by the end user embedding the code into their site, blog or Social Network page… It just works…

Want to see an example? Post a link soon… ;)

While I applaud any government that has a digital outlook and digital strategy – I also have to look at why it is being produced, for who’s benefit and what the salient points are from it! I am very sceptical around Governments that have “Ministers for XXXXXX” that in fact have no real understanding of the issues, risks and dependencies. They will get in “experts” consultants to help advise and shape what the output should be. Ultimately there is then the element of self interest, self-justification and self-promotion – which within a Democracy such as ours – the Government should be for the people by the people.

The full Government document can be downloaded here however there are 5 key objectives for Digital Britain – they are:

Digital Britain: Five objectives

1. Upgrading and modernising our digital networks – wired, wireless and broadcast – so that Britain has an infrastructure that enables it to remain globally competitive in the digital world;
2. A dynamic investment climate for UK digital content, applications and services, that makes the UK an attractive place for both domestic and inward investment in our digital economy;
3. UK content for UK users: content of quality and scale that serves the interests, experiences and needs of all UK citizens; in particular impartial news, comment and analysis;
4. Fairness and access for all: universal availability coupled with the skills and digital literacy to enable near-universal participation in the digital economy and digital society;
5. Developing the infrastructure, skills and take-up to enable the widespread online delivery of public services and business interface with Government.

So let me begin by having my annual POP at the BBC and why in 2009 it MUST be broken up and given distinct roles or responsibility and commercial accountability. The BBC as the Digital switchover dawns can or should have such a monopolistic strangle hold on broadcast (in terms of radio & television) as well as it’s ongoing technical development and delivery. Also look at this objective..

ACTION 20
We are inviting the BBC to play a leading role, just as it has in digital broadcast, through marketing, cross-promotion and provision of content to drive interest in taking up broadband. With other public service organisations, the BBC can drive the development of platforms with open standards available to all content providers and device manufacturers alike.

So why do I still object whole heartily to the ongoing development, funding and technological advancement of the BBC? The document pours praise, appreciation and on-going support and justification for the Corporations dedication and commitment to the Digital Landscape – and ultimately a Digital Britain. However, as I have voiced in the past – as many other agreed / and disagreed with me – I am all in favour of a certain ratio that we have public service / funded programming that has objectivity as well as entertainment at its core. It must fall in line and protect the investment and quality of both its output and its diversity. Paying an individual a constant higher rate as it “benchmarked” against the industry and value / worth of such an individual. Not if its the BBC that is propping up the cost of such a “presenter” Equally diversification in content is also key – this means that although the cheap and easy win for the BBC is to churn out as many “reality” shows as they are seen as successful is neither a reason nor excuse to continue the onslaught of such programmes.

The technical issue that I have with the BBC and it’s continued investment and digital stranglehold on the commercial realm of others is quite simple – Reports that the highly successful and innovative BBC iPlayer actually took over 6 years and a range of costs (buried within certain areas) between £20million - £120million – depending on who you speak to! This is unacceptable and pushes out the fair-play advantage that say Channel 4 and Channel 5 face in delivering their on-demand service that will be fraught with issues and complications – that they commercially can not complete as they do not have the never ending supply of licence payers cash to prop up their development – especially at a time where ITV will either be bought out by private investment or crumble by the way-side. Channel 4 & 5 considering joining forces – Television broadcasting is changing forever with the advent of digital media and the consumers appetite for their own broadcasting and will watch what they want whenever they want it is fast becoming a reality. The BBC can not to continue to dominate and sail on through with Government nods, winks and leadership based on the licence payer (you and I) footing the bill for their continued development. The next phase of the BBCs investment, funding and technical dominance in this space codenamed “CANVAS” Not too much is being divulged at this stage as there are plans and discussions as well as contracts and NDAs all over the place forbidding people from talking about this – however with a failed Home IPTV service from BT (£200million with 200,000 subscribers) ITV on the brink of collapse, Kangaroo booted from this world by OfCom – then it makes sense then to combine an IPTV solution with all parties – compete against SKY, Virgin and others with a FreeTV offer!! Which is a slap in the face for Sky and Virgin that have been battling it out in investment, technical advancement, programming as well as working out a sound and solid commercial business model. To then supersede this with a FreeTV offer really does not inspire confidence in continued investment in Digital Britain as where is the common ground that each business competes on? SKY & Virgin will go head to head in bidding for rights to Sports, Movies, TV shows etc.. which in turn must make solid financial viability so that they can build their ad structure around this – also including on-demand services where they will look to wrap additional digital assets with this to create a create experience for the user – but also a robust finance model.

The same must be said for the ISPs and the Digital Music TAX that I mentioned in my last blog. Not only does the government talk of continued investment and growth of the ISPs service and delivery capability – it must also be guardian, police and prosecutor of the "WWW” (Wild Wild Web) Broadband will become like a utility – and so it should be. The infrastructure is sorely lacking – and the recent discussion around the £1.5 - £2 billion spend on the new BT Fibre infrastructure is of course welcomed – but be aware that the UK being as small as it is has a very very poor reputation in its ability to deliver big scale projects in the biggest of our cities – looking at the water, gas and electricity redevelopments that have been going in and around London over the past few years has been somewhat shocking to say the least. Leaving Local Councils – where some of the most infuriating and “jobs worth” people in society “work” today. We have seen so many failings in the past from all walks of the local council infrastructure (from child protection, planning, local support…) – that to allow these people lose on a Digital Britain – where not only do they stifle progression and development of technology (look at some of the 3G mobile mast decisions – both in terms of approval and disapproval of sites) these people are so out of touch with technology that to allow them anywhere near the vision of a digital Britain is somewhat worrying.

Elements of what is contained in this document (see Action 13) was hinted at by the CEO of UK Music at the recent MidemNet conference in Cannes (read my take on that here) With Feargal Sharkey announcing that the Government, ISPs and UK Music have a “plan” to tackle the illegal world of file sharing and how they can or should combat this..

I've discussed in many blogs in the past that the ISPs can indeed block specific and protocols from their service – even down to specific IP locations. Think of your Office corporate network – where you cant access social networking sites, porn, gambling or streaming music services…. so do people think that ISPs with their technology can’t do the same with customers?? Of course they can – and some have already started implementing blocking technology - “quick close the stable door…” springs to mind!! Then the cool kids at Google this week announced “New Google Tools Determine if Your ISP Is Blocking BitTorrent” so as soon as the ISPs decide to finally take some action on this the technology companies deliver a sniffer that can determine if your ISP has decided to prevent themselves from being taken to court by the copyright holders of the music industry…. The action taken and being proposed is all based around the Music Industry and what UK Music, ISPs and Government have been plotting to “fix” it. Classic that it takes almost 10 years to come up with a solution (that they could have implemented 10 years earlier) just as technology drives forward with even more advancements in data storage and transfer. Sorry its really not about the music – its about data that is being transferred around the world. The only hope just now is that people are using P2P and Torrents to enable this – but as we move into more advanced seamless synchronised services – detecting what is an illegal download and not a user who as decided to back up their music content in a cloud storage solution and syncs or downloads the content to another of his devices will be impossible to track.

However what everyone failed to look out for is that by installing a sense of fear in innocent people who are no longer sure what is legal or illegal while using the internet – as well as restrictions, what they have looked at and ultimately downloaded. Take a mum who finds a knitting pattern that is posted on a chat forum – she downloads the pattern and uses the pattern. Now with all the hype and scare-mongering from all corners the pattern was copyrighted and the IP belongs to someone – however an unscrupulous Nigerian gang starts sending blanket letters informing the householders that “illegal or copyright protect content has been downloaded via the users IP range” – they will use the common 192.168.1.X – to show that they know it is them (of course this is the default for wireless routers in most peoples homes – as well as its easy to find out BT, Virgin etc.. range of IP addresses) “and will demand that a payment of £800 and confirmation that they will no longer take part in illegal downloading of content” the scared user coughs up and suddenly the knitting pattern that she downloaded with her friends has just cost her £800!!! Don’t think that it wont happen – it already has!! There is also the matter of perhaps someone looking at Porn, Gambling, Images etc.. the letters will be worded in such a way that it will put fear into anyone who is unaware of what is happening – a scam.

It does however throw up that knitting pattern, it is someone's copyrighted material, as are images, JPEGS, photos, blogs… the list is endless  - the internet is full of wonderful information – that copyright must be protected and respected – but at what cost and who ultimately pays the price for this? UK Music and the Government think that with Music the ISP should be liable in the first instance unless they levy a charge to their users where information will be passed to the rights holders to take action! Yes piracy is stealing and there is a core of users that will continue to kick against the norm and feel that it is their right to share everything for free – and when I mean a minority 1million in the grand scheme of the world wide web is of course a minority – torrents will start to vanish this year – and be completely gone by 2010. Governments, ISPs and lobbyists will pat each other on the back that they have succeeded where other failed in their attempt to curb this “disease” – Meanwhile the sharers will have multiple accounts set up where they will share even more content with even more vigour and speed than ever seen before.

However as before will the relevant powers that be wait 10 years again to curb this new way of file sharing – or will they come quicker to the people that understand this area better than the rights holders, Governments and other lobbyists who get so hung up on the passion – that its music, its art, its our creative industry – yes it is, but take a step back and realise that your problem is actually a technical one – as un sexy and unglamorous as it is – data is being copied and distributed – what that data is, is irrelevant to a technology company, they have the technology and understanding to fix the issue.

Anyway – I will dissect the document (there are 86 Pages!!) in more detail – of which as I mentioned at the start of this Blog – more than delighted that we are shaping a unified digital vision – and know a few people that play apart in that shaping – who are very intelligent and smart people – however if there is any hidden agendas or other Lords who for a bung would, allegedly, change legislation – then the Digital Britain will not be as wonderful as us Futurists have been predicting!

I have been asked a lot recently by friends, colleagues and others within the struggling retail sector what is the future and how can both large brands and smaller boutiques stores sustain and survive on our traditional high street?

I don’t have a magic wand or full raft of advice here to deliver the answers to make the UK high street take a hockey stick curve in the right direction – I do have my own thoughts (which i have been talking about for a while) and perhaps now is the time to start putting this into practice before we see another wave of high street brands vanish forever.

First off I think that the UK needs to review its own internal workings rules and regulations. For that you need the government to make some significant and momentous shifts in its thinking and understanding that the world - and in particular to this blog – the UK Retail High Street is a very different place compared to what it was 5 years ago. We all enjoy the convenience and benefits of online shopping and this is a trend that will continue to grow with the new breed of technology and consumer electronics making it even easier for consumers to shop, browse, compare and buy from the comfort of their sofa – why on earth would you need to venture out? There is of course a whole other conversation about online retail and where e-commerce moves into over the coming 12/24 months where again we will see a significant shift in that sector as well – I’ll keep that for another time though…

So what can the Government do that is not just a quick fix that we have to pay for eventually (I’m talking about the VAT cut) this has not really had the seismic impact that either Gordon Brown or Alistair Darling had hoped for – really? Plenty of people warned that when it was announced – perhaps big ticket items that a 2.5% cut in VAT would show a reasonable return for the consumer – but when consumers are spending less and watching what they do spend – the nominal VAT cuts they were seeing didn't have the same impact. A few pence here and if you were lucky a couple of pounds on the Christmas shop – but even then the consumer were cutting back some what on that so there is no real definitive argument for against the positivity that the consumers saw on their big Christmas shop.

We move into February with more unrest and threat of high street closures due to, and quite rightly too, the consumers lack of confidence in either the economy or their job security – so they will be more cautious of what they spend their money on. However we are in that never ending spiral that we must get out of quickly and make some positive steps to halt this and make the UK High Street a sustainable and vibrant place again.

How?

Firstly Government action – the continued (and often debated) archaic trading laws need overhauling NOW! BERR have always outlined the practice “Small shops with a floor area of up to 280 square metres (3,000 square feet) can choose their own Sunday opening hours. But they must be aware that staff who work on a Sunday may have special employment rights.” The limit of Sunday trading hours, sq ft size impact etc.. is unjust in this climate and in fact in 2009 is there really any other justification for the restricted Sunday trading. A complete overhaul would bring a more relaxed and sedate environment to the high street, as well as a longer time to browse and goodness knows even buy some goods. The BERR is headed up by Peter Mandelson and needs to address this sooner rather than later. I recall having fines from Local Councils when I was managing retail stores due to my store running over its allotted Sunday trading time limit! Why? I stayed open as consumers were still wanting to shop and spend their money in my store – so i wasn’t going to kick them out – every sale counted back then – as I'm sure it does even more so now. However as I recall there was some uproar from the Church leaders around Sunday trading – being “a day of rest”  yes that may well have been the case in 70’s & 80’s when online retail wasnt invented and people couldn't shop 24/7 if they wanted to… So the Church argument in a multi-cultural, multi-channel UK does not stack up!

Next is the BCSC that helps shape the landlords and business unit holders with the retailers. This is a key issue as more and more high street and shopping centre units become vacant the initial reaction is to increase the rates or rent elsewhere to make up the shortfall. There has been an on going debate between retailers and commercial landlords around what is right and wrong in the current climate. However again I can only go on my own retail experience – where at the height of the high street in early 90’s there was a flip side where landlords would significantly increase their commercial rents and rates as the demand for space was so high that the old adage of greed crept in and an increase in rental would benefit the commercial landlords – as well as a hefty price hike in shopping parking spaces etc… This must be a key piece of work for Michael Green & Jeremy Collins to really work with Commercial Landlords, Retailers and Local Council to review the current state of the “High Street” and act appropriately, correctly and without the incessant need of “what's in it for me” If Commercial Landlords continue to increase rents, while local councils push up rates and town parking become astronomical then we may as well mourn the demise of the high street now. We need to act in a positive and pro-active manner to establish the high street as a place of community and commerce where big brands can and should sit comfortably side by side.

This is the final part of my own take on the Retail High Street – while we would love to see Pete’s Butcher Shop, Frank’s Fishmongers sit along side Tesco Metro & M&S Food Halls – there doesn't seem to be that level of optimism or opportunity for these types of stores to thrive and flourish. A number of causes for this could be a lack of confidence that how can they possibly compete with the might of Tesco or M&S etc… Rent and rates are too high, the only available unit / location for me is in the wrong area of town… all these are perfectly valid points and again this is down to local councils, town planning and rejuvenation of the local high street. I have spoken to a few local councillors and their inept and lack of understanding on this subject is somewhat shocking to say the least. These bureaucrats need to have a lesson on high street rejuvenation – that doesn't involve creating yet another out of town complex that the big named brands may or may not move into – again they will look at the “what's in it for me” issue again and make a poor decision based on their own thoughts and views. I must stress here that not all local councils are like this – but a vast majority are – and in part of the rebuilding of a successful and thriving high street it requires everyone to be proactive and take responsibility. So I think that over time the high street will become an almost desolate landscape during the final downturn of 2009 – however if all the points above are carefully thought through and planned and agreed we will see a new emergence of UK Retail High Street in 2010 that will be very much in the vein of what the high street was supposed to be “Community & Commerce” local being a key driver. Local in terms of support, jobs, produce and products and a sense of pride that brings the dawn of a new era to the high street and to retailers to bring that passion and sense of community back to the fore.

However – lets not forget that retail as we know it is changing and will continue to change forever - nothing we can do to stop or change it. We need to embrace and work with and ultimately its in a small number of peoples hands to start to turn things around – get these achieved correctly and you will start to see the UK Retail High Street turning in the right direction – and if they don’t……

Microsoft now seems to be following in the footsteps of Apple with their Mobile Me service – with their My Phone service. I can only cover my eyes in advance of what could or could not happen. One would have to hope that the powers that be use the great Live Mesh framework that I am enjoying (yes I do use and like some of Microsoft's technology) however looking at the list of what you CAN do – actually reads more like what you cant do:

What information can I back up on Microsoft My Phone?

• If you have an active connection with Microsoft Exchange server (which is frequently used for corporate e-mail), My Phone will not synchronize your contacts, calendar appointments, or tasks.
• If you have Windows Live installed on your phone, it will synchronize your Windows Live contacts with the Windows Live web site, and My Phone will synchronize your other contacts to your account on the My Phone web site.
• If you have an external memory card and selected My Phone's recommended settings, information on the external memory card will not be synchronized.
• If you store contacts on the SIM card provided by your mobile operator, My Phone will not synchronize these contacts.
• If you have any documents stored outside the My Documents folder on your phone, My Phone will not synchronize these documents.

So great.. As the world of mobile and converged devices moves quickly into the realms of delivering applications that people would use across devices – Microsoft delivers yet another howler! Perhaps Microsoft don’t get the memos that the rest of the technology world gets and acts upon – look at Zune for a really bad execution of a CE MP3 player… and yet they still try to move ahead with DRM and the Zune experience

Oh yeah and the biggest stumbling block is that you must have a handset that is running Windows Mobile 6+ OS. Even though the last report showed that Microsoft were severely losing the battle to RIM, Apple (MS lost 3% growth YoY while Apple enjoyed a 300+% and RIM 81% increases YoY) – and with Google and Palm coming back harder than ever – I’m not sure that Windows Mobile really has a distinct future in the realm of the converged device. Steve Ballmer discussed the converged device at this years CES – therefore why push an application at a failing mobile OS – where you should be opening up the service to compete with Google and Apple – by making their service available on ANY handset. If in the end it is simply a secure website that is storing all your data (just as O2’s Bluebook as a poor example) should be as simple as synchronising data that is on your device – make it simple for the user to, at a touch of a button, back up all the data that they deem important to them.

Anyway – I will hold judgement on this until all the details are out – I’m sure my colleague JT will have his own thoughts on this – but first read through doesn't deliver any sense that Microsoft are getting the mobile space at all and what consumers really look for with their converged device – especially with a 200Mb initial “free” limit on data!! Goodness were into 32Gb mini-SD cards now – and as Ballmer talked about converged devices an initial 200mb limit isn't really going to cut the mustard!

I read, watched and shook my head in utter shock and despair at the way the Britain “coped” with the recent and continued snow falls of yesterday and today. I think that looking at the way the current infrastructure is set up – no matter if its snow, rain, heat or UFOs – the United Kingdom is stuck in a legacy that in comparison to the recent Digital Britain – really is cause for concern.

Firstly lets look at what happened in the early morning of Monday when the snow was falling? Co-Ordination, communication and updates should have been a vital part of that process. I would have to assume that ALL councils were on high alert gritting, salting and clearing the roads throughout the night as the snow fell? However was there any new technology on board these gritters that were plotting their path via Google Maps for example – routes agreed and mapped out in advance based on historical data, alerting and commenting on where there were real black spots (or should that be white spots!!) Where roads were cleared and stayed clear – would have given the local authorities the knowledge that the A310 was cleared and the battle with snow on that road had been won – however the A3 up to junction 2 had been cleared and good for use - however there is deep snow and icy conditions that require more work – this would have alerted the “base” that John on Truck H1 would not be onto his next route – due to extra work being required…

All this data would be sent back to base where this could then be mapped, and then sent around to any one who needed it – from local radio stations, television etc.. again share and update the communication.

Then we move onto schools and other local services – where was the vital information there? Where was the direct access and update if schools were opened, buses were running etc.. nothing… What happened was the power of social networks and great communication. Twitter, Facebook etc.. all posted updates and routes to avoid as well as areas that were clear – without the communication from your fellow commuter, traveller or family – there would still be big gaps in what was happening!

Then we saw the effect of a very poor web infrastructure where the websites of nearly every train and bus company just crashed! Where was the live feed updates, pull the home page and replace with simple up to date information on trains running – instead they all just crashed! Leaving commuters and travellers in disarray as they didn’t know what was happening. Again where was their “event” plan if some kind of incident – whether elements or disaster that kicks in when the traffic to the site reaches a certain threshold that means that the site must move into "incident” mode that delivers key data – move the site off to another branch of servers – say in the cloud so that the main site is in reserve – or vice versa! Either way this just showed the lack of planning by these companies.

Then we move on to the workers themselves – in 2009 there is still this stigma around “home working” in that its just a skive or an easy day. Never mind that there are millions of people who in these eco-aware and financial astute times – realise that they have the same abilities and connectivity to carry out emails, online meetings, VPN to actually be more productive that suffer a 6 hr commute in wintry conditions – that could well have put themselves and others at risk as they attempt to show employers that old fashioned resolve – as well as fear factor that we are seeing just now. Current economic climate is giving way to longer hours and pushing themselves beyond acceptable behaviour in order to secure their job. When this comes to dangerous wintry conditions this is just crazy – and doesn't help that the media jump on this with scare headline as £1.2billion lost as 6 million take the day off! – So based on the number of trains running, how many people couldn't get into Central London for example – some bright spark worked out that number of people missing x average daily rate = Lost business!! Good God!! how pathetic and antiquated – I know hundreds of fellow workers that were snowed in – and within minutes had re-arranged meetings, connected to my VPN, did a video conference on some software with others from around the world – and all this before 90% of my fellow commuters even made it in to London stuck on a jam packed train that took 3hrs to travel a normal 1hr journey! So actually the people that attempted to get into London were probably the ones that lost their companies money – and not us that fired up our laptops from home – but according to the media of course we were all having a “day off”!!

So then after that – you have to consider that the Digital Britain initiative that the government launched last week – connecting people at home to the internet is easy – changing how companies embrace technology and use it to the benefit of everyone is much harder.

Final anger and frustration at the media – the scaremongering in recent months with the economy and then today with the blast at people not commuting into work – again this is their ignorance of what home working has become in 21st Century – however these are the same companies that are seeing the death of the traditional newspaper and working out ways to deliver their content online – shame then that no one is reading their RSS News feeds – because they all have the day off playing in the snow…