Interactive information in the home:
the potential of digital television

POSITION STATEMENT

Based on reports from Working Groups at a one-day conference for decision makers, organised by the Library & Information Commission and CoPI: the Coalition for Public Information.

Friday 10 July 1998 KPMG, 8 Salisbury Square, London EC4Y 8BB.

This conference, which was promoted jointly by the Library & Information Commission and CoPI: the Coalition for Public Information, considered the implications for libraries, and for information provision in general, of the imminent introduction of digital television. The rationale for the conference was the recognition that digital TV offered the potential in due course for delivering interactive information services, such as are currently only available to a relatively limited number of Internet users, to virtually every household in the country.

Participants heard presentations from specialists, first on the telecommunications aspects of interactive TV, and then on content issues from the points of view of commercial content providers, public libraries and consumers. Finally representatives from the Government's Central IT Unit and from BBC Education offered their perspectives. (A copy of the day's programme is attached.)

Three working groups, made up of speakers and delegates, then considered the role of interactive television in three areas:

• Providing support for lifelong learning.
• Public library networking.
• Provision of access to public information.

This Position Statement summarises the working groups' main findings.

Our Statement should be viewed in the light of two Government reports, both published eleven days after the conference on July 21 - Regulating Communications: approaching convergence in the Information Age from the Department of Trade & Industry (http://www.dti.gov.uk/converg/exec.htm) and Government Response to 'The Multimedia Revolution' (HC520-1), prepared jointly by the Department for Culture, Media & Sport and the Department of Trade & Industry.

Regulating Communications pointed out:

The fact that technologies are converging does not mean that the markets which employ them become indistinguishable. Virtually all broadcast entertainment and information services are still consumed on radios and televisions. It may be some time before most households have digital television, offering hundreds of channels and interactive services, or computers capable of receiving good quality audiovisual material via the Internet. Even then, consumers may not readily regard their TVs, radios and computers as interchangeable for all purposes.

However, the Government Response to 'The Multimedia Revolution' warned:

The overall success of digital television... could be determined by the capacity of different delivery systems, and broadcasters as a whole, to adapt to the implications of convergence and, in particular, to the transforming power of interactivity. We are deeply concerned that the implications are insufficiently grasped in this country, and that the potential to profit from them in terms of employment and trade is therefore being jeopardised.

The unknown, therefore, seem to be the time factor:

• the speed with which digital television will replace analogue, and ...
• the rate at which people will begin to use their new televisions interactively.

The Government is able to influence both of these - the first by deciding in due course when the plug should be pulled on analogue television, and the second by encouraging the rapid development of existing policy initiatives for which interactive television is an ideal medium. Among these initiatives are:

• The National Grid for Learning
• The Public Libraries Network
• Better Government

The conference working groups had these and related initiatives in mind when formulating their comments. Both LIC and CoPI would like to see these views given the widest possible circulation, as a contribution to the "widespread and informed debate" called for by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media & Sport, to help Government formulate policy on broadcasting and media convergence.

Lifelong learning

Content, and the context in which that content is offered - not technology - must drive the provision of interactive educational material provided through digital television. Quality control is essential, especially as regards provision of navigation aids, ease of use and encouraging the development of viewers' information skills. Equality of access is also vital; we must ensure that the demands of the market do not exclude minorities or the disadvantaged.

Public library networking

There will be a need for trusted service providers, and public libraries have a key marketing and communications role here. Besides being digital content providers in their own right, they must also be active in reconciling issues of privacy, censorship and regulation. Local content must be protected, and partnerships should be formed at local level to create and promote appropriate content. The arrival of digital TV emphasises the urgency of the implementation of the Public Libraries Network.

Access to public information

There may be a case for imposing a levy on commercial operators to fund public service provision. However, we recognise the important role of commercial and other intermediaries in adding value to public information and understand that the model to be adopted will be provision through trusted third parties. But the question then arises of whether the information provided will be free of charge or freely accessible but at a price.

The challenge

If we are to see all these educational and social benefits, then we recognise that digital television must first be commercially successful. The private sector has a key role to play in social and educational provision, both as a content provider and as a sponsor of public service channels. But firstly, frequencies must be reserved for interactive public service provision. We believe that there is a case for retaining some of the analogue frequencies that will eventually be freed up and using them for public service purposes, rather than selling them all off to the highest bidder.

Trusted institutions have a role

We are concerned that information literacy skills are not sufficiently recognised yet as fundamental to lifelong learning. To address this issue, there will be a need for trusted information providers and guides, and institutions such as the BBC and the public library service are well placed in their different ways to fill these roles.

However, the BBC's priorities are inevitably consumer-driven, and it depends on market research for the identification of target audiences for its output. Taking this with the fact that 90% of all digital content is likely to come from the "commercial" sector, there is a risk that minorities will be excluded.

The market cannot be left entirely to itself

So local and community digital resources will be an essential adjunct to the content produced by the mainstream broadcasters, and libraries can provide support for their development. Questions of standards will need to be addressed, and a common look and feel across all lifelong learning content would be desirable as well. We would support some form of national integration of local and community content, although we recognise that there could be tension between the desirability for common standards and avoidance of possible stifling of creativity.

Bearing in mind, however, that the market will inevitably provide most of the content, public sector agencies have a role in kitemarking content, setting and applying standards, providing navigation aids and acting as accreditation agencies. The market place cannot be relied upon to screen out undesirable material, regulate its content or protect people from vested interests - the experience of the unregulated Internet and the fact that, left to itself, the French Minitel service has been given over largely to sex lines, shows this.

Ensuring that commercial providers support lifelong learning

In local government, grants of planning permission are frequently tied to the provision of some kind of community gain. Similar mechanisms should be set in place in the allocation of digital frequencies. Commercial providers cannot by their nature deliver the full public service support required by lifelong learning free of charge. Therefore there needs to be a clear distinction between commercial provision of content and public service support. Educationalists and the library & information profession must communicate these needs vigorously and often.

Ready-made content and customers

Public libraries have an important contribution to make. Their special collections will offer valuable local information input, and they have a ready-made customer base of their own, so will be of value to commercial providers. Their services must not be technology driven, and examples of good practice in content provision will be necessary. The arrival of digital television makes the full implementation of the Public Libraries Network essential.

Community access must be protected

Regulation of content provision will clearly need to be driven by economic considerations, such as the rate at which commercial providers begin to profit from electronic commerce. Nevertheless, steps must be taken to protect local content, and potential providers will need to form partnerships at local and regional level to ensure that access to British regional and local content is guaranteed. The new Regional Development Agencies will be particularly important partners in this regard.

We must also ensure equality of access, especially to groups such as people with disabilities or ethnic minorities. Guidelines will be required on the protection of special groups' access to local and community content.

Commercial channel owners could be required to support public access - possibly through a levy - and we must consider how to influence policy in this direction. More research will be needed on the way digital TV providers filter access to information. The Library & Information Commission should facilitate debate on the issue of access to digital channels for local bodies.

Public libraries must prepare

Interactive TV will enhance public libraries' role in lifelong learning. Libraries have a role as navigators through the available services, and also in developing interaction and participation at community level. They will also need to be active in reconciling issues of privacy and censorship. Library and information services should engage in cross cultural partnerships, to exploit the expertise and collections available locally.

Public libraries must be proactive in marketing these new services to the public, and focused in determining what they want to achieve on behalf of their users. The nature of the funding bodies will provide the framework for public library services; they will have a local government ethos, but they will also be influenced by, for example, the Regional Development Agencies.

Chief Executives and Chief Librarians will need to understand the marketing role of public libraries in the digital TV context and we must engage in dialogue with chief officers to this end. The need for reskilling library staff is urgent.

Intermediaries are key

We acknowledge the position of the Central IT Unit that public information from central government sources will generally be provided not directly but through intermediaries, who may interpret and add value to their content. Interactive television services will not include a dedicated Government Channel, but rather there will be universal supply through a variety of access points. This raises the question of how to reconcile universal service with local identity, and how to ensure coverage across the full range of government departments and agencies.

Private sector organisations are already interested in providing value-added public information services, and CITU believes that there are ways of helping the social market cope with demands for information that may not be of interest to commercial providers, such as advice on homelessness. We also note that a number of models of local provision already exist, and believe that interactive digital television is an ideal medium for such services.

Government must ensure delivery

We acknowledge CITU's point that it now has effective incentives in place to ensure that government makes information publicly available to third parties. However a number of issues remain, including how to provide services where citizens still want to deal direct with government, how to break public services down into discrete transactions, and how to ensure that services develop across the whole of Europe, not just in Britain.

We also recognise that a trusted third party may in time develop a 'Government Channel' by default by aggregating content from a diversity of sources. However, we believe that it is up to Government to ensure effective and comprehensive remote delivery of public services.

Commercial success is essential

However digital television has to be commercially successful before public services can benefit, and this raises issues of the tradability of government information; does freedom of information mean that information should be free or freely available but at a cost? And if government information is to be both traded and provided through multiple variable front ends, then libraries have an essential role as access points and guides to the available services.

Pressure from citizens or consumer organisations may force commercial digital TV providers to give space to public information services, but other options include placing public service obligations in the next round of DTV franchises. In addition, we believe that there is a case for retaining some analogue frequencies and using them for public service purposes, rather than selling them all off to the highest bidder.

The Library & Information Commission and CoPI welcome comments on this Position Statement.

Chairman: Nick Moore, Acumen