Jeremy Hunt speaks of the Government’s “big commitment” to the creative industries and its “tremendous excitement at the top level” about the potential of the sector.
Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport outlines his commitment to making Britain a digital superpower by 2015, his concerns over piracy, and the need for a regulatory framework which will help to build a strong UK digital infrastructure.
Speaking at an exclusive Q&A session at the IAB hosted by Navigate Digital, Jeremy Hunt, the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport today spoke of the Government’s desire to support small businesses – what he called “the lifeblood of the creative industries” – and explained that the creative industries are at the forefront of government policy. Hunt also warned against “putting all of our eggs in a financial basket”, and instead focused on the importance of investing in the creative industries.
Hunt praised the UK’s film, TV, music and advertising sectors and expressed pride that the UK is “probably the second best country in the world in the creation of digital content”. He also likened the current time to the Pax Britanica, the period of British imperialism after the Battle of Waterloo when the British Empire controlled most of the key naval trade routes, leading to a period of overseas expansionism. “The internet is opening up a new global trade route,” he argued. “If we get this right we will be very well placed for the future”.
Speaking of his desire to give the creative industries a “central role”, Hunt argued that it would be essential for the Government to work on “developing the best digital infrastructure in Europe”. Hunt argued that the reason the UK was lagging behind other countries in the broadband race was that there was currently not enough investment in next generation broadband. “We are committed to Britain having the best superfast broadband in Europe by 2015,” he said. “If we are going to allow our creative industries to expand we will need speeds to improve.”
Looking to the future Hunt went on to explain that advertising would play a key role. “When accessing the internet on TV, innovations in advertising are going to be incredibly important.”
As part of the Q&A session, Hunt took questions from a range of industry experts from media companies including Channel 4, Sky, Yahoo! and Google. Tackling the issue of piracy, Hunt explained that this was a major concern for the Government and spoke of “the need to create an environment where the marketplace can function”. This he said was “crucial for the creative industry to flourish”.
Discussing the ASA’s recent decision to extend its digital remit, Hunt explained that he believed this could be a good thing for the industry. “This should be a positive step, providing it’s done in a sensible light touch way,” he argued. While recognizing that “parents have real and understandable concerns” about online advertising, he explained: “Hopefully this won’t prevent the emergence of new advertising models. We want to be the country where new models emerge first, not where they’re stopped from emerging.”
On the subject of online privacy, Hunt argued that “the model for businesses must be transparency and openness with your consumers”. He also spoke of the need to “allow internet companies to make money.” Sharing his experience of working on Hotcourses – the internet based company he established in 1996 – Hunt argued that “it’s very hard if you’re setting up an internet company from scratch to monetize content”.
Looking to the future, he also spoke of his desire to develop a more entrepreneurial spirit in the UK. “I would like to have a generation of more gutsy entrepreneurs in this country,” he explained, before going on to argue that this would only be achievable by making Britain open to trade with other countries. “The lesson of the 1980s and 1990s is that we need to be open,” said Hunt.
Guy Phillipson, chief executive of the IAB, said: “The IAB welcomes Jeremy Hunt’s digital vision for Britain, in particular the Government’s focus on getting the right regulatory framework for the digital economy to flourish. Advertising has a very significant role to play in helping fund content and services online as well as supporting creativity, enterprise and innovation. We therefore welcome Jeremy’s support for the sector and his commitment to a light touch regulatory framework.”
To see pictures from the event, click here.
