91Èȱ¬

The 91Èȱ¬ is stepping up its commitment to helping people get online and bridge the digital divide, the 91Èȱ¬'s Chief Operating Officer Caroline Thomson will announce today.

Speaking at the Digital Britain summit she will announce that Seetha Kumar will become the 91Èȱ¬'s first Online Access Champion.

Seetha will be tasked and resourced to make sure that the 91Èȱ¬ plays its full part in helping more people take advantage of online services. The new role complements Seetha's current responsibility for running 91Èȱ¬ Online.

Caroline Thomson will also announce that the 91Èȱ¬ will convene an online access forum, building on the 91Èȱ¬'s existing relationships and partnerships across the sector.

The forum will focus on how – by working together and leveraging the 91Èȱ¬ resources – greater online access can be achieved among the estimated 17 million adults who are still not using computers and the internet.

She will also tell the Digital Britain summit that the 91Èȱ¬ is conducting new audience research to gain a deeper understanding of why different groups do not use the internet, and what more the 91Èȱ¬ can do to stimulate take-up.

She will pledge to share that research with government, Ofcom and other bodies working in the field.

In his interim Digital Britain report in January, Communications Minister Lord Carter called on broadcasters and in particular the 91Èȱ¬ to help increase digital access. The 91Èȱ¬ believes it can use its strong relationship with audiences to make a real difference in this area.

Caroline Thomson will say: "The 91Èȱ¬ needs to make a step change in the way it delivers its online services to ensure they build the widest possible public value. We have a strong presence in the online world. But we've not always done all that we could to use this presence to help bring people online and drive access to wider content.

"With Seetha's new role, we are determined to do more to attract hard-to-reach groups online. There's also more we can do to encourage access to content beyond the 91Èȱ¬: from enabling higher traffic from our website to others; to opening up the iPlayer to other broadcasters; to sharing and syndicating 91Èȱ¬ content more widely."

The announcement builds on existing 91Èȱ¬ efforts to inspire and help people get online. Nearly one in 10 internet users say that bbc.co.uk was one of the main reasons they first accessed the web.

The 91Èȱ¬ has also developed particular initiatives to support people in using the internet. For example, its service Webwise provides practical guidance to internet beginners and a series of online guides attracting nearly 100,000 UK users a week.

The announcement today signals a new role for the 91Èȱ¬ in increasing online access, helping fulfil its sixth public purpose of "delivering to the public the benefit of emerging communications technologies and services".

Welcoming the announcement, Seetha Kumar said: "This is an exciting new challenge to help more people to take advantage of online services. The 91Èȱ¬ can make a positive impact in driving demand and building the skills for a truly Digital Britain."

Notes to Editors

Seetha Kumar was appointed as the Controller of 91Èȱ¬ Online last September. Reporting to Erik Huggers, the 91Èȱ¬'s Director of Future Media and Technology, she is publisher for 91Èȱ¬ Online and leads the overall strategic and editorial development of bbc.co.uk.

Seetha was previously Head of 91Èȱ¬ HD and launched the UK's first high definition public service free-to-air channel in December 2007.

Prior to this Seetha was Executive Editor of the award-winning Africa Lives, Head of Lifeskills for Television and Creative Director for Crime and Health, Documentaries.

To find out more about the 91Èȱ¬'s work on the future of Public Service Broadcasting go to bbc.co.uk/thefuture.

91Èȱ¬ Press Office