Martha Lane Fox, founder of Go On UK and digital inclusion advocate, discusses the extent of digital exclusion among adults in the UK.
Opinion
Lane Fox: Modern tech sector replicates old establishment's exclusionary dynamics
“There's a whole new establishment that's been created, and I would argue it's a new establishment that has replicated the old establishment to a degree that those of us that were quite early into the dot-com boom and then bust here in the UK are properly surpr…”
Opinion
Lane Fox: Major tech platforms won't solve humanity's biggest problems
“The total kind of techno-utapen vision that the tech platforms will sort out all the biggest challenges that we face, and I'm not convinced by that.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Lane Fox: Becoming a competent software engineer takes 6 to 18 months
“We know that it takes them anywhere between six weeks and 18 months to get to be a relatively good either software engineer or architect or whatever.”
Insight
Lane Fox: Startup valuation does not equal social or commercial impact
“Valuation does not equal impact. It doesn't even equal, it might equal maybe some commercial impact, although that's arguable, but it certainly doesn't necessarily, not necessarily equal social impact.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Lane Fox: UK gig economy is limited to rich pockets like London
“It is, I would say, but it is doing in very, very small pockets. So central London, big tick, and I live in central London, and I'm lucky I'm rich, so big tick for me, but to Russell's point, If you're living anywhere that doesn't have broadband, which is quit…”
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Lane Fox: Internet access gaps could persist even in smart cities
“I could easily imagine how in 20 years' time we could have a profoundly disadvantaged and dislocated and completely without, you know, internet is absent from in their lives, even in a hyperconnected, super smart city.”