The ITW Interview: Andrew Davies AM
By Matt Pearce
Andrew Davies AM recently made the headlines when First Minister Rhodri Morgan appointed him Economic Development
Minister for Wales. The post has attracted much media attention over the past year: Mike German, the Liberal Democrat leader, stepped
down from the post in July 2001 due to a police investigation into his former activities at the WJEC. Rhodri Morgan then took on the role
whilst carrying out his office as First Minister, but was criticised for taking on too many duties within the Assembly. Andrew Davies'
appointment as Economic Development Minister has itself attracted criticism: opponents have complained that Mr. Davies lacks the
'necessary experience' for the post.
What Andrew Davies AM undoubtedly does bring to the post of Economic Development Minister, however, is an understanding of the
importance of eCommerce in developing the Welsh economy. Sometimes overlooked in the recent press, Andrew Davies is Wales' first
eMinister. Spearheading the Assembly's IT strategy, and the 'Cymru Arlein - Online for a better Wales' initiative, Mr. Davies' task has
been to highlight the ways in which ICT can transform the economy and improve our standard of living. itwales.com questioned the Assembly
Member for Swansea West and graduate of Swansea University about his past and present roles, and their impact on ICT in Wales.
New Role as Economic Development Minister
Announcing your new appointment as Economic Development Minister, Rhodri Morgan stressed that
e
Commerce would be one of your concerns in this role. Having been
e
Minister for Wales, are you keen to place
e
Commerce higher on the agenda for Welsh economic development?
Very much so. I have retained all the
e
Minister responsibilities. I think effective use of Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) across all aspects of life in
Wales is key to economic and social regeneration.
e
Commerce is one important part of this, but it is still vital to ensure we take a holistic approach to this: I will still be working to
ensure that
e
Government,
e
health,
e
communities and citizens, skills and
e
learning and the infrastructure are appropriately addressed. Some of this I will do directly, other parts through my Cabinet colleagues.
We set this out clearly in '
A Winning Wales
,' our National Economic Development Strategy and '
Cymru Arlein - Online for a Better Wales
, our ICT Strategy for Wales'. As Economic Development Minister I will now have more opportunity to ensure the appropriate priority is
given to this vitally important work.
How much is the economic development of Wales linked to the development of
e
Commerce?
The world economy is now strongly based on a 'Knowledge Economy'. I think the economic development of Wales depends on us extending our
ability to be a small, clever country. That means ensuring our citizens and communities have access to ICT and the Internet; that our
businesses are encouraged to go on-line and take advantage of
e
Commerce and on-line services, wherever they are and whatever their business; that our education establishments deliver world-class
training and education to support a knowledge-based economy and that we have the best infrastructure in place to support all of this.
Helping more companies to use
e
Commerce very important, but is not going to be enough. That is why I was very keen to keep the full
e
Minister responsibilities alongside my economic development role.
Why are you the best man for this job?
I think my personal experience working in both the public and private sectors, including five years in manufacturing with the Ford Motor
Company, my understanding of the whole Assembly Government policy agenda from my previous role in setting up the Assembly and managing
the Assembly Government's business, and my recognition of the various needs makes me well suited to this challenging role.
Role as
e
Minister
How have you gone about establishing the relatively radical role of '
e
Minister' within the Assembly, and within Wales?
Firstly it was a strong belief in the potential of ICT to not only improve the lives of individuals but also to transform the economy and
the communities of Wales. It was this that allowed me to drive the creation of
Cymru Arlein- Online for a Better Wales
, the Information Age Strategic Framework for Wales, which was agreed by my Assembly Cabinet colleague in July of last year and has
since been implemented across all sectors. The development of ICT is a cross cutting activity which does not sit easily within any
specific subject portfolio resulting in the need for a separate
e
Minister role. Having gained acceptance of the importance of ICT to the future of Wales, and demonstrated the need for it to be managed
in a cross-cutting way rather than as a single sector policy, I intend to show how it can be effectively incorporated into the broader
economic development portfolio.
Before entering politics you became involved in education (as a trained teacher and lecturer), in the community (as a counsellor),
and in business (as a businessman in the private sector). Has this breadth of experience widened your focus as
e
Minister for Wales, and will it compliment your new role as Economic Development Minister?
Of course. It is very easy to get tunnel vision in politics as in any other activity and having a broad base of experience to call upon
can widen your perspective. It was this breadth that convinced me that we needed to change the way we managed ICT and lead to the
creation of the
e
Minister role. I expect that same breadth to help me in my new role. I think the ability to be able to move from one sector to another
and be able to relate to people in all these different areas gives me a unique advantage.
You now have your own web site, which was launched at The University of Wales Swansea. Has having an on-line surgery improved your
service as an AM?
Yes, I think it has. Along with the two Swansea MPs and my Assembly colleague, Val Lloyd, I have a constituency office in the city and I
hold a regular surgery on Fridays in this office. However an increasing number of constituents prefer to contact me by email or via my
own or the Assembly's website, because they can get in touch quickly and easily at a time which suits them. The internet has also proved
a useful way to keep my constituents updated on my activities as an AM.
ICT in Wales
In the past you have often emphasised the social benefits of ICT (and particularly the web) to Wales. How can ICT make us a more
equal society?
ICT in all forms, but especially the Internet, can be exploited to improve social and economic prosperity to achieve a better quality of
life for all people in Wales. It can help overcome some of the difficulties many face due to rural location or social exclusion. Using
ICT, people can access services such as telemedicine and health monitoring, shopping, basic information on benefits and employment
opportunities, learn new skills, and set up and run a successful business. We need to ensure we grasp the opportunities ICT presents for
social inclusion. I want a Wales where people are united through their use of ICT, confident in promoting our achievements on the world
stage and creative in exploiting ICT for the benefits of individuals, communities and businesses.
Can the web unite Wales?
Yes, increased use of the Internet will enable people throughout Wales to communicate, both socially and for business purposes,
regardless of their location. Increasingly people seek contact with others in communities of interest as much as in their own local
geographical community. ICT can also have a positive role in supporting and developing the use of the Welsh language.
Statistics show that technology is still largely exclusive to people with higher incomes. In what ways is the Assembly tackling this
'digital divide'?
The Assembly is working to remove the digital divide through initiatives such as 'Communities First' and other dedicated schemes. By the
end of 2002 every public library in Wales will offer free access to the Internet for those that want it; all schools will be connected to
give our children better opportunities for the future; learning and access centres are being established in many towns. Everyone in Wales
will have the opportunity to acquire the skills and capability to use ICT to help themselves in this information age.
ICT and Business
After the demise of the dot.com phenomena, businesses have become cautious of
e
Commerce. In terms of technology take-up, how much of an obstacle is the fear factor in Welsh business, and how are you dispelling
it?
There has been a lot of hype about the dot.com phenomenon, which is largely about B2C trade, i.e. Business to Consumer, when in fact the
vast bulk of electronic trade is B2B, i.e. Business to Business, which is growing at a very rapid rate. Increasingly companies, large and
small, will expect their suppliers and customers to be able to communicate and trade electronically.
The Assembly Government set itself the target of getting 50% of businesses in Wales to use
e
Commerce by 2003, including having internet access and marketing websites, the 2000-2001 DTI International Benchmarking Study identified
that we have already hit this target. But there is still room for improvement. If we are to create a more prosperous economy for the
future it is essential that the Welsh business sector is at the heart of the new technology revolution.
Cymru Ar-lein
recognises that better access to broadband technology and developing and raising ICT skills will be key to achieving this. Through our
own programmes and those of the WDA, we will show businesses the benefits ICT offers and how they can incorporate this into their
business plans. Many of the dot.com failures were down to the fact they were poor business models, not because the technology didn't
work.
Would you say that Wales is a particularly good place to be an SME at the moment, taking into consideration the Objective 1 and WDA
initiatives that are currently running?
The work being undertaken by the WDA and under Objective 1 is of great benefit to SMEs. 'OpportunitE Wales', an Objective 1 project
designed to help SMEs incorporate
e
Commerce into their business practices is now up and running and helping small companies across most of Wales.
The recent Llwybr Pathway project delivered broadband to certain rural areas, but the uptake of the service was slow. Can you justify
rolling out services to very few companies, and should rural companies expect such services?
Broadband is the 21st Century version of the canals, railways and roads of previous centuries. We are however at the very start of the
broadband revolution and we are still grappling with the vast potential provided by this exciting communication tool. The successful
economies of this century are going to be those that seize these opportunities. If our people and communities don't have access to
broadband we are not going to reach first base.
A key concern is that competitive supply of higher bandwidth services has tended to concentrate in the dense urban areas of South Wales,
leaving large parts of the country relatively under-served. This raises the prospect of a developing 'digital divide' for businesses and
citizens, with a lack of affordable higher bandwidth services leading to these areas falling further behind in terms of relative economic
prosperity. The Assembly has invested £18.4m to speed up the roll out of high speed broadband internet services throughout schools,
libraries and life long learning centres in Wales. Most people couldn't care less about broadband, but they would be very keen to see
some of the ways it can help them improve their business, their skills or their life generally. We need to let people from all walks of
life see and understand this in ways that make sense to them. Jargon and hype are some of my worst enemies here.
BT argue that a demand for broadband needs to be stimulated before they invest in the service. Is the Assembly Government doing
enough to stimulate the marketplace?
We have started with
Cymru Arlein
, and we will continue on this path. We plan to make a major announcement soon, together with the WDA, on the future roll-out of
broadband throughout Wales. But there is also an onus on companies that will supply these services, to themselves promote effectively
what they can do, thereby helping stimulate demand, as well as to reduce the cost of telecoms. The Assembly Government has a vital role
to play, but it is not an exclusive one.
Changing our market from a local market to a global market. Is this the key to prosperity in the future?
Wales has to potential to become a key player in the global market and enabling Welsh businesses to gain access to this potential and
world markets is essential to ongoing increasing prosperity throughout the country.
ICT Skills Base
Many IT graduates leave Wales for greener pastures. How can Wales work to retain its talent?
As part of Cymru Arlein an
e
Learning and ICT skills implementation group has been established, whose objectives include producing a strategic plan to develop and
retain ICT skills in Wales. '
A Winning Wales
' places great emphasis on creating the right conditions for the employment of our skilled graduates. '
Cymru Arlein
' also encourages closer connections between universities and industry through centres such as Technium in Swansea and C.A.S.T. to
improve the flow of high level ICT skills between universities and businesses in Wales. Another initiative is the
e
Placements pilot in Pembrokeshire, a collaboration between the Assembly Government and our training agency ELWa which places IT
graduates within
e
Learning centres to enable transfer of ICT skills and promote their use within the community.
In what ways is the Assembly tackling the skills deficit in IT in Wales?
We are approaching this issue from the bottom up, improving ICT facilities in all education establishments and developing essential ICT
Skills in local communities through initiatives such as ELWa's
e
Placements pilot. A major awareness-raising programme will also be undertaken to ensure communities are aware of the opportunities
afforded by ICT.
e
Government
e
Government is a buzzword at the moment. Do you think that being able to access information on a web site, and the ability to vote
on-line, heralds a new age of government service? How can government be more 'customer'-focused using
e
technology?
More buzzwords. At it's simplest,
e
Government is about using the technology to deliver government services that are easily available, more accessible and tailored to the
needs of citizens rather than government organisations. It is not just about the web; many people will prefer to use the telephone as
their primary means of communication. More fully,
e
Government is about central and local government organisations reconsidering the way they deliver services at a very fundamental level.
This is a complex undertaking and shouldn't be underestimated. But if done well, as I believe it will be in Wales, it will deliver more
effective, accessible services and bring the workings of government closer to the people of Wales.
Would you say the National Assembly embraced new technology? Is it more technology-friendly than Westminster?
Yes, without a doubt. The Assembly has embraced several forms of new technology. We use email extensively throughout the organisation.
All AMs are on email and in the Assembly debating chamber we use touch screens in to access information and messages. We only publish our
version of Hansard, the Record of Proceedings electronically. In my opinion we are one of the most advanced legislatures in the world in
the way we use technology to support our core processes.
Is the public sector attempting to provide an example to other sectors? Is it succeeding?
I think the Assembly is an exemplar and the Assembly Government is a pioneer in the use of ICT in embedding ICT in the development of our
policies and the delivery of services in Wales. There are other examples where the public sector in Wales is using ICT to deliver better
services to businesses and the public, such as Cardiff's
Connect 2 Cardiff
. You can even pay your council taxes on-line here in Swansea. Where I think we can do better is to recognise and praise successful
exemplars more fully. We do have a crucial role to play in the public sector in being exemplars and I am discussing with colleagues and
officials how we can deliver this. We should also be open enough to learn from exemplars in other areas, including the private and
voluntary sectors and from other countries.
The National Assembly is young and compact. Do you think this makes it easier to advance IT issues at government level?
The Assembly was designed with ICT in mind from the very start. I believe that has helped us to embrace innovation in all areas
especially when handling key issues such as the use of ICT in terms of policy development and service delivery.
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