The Big Digital Debate

The internet has changed the economy – and our lives – for good. Over the last decade the internet economy has been a key driver of growth and jobs. Today, Britain leads the world on ecommerce, spending more and exporting more than anyone else. By 2015, the internet economy is forecast to rise to 10% of UK GDP.

But while the internet economy is a powerhouse of growth for the UK, creative industries, from film-makers to newspapers, are under more pressure than ever before to make the web pay for their content.

The result is an explosion of innovation in high-quality online content. Great content is being delivered in new ways through platforms like Netflix or iTunes to new fast-growing formats like Kindle or tablets. But what are the models of innovation that will help high-quality providers grow?

Different players are betting on different models: advertising-driven, or subscription-based. But can either approach succeed?

Consumer demands are changing too – with news becoming quicker, faster and fewer than 140 characters. And with the bulk of the world's online videos just a few minutes long how will what we think of as high-quality content evolve in the future?

 Introduction from: Matt Brittin, Managing Director, Google UK

Provocation from: Andrew Sissons, Lead Researcher: Markets, place and networks

Panel

• Benjamin Cohen, Business and Technology Correspondent, Channel 4 News (Chair)
• Professor Birgitte Andersen, Director, Big Innovation Centre
• Adam Freeman, Executive Director, Guardian News and Media
• Simon Bell, Head of Strategic Partnership and Licensing, British Library
• Stian Westlake, Executive Director in Policy and Research, NESTA

Main themes that were discussed during the debate:

1. What business models can firms adopt to make money in the digital economy?
2. What will high-quality content look like in 15 years' time: could YouTube ever produce an Oscar winner or a Twitter feed win the Man Booker Prize?
3. If traditional content providers, such as newspapers, are forced to cut back on journalists, what would the implications be for British society?
4. What does this mean for policy? Should we be intervening differently?

To read Birgitte Andersen's view the Big Digital Debate click here.

To read Matt McAlister's (Director of Digital Strategy at the Guardian Media Group) analysis of the evening click here.

To read the report The Big Digital Dilemma click here.

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