Asked by: Adam Afriyie (Conservative - Windsor)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if he will estimate the contribution of big data to GDP in the current financial year.
Answered by Margot James
Big data, combined with advances in computing technology, is creating new opportunities for business growth across all industry sectors. It enables companies to gain new insights on consumer trends and preferences, improve productivity, and develop innovative new products and services.
Figures are not currently available on the estimated contribution of big data to GDP this financial year, but industry research published by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) in February 2016 estimates that between 2015 and 2020 the total benefit to the UK economy of big data analytics will amount to £241 billion, or £40 billion on average per year. The sectors expected to benefit most include manufacturing, professional services, telecoms and retail.
The CEBR report is available at: https://www.sas.com/content/dam/SAS/en_gb/doc/analystreport/cebr-value-of-big-data.pdf
Asked by: Adam Afriyie (Conservative - Windsor)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to support and spread awareness of cyber security insurance amongst businesses.
Answered by Margot James
The best way for organisations to manage their cyber risk is by taking the appropriate measures to protect themselves. The Government has set up the National Cyber Security Centre to promote and provide guidance on the best ways for businesses to do this.
Additionally, the Government is working closely with the insurance industry through our quarterly Cyber Insurance Forum to support the sector in developing products and services for businesses and identifying ways the industry can promote these as a means for organisations to further reduce their cyber risk.
Asked by: Adam Afriyie (Conservative - Windsor)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the Cyber Essentials scheme in reducing cyber fraud in the public sector.
Answered by Margot James
The purpose of the Cyber Essentials scheme is to show all organisations - including those in the public, private and third sectors - how to put basic, technical cyber security measures in place to protect against the most common online threats.
The Government has a much wider programme of activity to protect public sector organisations online, as set out in the National Cyber Security Strategy. One of the core functions of the National Cyber Security Centre is to help protect our critical services from cyber attacks and provide advice to public sector organisations, helping to make the UK the safest place to live and do business online.
Asked by: Adam Afriyie (Conservative - Windsor)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the effect of social isolation on mental health.
Answered by Tracey Crouch
This government is committed to working with the Jo Cox Commission, charities and businesses to create a government wide strategy that tackles loneliness.
Part of this work will review the evidence-base, including the groups affected, the causes and impact of loneliness on individuals and communities, and what works to reduce loneliness. Technology definitely has a role to play and we will consider this as part of the work.
Asked by: Adam Afriyie (Conservative - Windsor)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent assessment he has made of the role of technology in helping people who are socially isolated.
Answered by Tracey Crouch
This government is committed to working with the Jo Cox Commission, charities and businesses to create a government wide strategy that tackles loneliness.
Part of this work will review the evidence-base, including the groups affected, the causes and impact of loneliness on individuals and communities, and what works to reduce loneliness. Technology definitely has a role to play and we will consider this as part of the work.
Asked by: Adam Afriyie (Conservative - Windsor)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to support and spread awareness of cyber security insurance amongst businesses.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
The Government is committed to making the UK one of the safest places in the world to do business online and we recognise the role cyber insurance can play as part of a broader risk management strategy.
In March 2015 the Government published a report on the joint initiatives between Government and the insurance sector to tackle cyber risk. The report is available here:https://www.gov.uk/government/news/cyber-security-insurance-new-steps-to-make-uk-world-centre
Asked by: Adam Afriyie (Conservative - Windsor)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the effect of the proposed merger of O2 and Three on the competitive functioning of the mobile telecommunications industry.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
The assessment of the impact of mergers on competition is a matter for the independent competition regulators. In the case of the takeover ofTelefónica UK (O2)byCKHutchison Holdings Ltd. (CKHH), which owns Three, the competent authority is the European Commission, due to the international scope of the deal, although the UK Competition and Markets Authority has applied for jurisdiction.
Any authority ruling on this merger will take advice from Ofcom, the UK’s independent communications regulator, on competition in the mobile communications sector in the UK.
Asked by: Adam Afriyie (Conservative - Windsor)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what proportion of homes in Windsor constituency have access to superfast broadband.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
We estimate that total coverage of superfast broadband in the Windsor constituency will be 94 per cent. Commercial coverage will provide superfast broadband availability to over 39,900 premises. The BDUK project, which focuses on areas where commercial coverage does not exist or is not planned, will add an additional 2,200 premises to the commercial coverage under phase 1 of the project and an additional 1,600 premises under phase 2.
Asked by: Adam Afriyie (Conservative - Windsor)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many households in the UK have been fitted with satellite broadband as part of the Government's broadband rollout.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
The Government has provided £780 million to support the roll-out of superfast broadband to 95 per cent of homes and businesses in the UK. In addition, the Government is supportingseven pilot projects exploring options for delivering superfast broadband services to the hardest to reach parts of the UK. Through these pilots, satellite broadband has been provided to 327 premises to date. Customers are being connected every day, so this figure is subject to constant change.
Asked by: Adam Afriyie (Conservative - Windsor)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment his Department has made of the increase in the amount of radio spectrum which will be made available to the private sector by 2020.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
The current target is to release 500 MHz of spectrum below 5 GHz by 2020, of which 62 MHz has already been released. Ofcom expects to auction up to 190 MHz of additional spectrum at 2.3 GHz and 3.4 GHz in this financial year (2015/16).
The Productivity Plan published on 10 July announced that the Government had implemented a new model for the centralised management of public sector spectrum. Under this model a new Central Management Unit based in the Shareholder Executive will propose a new target for public sector spectrum release to the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, along with a plan and timetable for achieving it.
Terms of reference outlining how this new model works will be published on gov.uk in due course.