Dot.com ethics and the digital divide

Oh no, not another e-commerce project? ‘Fraid so - but Hilary J. Thompson of Royal Bank of Scotland hopes Digital Futures will reveal the wider impact of working in cyberspace.

There is no escaping the ‘dot.com revolution’. New internet companies are launched - and crash - daily, and the millionaires who run them are constantly in the headlines. But the hype has focused on the internet’s economic impact rather than how it will affect our environment and social relationships.

The Digital Futures project, launched earlier this year, aims to change this, exploring the impact of e-commerce on sustainable development, the environment and social relationships. Launched by Patricia Hewitt, the e-minister, it is run by Forum for the Future. At NatWest, we are part of a consortium incorporating the departments of trade and industry and environment, transport and regions, the cabinet office, corporate partners and research organisations.

Looking ahead to the year 2010, the research phase of the project will assess the impact of e-commerce in areas such as energy use, transport, planning and social inclusion. Several issues have already been raised which the project will address:

• Will the reduced need for premises cut energy consumption?
• What will our towns and cities look like?
• How can we overcome the ‘digital divide’?
• Will the shift from bricks and mortar lead to the demise of the high street?
• How much will products and services (e.g. banking, music, etc.) be dematerialised?
• Will home delivery of goods replace the need to travel or will it lead to more traffic?
• Will internet shopping reduce vehicle emissions and retail developments?
  There are many more questions. We will be working closely with Forum for the Future and the Local Futures Group to explore two issues in particular: dot.com ethics and e.regions respectively.

• Dot.com ethics will explore the links between corporate, social and environmental responsibility; electronic consumers and the dematerialisation of products and services.
• E-regions will examine the geography of the digital revolution, that is, where e-commerce ‘hotspots’ are located across the UK. We will also explore the impact on business and economic development.

As e-commerce expands, consumers will demand the greater freedom of choice and lower prices that the internet will offer while businesses will switch to the cheaper and faster cycle-times that will be available to them. We believe that:

• The value of the UK digital economy will grow from £188 million (0.02% of GDP) in 1999 to £141 billion (10.3% of GDP) in 2005.
• The value of online sales is expected to reach 1% of GDP by 2005, largely because of a rapid increase in business-to-business trading (reaching some £130 billion a year in 2005), as businesses move to e-procurement to save money.
• More retail customers are expected to get online, with half of all UK households (15 million) connected by 2005, and some 30-35% of households forecast to use electronic banking.

We are working with Forum for the Future and Local Futures Group because of our own commitment to the environment and social responsibility, as well as our desire to meet the needs of our customers across the UK. This is demonstrated by two of our most recent initiatives: offering customers the opportunity to buy PCs at a discounted rate, and a pilot exercise giving them access to internet training and awareness through our branches.

All will be revealed next year in the final report which will incorporate the project’s findings and suggestions for the UK government, businesses, regional development agencies and local authorities. And we hope that the phenomenal growth in e-commerce will lead to a more sustainable way of life.

Hilary J. Thompson is head of marketing and internal communications at Royal Bank of Scotland.

24 May 2001

Hilary J. Thompson