Why Digital Connectivity is as Crucial as a High Speed Rail Network
With the promise of 225mph trains and a journey time of just over an hour between London and Manchester, the UK government has unveiled the proposed route for the ï¿¡33 billion HS2 high-speed rail network.
It's an ambitious plan that has generated public debate in the UK. A summary of the arguments in favour are that it will:
- Drive regional regeneration
- Create 100,000 jobs
- Take more traffic off the roads and air onto rail
- Generate ï¿¡2 of benefits for every ï¿¡1 spent on the project
- Reduce journey times to key northern cities (1hr 8 mins London-Manchester)
And some of those against argue that:
- It will simply extend the London commuter belt
- The cost benefits are over-stated
- At 20 years, it will take too long to complete
- It will have a significant negative impact on the environment and certain communities through which the rail route will run
Regardless of which side of the argument you fall on, one of the biggest issues we face is that projects such as HS2 are considered in isolation when investment in the core elements of the country’s infrastructure – the roads, the railways and our digital infrastructure should be looked at more strategically.
The fact is, we have already entered the superfast era. Mobile networks such as my company’s superfast 4G mobile service provide speeds up to five times faster than previously achievable on the move, allowing people and businesses to do more, to trade more, to interact more.
And Fibre broadband provides incredible speeds of up to 80Mbs to homes and offices, enabling new fixed services that can transport high definition live images and video as well as content-heavy data files great distances at the touch of a button.
It means that, when we think about UK trade, travel and transportation routes, we must include Digital infrastructure at the heart of the debate. It is the fourth cornerstone of UK infrastructure alongside the roads, railways and the airports.
I believe technology will change our concept of transportation in the future and it will change the way we interact in our leisure and our work time, ultimately it will free us up to do more of what we want, when we want, where we want.
Here are four areas that I believe will drive that change:
1. Videoconferencing and telecommuting
From mobile viedo calls to high-end Teleprescence suites, businesses of all sizes are already reaping the benefits of technology-enabled remote and flexible working. Insurance company AXA cut its travel budget by $100 million in three years using video conferencing as an alternative and a survey last year by office company Regus found 68% of firms reported flexible working leads to increased revenue and 72% reported an increase in productivity as a direct result of flexible working practices.
2. Superfast 4G and fibre optic broadband
That flexible working trend is only going to continue as the rollout of 4G LTE continues across the UK and fibre optic broadband reaches more corners of the country. EE has already pioneered the UK's first 4G rollout, while ï¿¡800 million is being invested in the UK's fixed broadband infrastructure.
3. The digital generation
The millenials born into a connected digital world will be running things by the time HS2 is slated for completion in 2032. While the need for face-to-face meetings will never be completely replaced, there will be far greater use of communication and collaboration technology in the organisations of the future.
4. Unknown unknowns
To coin a phrase from former US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, predicting the future, particularly where technology is concerned, is almost impossible (although you can read some of my predictions in a previous post here). Think back to the technology you were using in 1993 and how rapidly things have changed in the past 20 years. The only certainty is that technology will continue to be a radical force in society, business and government.
This isn't an argument against investing in the UK's future transport network – I don’t believe it’s a case of choosing one over the other.
For me, however, this Wall Street Journal article brilliantly hits the nail on the head claiming that 'infostructure is the new infrastructure'.
I'd be interested to hear your views in the comments below.
Photo: poba/E+/Getty Images
Sensory design consultant - human centered design, workshops and talks. 3 core design assumptions: humans have extraordinary capacities, vast imaginations and are kind.
12 å¹´Wrote blog on ageing, telepresence & inclusion which made similar points that the Victorians used their best tech to build their future not better old tech. https://acuitydesign.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/shopping-together-future-of-high.html?m=1
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12 å¹´thank!
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12 å¹´In fact, according to the Broadband Impact Study commissioned by the DCMS and published last month, business travel is declining. Long distance trains into and out of Euston at peak times are at 64% and 52% capacity respectively. Commuter demand is increasing but HS2 will have only an indirect effect on that, and not for at least 15 years. Rather than wasting billions on a long distance route that will duplicate services that already exist and with which passengers are satisfied - Virgin came top in Which's recent passenger satisfaction survey - it would be much more sensible to invest in grade separation work at Ledburn Junction on the WCML, which would enabling a doubling of commuter capacity on the WCML within 5 years at a fraction of the cost of HS2, The money saved could be spent on services into Paddington and Waterloo where over-crowding is worse, and also on commuter routes in the North West, plus the proposed East Anglian Hub which, like the Northern Hub, really will contribute to regional regeneration. Of course the really clever thing to do with ï¿¡33 billion would have been to create a national Fibre-to-the-Building ultra-high-speed broadband network across the whole country, rural areas as well as urban, as they are doing in Australia. Even more so because two thirds of the money would have come from the private sector. That really would be an infra-structure project for the 21st century!
Photographer and writer at Paul Bigland photography.
12 å¹´There's questions that fans of the internet (especially of video-conferencing) never answer: Despite the fact the internet, wifi, video-conferencing and alternatives to travel have been around for many years now, they haven't impacted on rail passenger numbers. In fact, passenger numbers have increased every year (bar one) since 1993 and continue to grow & reach record numbers. So where is this broadband effect? Wherever it is, we're certainly not seeing it have a negative effect on rail travel and there are strong arguments to suggest that freeing people from the traditional workplace actually increases travel. Also, let's not forget (as many people do) that Hs2 frees up 'classic' rail routes to handle more freight and local passenger services. Rail is a far greener method of moving goods than road,so if we're looking at a green transport policy, then we need more rail capacity - as we run out of it on the West Coast Main Line by 2024. We can't move growing numbers of people and freight down an internet cable. It simply can't be done. Nor can we ignore the growth is passengers, which is factual, not just a theory. What is a theory is that the internet age will cut rail travel. It's had plenty of time to do it and the evidence shows it hasn't. So let's deal with realities, not theories. By all means lets look at improving our access to the internet, but please, don't fall into the trap of assuming it's a panacea for travel (and Hs2) when all the evidence shows us otherwise.
Founder of The PR Cavalry, the freelance PR matchmaking platform. Forbes calls us "The freelance revolution in action". #FutureofWork
12 å¹´I agree with the central point and would go further to suggest that for a tiny fraction of the ï¿¡33bn budget we could invest in technology and start-ups that might make the UK a leader in telepresence. High Speed was the future 40 odd years ago, now it's just a faster version of old technology that will benefit the small minority of the population who make long distance rail journeys with any frequency, whereas technology that eliminates distance, benefits everyone equally. One significant point of correction is that HS2 and the Government say it will 'support' rather than 'create' jobs. That kind of poorly defined objective should be setting off klaxons for everyone about whether this is a colossal white elephant.