Agenda item

C Blackburn introduced a report to inform the Board of the key elements of the emerging South Yorkshire Digital Infrastructure Strategy.

The Board was reminded that the consultant Arcadis had been commissioned in June 2020 to support the MCA and partners to prepare the South Yorkshire Digital Infrastructure Strategy.

Initial findings from Phase 1 of the commission which involved obtaining the views and requirements of a range of public and private stakeholders was reported to the Board in October 2020.

The Board received a detailed presentation from M Harrop, Senior Strategic Opportunities Director at Arcadis which provided details of the vision and emerging strategic proposals for the Strategy.  A copy of the presentation was set out in Appendix A to the report. 

The views of the Board were invited on the emerging proposals for the Strategy.

The Board supported the proposed draft vision and the following five key goals/ objectives:

1.            Ensure South Yorkshire’s superfast broadband and 4G success is repeated for Gigabit broadband and 5G;

2.            Support the social and economic priorities set out in the Strategic Economic Plan;

3.            Form an inclusive platform that enables better outcomes for all sections of society;

4.            Be supported by the Governance and data-driven approach needed to maximise the digital potential of South Yorkshire; and

5.            Position South Yorkshire as a centre of applied digital innovation.

The Board asked that a timeframe be developed when the Board would receive further details on the final Strategy and detailed Action Plans. 

M Harrop replied that the aim of today’s meeting was to help inform the Policy Framework and that there were further detailed specific actions which sit behind the framework, which Arcadis would be working up with the MCA Executive Team and Steering Group. 

The Board noted that 96%+ of 30Mbps ‘Fibre to the Cabinet’ broadband was available in the region and asked if this could be increased to 100% coverage. 

M Harrop replied that the remaining 4% of broadband availability was in relation to coverage in rural areas.  Good progress was being made to extend this coverage across South Yorkshire through the Superfast South Yorkshire programme, and work was taking place to consider an option to deliver fixed wireless broadband in rural areas. 

The Board asked if Cyber Security had been considered as part of the Strategy. 

In response, M Harrop said that the Strategy did not specifically contain details on Cyber Security.  He suggested that further work would need to be undertaken around educating children and small businesses about how to protect their systems, networks, devices and data from cyber-attacks.

The Board requested that the Strategy includes details in relation to digital poverty, to examine how to address the current inequalities. 

In relation to the reliability of the network, the Board requested that the Strategy needed to be clear about technical broadband specifications.  They also asked that investment be prioritised in the SEP Growth Areas.

The Board commented that there was a need within the communications element of the Strategy to articulate what cannot be achieved without better information technology.  Furthermore, the Strategy should clarify what the impact is upon families and businesses due to the high dependency on technology in light of the Covid-19 pandemic. 

The Board also requested that work be prioritised to address the lack of data centre capacity within the region. 

The Board noted that the Strategy and further details on its implementation would be presented for consideration at the Board’s next meeting in June.

The Board thanked M Harrop for his interesting and informative presentation. 

RESOLVED – That the Housing and Infrastructure Board:-

1.    Supported the emerging evidence base and the proposed draft Vision and key objectives to inform the Draft South Yorkshire Digital Infrastructure Strategy; and

2.    Noted the proposed next steps in preparing the Strategy.