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The fourth national Digital Inclusion Conference, NDI09, took place on Monday and Tuesday in Westminster. It saw more than 400 delegates come through the doors, more than 600 follow on the live webstream, six Ministers report on progress and policy, four workshops whittle down 20 ideas for digi-inc action, a team of 12 social reporters post more than 50 video interviews, and it was even the third most talked about thing on Twitter.

All in all, it added up to one big on and offline debate, ably steered by Chair Matthew Taylor of the RSA, and covering economic and social e-implications and opportunities from learning to health, community to democracy, business practice to individual empowerment.

Highlights included keynote speeches from Communications Minister Lord Carter and Digital Inclusion Minister Paul Murphy. For those who missed seeing them live, you can still see their speeches in full on http://live.nationaldigitalinclusionconference.co.uk.

Meanwhile, frustrations, feedback, ideas and connections – from the conference and beyond - are still being discussed on the new digital engagement blog www.digitalengagement.org, where the 20 big ideas from delegates will be refined into a digital manifesto.

Conference organiser Robin Knowles from Civic Agenda says: “The first draft of the manifesto was handed straight from delegate workshops to Wayne David MP, Deputy Minister for Digital Inclusion, on the Conference stage. As it continues to develop on the blog it will go to the expert taskforce and new Digital Inclusion Champion whose appointments are expected imminently.”

Conference supporter and speaker Helen Milner adds: “The digital inclusion debate doesn’t end at the Conference – that’s where it begins. As I said in my opening summary, we’ve come a long way in the last year. We know who is excluded, we know their barriers and motivations, we even know where they live. The next step is to do something about it, and as an emerging sector in an economic downturn that means we have to start working together more effectively. The blog is a space in which we can do just that. I feel this year’s Conference has drawn a real line in the sand for policy makers and practitioners alike, and I hope it’s a springboard for further debate, action and progress.”

Stephen Dodson, of supporter DC10 plus, says: “At the end of the Conference, Matthew Taylor asked the assembled audience a key question. Do we need new initiatives, or do we need to make the most of the resources, tools and systems we’ve already got? The overwhelming response was that we don’t need to reinvent the wheel. It’s time for real collaboration amongst the digital inclusion players, and real leadership from Government. I’m confident after their speeches that that’s exactly what we’re going to get from Carter and Murphy as they take Digital Britain and digital inclusion forwards.”

NDI09 is a Civic Agenda Conference in association with UK online centres and DC10 Plus, supported by Communities and Local Government, NHS Choices, Digital 2020, Haringey Council, Regenerateit, Intel, Ofcom, BT, Direct Gov, and Simply Digital.

For more information please contact Abi Stevens at astevens@ufi.com or on 0778 666 0689

Notes to editors:

. Plenary speeches: http://live.nationaldigitalinclusionconference.co.uk 
. Conference report and general info: www.nationaldigitalinclusionconference.co.uk 
. Sector blog, social reporting and videos: http://net.digitalengagement.org 
. Twitter hashtag: #NDI09

. Civic Agenda is a specialist conference development and organisation agency delivering public and social focussed conferences across the UK. Civic Agenda works with a range of partner organisations and draws on the expertise of sister organisations Civic Regeneration, Regenerate IT and Market Squared to support conferences that explore key areas of social, economic and community policy for an audience of the public, private and voluntary sector. For more information please visit www.civicagenda.co.uk

· DC10plus aims to address social, economic, environmental and service delivery through the smart use of technology. It is a collaborative network of local authorities and their partners from industry, government, academe and third sectors. Dedicated to creating partnerships, sharing good practice, developing new initiatives and influencing policy the DC10plus vision is to be a network for change; helping local authorities and their service delivery partners to empower people and connect communities through technology and innovation. For more information please visit www.dc10plus.net 

. UK online centres provide millions of people with access to technology and support in using it. They offer free or low cost access to the internet and email, deliver online courses and encourage people to progress onto further learning. For more information please visit www.ukonlinecentres.com. UK online centres are managed by Ufi, the organisation also behind learndirect