Digital Economy - Doing Business on The Web - Unit 2

  In the last 10 years, internet availability and usage has grown enormously. Statistics in 2004 showed that over 50% of all UK households were able to access the internet from home, compared to less than 14% in 1999. Along with usage rising, companies have transferred their services online, and created an 'online market/supermarket', with internet sales constantly increasing.
  Many services require fast, high quality internet access for many different reasons. For example, downloading music and videos can take a while, but people now have so many different options in the virtual economy that websites need to make sure theirs is the fastest, or they risk losing custom. The speed of downloads could also be affected by things such as memory space, how you are accessing your internet (dial up, cabel modem, etc), and what website you are using.
  Local governments have also transferred to online services, providing information about many different services. The major information supplied by Bedford Borough Council's Website is; housing, benefits advice, education, jobs and careers, the community, environment, transport and leisure. Each one of these is a sub section and has lots of different sections and information within the department. Each one is just as important as another as different people will go on the website for different information and at different parts of the year. For example, weather reports and alerts may be searched more during Winter than in Summer. One benefit to the consumer is all the information they want may not be available on a leaflet/pamphlet, or the information is watered down due to the space restrictions the council may have on the leaflet. One benefit to the council of not using leaflets is that they can save money by updating the information online. If the council were to use leaflets every time they needed to make Bedford citizens aware of what was happening, it would be very costly and time consuming, whereas having an online website means they can update with just a few clicks. There are many opportunities for people to interact online. On the Bedford Borough website you are able to pay; bills, such as Council Tax and Penalty Charge Notices, request forms which may improve living, for example Council Tax - Disabled Reduction and Assisted Waste Collection, report any faults, such as Dog Fouling and Potholes. All these different services the local government website offer means that their target audience is much wider.