Digital Jersey: the media don’t “get” the digital sector

Wednesday 14 December 2016

Digital Jersey has published a strongly critical letter of the local media in general for their coverage of the recent story involving a private flight being booked so that the Estonian Ambassador didn’t miss his meetings.

The decision to book the £4,000 jet was taken by the Assistant Chief Minister Senator Philip Ozouf, who oversees the digital sector.

The Ambassador, Lauri Bambus, was in Jersey to share information on getting more government services online, something which the Estonian government has already achieved. But his scheduled flight back to London was cancelled, leaving him potentially missing meetings, until Senator Ozouf stepped in.

The cost of the flight was funded partly by the sale of the return leg to a private individual, partly by the taxpayer, and partly by Digital Jersey – which receives the majority of its funding from the taxpayer, supplement by fees from large digital organisations.

The Chairman of the Public Acounts Committee, which oversees Stats expenditure, Deputy Andrew Lewis, has already questioned why the flight was booked by a Minister, and not an “accounting officer” who was responsible for the spending – and questioned whether States travel booking rules were properly followed.

But now Digital Jersey’s CEO Tony Moretta has criticised the local media for their coverage of the story, and suggested that local media organisations don’t properly support or understand the digital sector:

“While I understand that criticism and constructive debate is healthy for us all, I would like to see a more balanced perspective presented by all local media. An editorial agenda that encourages Government to invest in the digital sector and citizens to embrace technology, rather than fear change, would be very welcome and would benefit us all.

“Based on the attendance at our recent career event at the Digital Jersey Hub, and the 4,000 visitors to TechFair, it is clear that many people, and especially the younger generation get it.

“For the sake of Jersey’s future and the sake of appealing to your next generation of readers, listeners and viewers, I would hope that at some point the local media get it too. 

 “It is also a shame that this one incident has resulted in questions being raised regarding the value of ‘digital’ in Jersey generally. The development of a digital industry, and a digital society, is of interest to a large number of people and businesses in Jersey and needs to be prioritised if we as an island are to maintain and grow a strong economy and create new jobs.

Mr Moretta goes on to compare the development of the digital sector to the development of the finance industry, and to suggest it will one day become the dominant force in Jersey’s economy:

“We didn't build Jersey as a successful international finance centre through self- harming levels of introspection and we won't build a strong digital economy that way either. With that in mind it’s important to note that the digital sector has been the fastest growing part of the economy in the UK over the past 6 years and is forecast to overtake the finance sector there.

“In Jersey we already have approximately 2,700 people employed in digital industry, and another 800 or so in technology related roles within other industries, such as finance. That is why Government has invested significantly in skills and infrastructure through projects like the gigabit fibre rollout, the formation of Digital Jersey and the investment in technology and training in our schools.”