There are compelling reasons for doing business electronically. Electronic links facilitate fast, effective communication, promoting the development of better business relationships, faster innovation and greater efficiency. Trading on the Internet promises greater market penetration, increased customer response, more flexibility and lower costs. Better and smarter working provides competitive advantage. Small businesses can forge closer relationships with customers and suppliers.
做电商有不可抗拒的原因。电子连接促进快速有效的沟通，提升跟好商业关系的发展，加快创新和效率。网络贸易市场渗透更大，增加顾客反映，灵敏度更高，成本更低。更聪明、更灵敏的工作提供了有竞争性的优势。小企业可以与客户和供应商建立更紧密的联系。
I recently presented the prizes in the e-commerce awards which are supported by the DTI through our UK Online for Business Project. The overall winner for the smartness of the way it had built its business around web capabilities was a small firm in Glasgow called Global Recycling. As I presented the award to the Managing Director, I asked him if any of his colleagues had come with him. His reply was "No, the other person had had to stay behind to keep the business going". There are in the knowledge economy immense opportunities for small and innovative firms.
我最近通过英国商业在线服务项目领取了由英国贸工部支持的电子商务奖励。这种智能方式的全部赢家是格拉斯哥一家名叫全球循环的公司，通过网站建立的企业。当我把奖品呈给总经理时，我问他有没有其他同事跟他一起时，他说“没有的，另一个人要呆在后面保持公司运营”。这对小型创新企业来说在知识经济方面有无限的机遇。
In the UK, the challenges facing us are clear. We need to exploit our superb science base and promote innovation to create world-class ideas, breakthrough technologies and high value businesses. I’m looking today at some great examples of that happening in the North East Firms need to master the art of innovation. Where product lead times are becoming shorter, companies need constantly to develop and adopt the best products and practices available.
在英国，我们面临的挑战是明确的。我们需要开发优先的科学基础，提高创新，建立世界级的理念，突破科技和高价值商业。我在东北看到了这样一些例子的发生。企业要掌握创新的艺术。产品推出所需时间变得越来越短，公司要持续开发使用最好的产品和体验。
Businesses need both to collaborate and to compete, to share ideas, to invest in research and development and to take informed risks. They need to take up the new digital technologies and exploit the opportunities of e-commerce The Prime Minister bas set a goal to make Britain the best place in the world to do e-commerce.
企业既要协作又要竞争，分享理念，投资研究和开发，考虑内在的风险。企业需要接受新的数码技术，利用电子商务的机遇。首相设定的目标是将英国打造成世界电子商务最好的地方。
One of my particular responsibilities at the Department is for the development of broadband communications. We have waited a long time in the UK to see benefits from telecommunications infrastructure competition, and we were slow to make a start with broadband. But, thanks to competition between the telephone and cable networks, we now have broadband prices among the most competitive in the world, and broadband connections being sold at 20 per week—roughly half and half between cable modems and telephony DSL connections- Last week, we were able to celebrate the one millionth broadband connection in the UK- Project North East was quick off the mark in equipping all its sites with broadband three years ago一boosting what has developed today into a cluster of 70 new media businesses.
我在部门的一个重要职责就是发展宽带的沟通。我们在英国等了很长时间以见证电子通讯基础设施竞争的利益，我们开启宽带步伐缓慢。但是感谢电话和网络电缆之间的竞争，我们现在的宽带价格是世界上最有竞争力的，宽带连接每周售价20英镑---现代电缆和电话DSL连接差不多各占一半。上周我们庆祝英国宽带连接突破一百万。东北项目三年起步快，所有地方都装了宽带---现在已发展成为拥有70家新媒体企业的地方。
Next month, a new Regional Broadband Unit will open for business. Working closely with the Regional Development Agencies and the Office for Government Commerce to co-ordinate public sector broadband procurement, its purpose will be to stimulate economic growth and enhance the delivery of public services. The new unit will work between public and private sectors to ensure best use is made of public sector purchasing and identify opportunities to aggregate public sector broadband demand f so maximizing the potential to extend the reach of broadband services.
下个月新的区域宽带单元将开始运作。我们将会与区域发展机构和政府商务部门紧密合作发展公共领域宽带的购买，目的是促进经济增长，增加公共服务的传送。新的单元会结合公共和私人领域，以确保公共领域购买的最好使用性，确认集合公共领域宽带要求的机遇，最大化延伸宽带服务的潜力。
The community will benefit from extended broadband services in important ways. Following the Chancellors budget announcements earlier this year, we will have funding in place for a new health services communications infrastructure. It will provide a faster network access to every doctor and to all support staff, and a larger bandwidth across NHSnet gateways. The result will be better local health services.
社区能极大的从延伸宽带服务中获益。根据今年早期内阁的预算，我们会在新的健康服务沟通基础设施领域获得资金，为每一名医生和支持员工提供更快的网络进入以及英国国民卫生服务部门在线通道更大的频带宽度，从而发展更好的地方健康服务。
Over 20% of schools in England now have broadband connections. This figure continuing to rise further as broadband services become more reachable. We will see more and more curriculum material online, improving the quality of teaching and learning, so that for example students will be able to follow online at their own pace courses for which there is insufficient demand in their school for a separate taught class.
超过20%的英国学校现在装有宽带连接，这一数据随着宽带服务增加也会不断增加。我们将会看到更多的课程材料上线，提高教学质量，学生在学校没有足够的资源进行单独教学时可以根据自己的学习节奏在线学习。