Martha Lane Fox has quit her role as the Government's UK digital champion after more than three years.

She was appointed in June 2010 to advise the Government on how to encourage more people to get online.

This is also an area of focus for her digital inclusion charity, Go On UK, which aims to make the UK the most digitally skilled nation in the world.

In her resignation, the co-founder of Lastminute.com did not go into detail about the reasons behind her departure, but vowed to remain a "critical friend" of the Prime Minister from her crossbench seat in the House of Lords.

"I feel it is now time I step down from that role," she stated in her letter.

"As chair of Go ON UK, I will focus my efforts on the vital issue of building digital skills. Go ON UK will, of course, continue to work closely with the newly-created digital inclusion team in [the Government Digital Service department] and I will continue to be a critical friend from the House of Lords."

In response, Prime Minister David Cameron said: "As we shift focus to implementing and designing the services you imagined, I hope you will remain a supportive and challenging voice.

"I am sure your work with Go ON UK will help bring even more people into the revolution you have started and I know the Government Digital Service are keen to work with you to ensure it is the next success."

Her goal as digital champion was to get more people in the UK online, as it is estimated that around seven million people in the country are still unable to use the internet.

Around 11 million people in the UK lack basic online skills, which is costing the economy billions of pounds, it has been claimed.

In a report commissioned by charity Go On UK, it was found that most UK SMBs had no digital presence, with just a third having a website and 14 per cent selling their goods online.

This, the report claims, means these organisations are missing out on billions of pounds in revenue.

Digital clearly offers growth, particularly to the small and medium-sized enterprise sector.

Consultants Booz and Company, which wrote the report, found that 10.8 million people in the UK do not use the internet.

It is claimed getting more SMBs online could add as much as 18.8 billion to the UK economy, while improving their customer satisfaction and retention rates.

The report also calls for the introduction of a more affordable, accessible, fast, and robust digital broadband infrastructure.

"This needs to be populated with innovative, high-quality public- and private-sector digital services," the report said.

"Digital clearly offers growth, particularly to the small and medium-sized enterprise sector," said Go On UK chair and digital champion Martha Lane Fox.

"Far greater digital capability offers so much more: improvements in education, connecting the elderly and isolated to their communities more effectively, helping people back into work, and better health and social services."

She said the lack of basic digital skills for millions means "digitisation" is unbalanced. "We will increasingly fall short of the UK's potential if we do not start to address the problem," said Lane Fox.

She also urged individuals, families, charities, businesses, and the Government to work together to "unlock the powerful social and economic prize that awaits us."

UK web denizens are being asked to give up an hour of their time to help others get online.

The UK's Digital Champion Martha Lane Fox has launched a campaign asking people to use the extra hour they get when the clocks go back to assist someone they know in using the internet.

It forms part of the Race Online 2012 initiative, which was launched in July 2010 with the aim of helping the nine million who have never used the internet online.

"There are still 8.7 million people in the UK who've never made a free Skype call, explored and expanded their interests or got a great deal online. Yet, it's impossible to imagine life without the web for anyone who uses it regularly," Fox said.

We live in an age when digital' is a vital life skill - as basic as knowing how to read and write.

"We live in an age when digital' is a vital life skill - as basic as knowing how to read and write. 90 per cent of new jobs require it, you're 25 per cent more likely to get work when you have web skills and once in work you'll earn up to 10 per cent more. It's simply unacceptable that so many people are still unable to benefit from what the web can offer."

A host of tech companies are contributing to the project, including mobile provider 3, whose store workers are giving more than 10,000 hours of their time to show people the benefits of the internet.

Microsoft previously pledged to provide 95 refurbished computers, available from getonlineathome.org. Remploy, which IT Pro interviewed in May about the project, and PCXUK are offering refurbished PCs as well.

BT and TalkTalk are also heavily involved, encouraging customers to help out.

Earlier this year, the campaign recruited 100,000 digital champions to spread the word.

The Race Online 2012 campaign has recruited 100,000 "digital champions" to help millions more UK citizens get online.

The UK's Digital Champion Martha Lane Fox announced the national network of volunteers, who will try and engage the nine million people in Britain who have never used the internet.

Prime Minister David Cameron has given the initiative his backing, saying it would help the UK in its bid to become the first ever country to have the entire population online.

"Often it is the impact of volunteers that can make the biggest difference," Cameron said.

"I'm so keen for everyone to get behind Race Online 2012 and its ambition to get as many people online as possible by the time of the London Olympics."

The 100,000 digital champions, who have been picked out from various organistions including BT and John Lewis, will make up the biggest ever cross-sector volunteer force.

"Today is a massive step forward in our ambition to create a truly remarkable digital UK where the internet is a tool that everybody can use for their benefit," Lane Fox added.

"By bringing together an extraordinary mix of cross-sector partners we aim to eliminate the three major barriers that we know prevent people from getting online access, motivation and skills."

As part of the project, low price recycled PC products have been launched by Microsoft from 95, Remploy from 92 and XMA from 120.

We caught up with Remploy this week about its role in the Race Online 2012 campaign.

Remploy has just unveiled its low-cost refurbished computer line-up, offering people with disabilities, those on low incomes, older generations and others excluded from society the chance to get online and develop IT skills as well as boost their confidence.

PCs featuring a flat screen monitor, mouse and keyboard and running Windows or Ubuntu and Office are available from 92 from Remploy's ecycle website.

The launch of the low-cost kit prices start at 92 depending on your chosen configuration - falls under Martha Lane Fox's umbrella Race Online 2012 initiative, of which Remploy is a local digital champion.

"I am excited about the possibilities this low-cost PC presents for the many people in the UK who so far have simply not been able to afford to get online," said Lane Fox.

"Remploy's mission is to expand opportunities for disabled and disadvantaged people. The 92 PC now means they are opening doors both online and in the workplace."

IT PRO spoke to Chris Sutton, general sales manager at Remploy which provides specialist employment services for people with disabilities about the announcement and what it means for those it's reaching out to.

Who will benefit from this low-cost equipment?

The excluded. People who haven't got funds or silver surfers who may have the money but want to try a lower cost option first to help their learning. Low income families will also gain as will people on benefits in addition to those at the high end.'

Remploy's mission is to expand opportunities for disabled and disadvantaged people. The 92 PC now means they are opening doors both online and in the workplace.

Remploy is all about providing sustainable jobs for disabled people. Hopefully providing disabled people with low-cost machines means they can learn skills, help find work and be more socially included.

Some of the people we work with might only see one person a week, while collecting incapacity benefit. They're not having much of a life. Hopefully by giving them PCs with internet access, it will assist with job hunting and help ensure they are more socially included.

Has this idea been in the pipeline for long?

We've been discussing it with various partners for the last 12 months. The Race Online initiative has brought all the partners together.

What other partners are involved?

Microsoft provides the software. We're a registered refurbisher so we are able to get Windows 7, XP and Office at low cost. We're also providing an Ubuntu version so consumers have a choice.

There's a Three mobile dongle for people who don't have a telephone. But more fixed line options will be announced in the next few days.

Support is provided by Positive IT Solutions, which also played a role with the computers for the Home Access scheme.

Can we expect this initiative to evolve and offer other products in the future?

I think so. We will be listening to our customer base and what, perhaps, the scheme is lacking or extra nice things they'd like to have.

We've started talking to an organisation called Alex, an OS which sits on top of Ubuntu. It's designed for silver surfers. There will also be accessibility software on there to help people. A number of units are already pre-imaged and we'll start to roll it out to others.

There's also a laptop offering coming soon, too. We're talking weeks.

The feedback we got was that people are happy pay extra money to have a Windows 7 version, rather than XP, or to have a laptop.

Given the target audience, do you feel the post-sales support is especially important?

Absolutely. Very important. Some support calls we've had are very basic in terms of mouse control and so on. They're support calls you and I take as basics such as not connecting the mouse and leaving the instructions in the box. It's about trying to help users work out why it's not working.

What most people take for granted are things this demographic [need help with] as they've never used a computer before. Some hand holding is required.

What most people take for granted are things this demographic need help with as they've never used a computer before. Some hand holding is required.

What difference will it make to people's lives?

There's the financial gain for the economy. Martha Lane Fox recently said that, for example, this can help people shop around to reduce energy consumption bills. In the current economic climate you can really see the benefits.

Besides the financial gain, for the demographic we're targeting, instead of going down the job centre for job searches, they can look online. They can also take advantage of social networking sites such as Facebook and eBay as well as some of the newer social networks such as Big Wardrobe, which allows swapping of clothes.

Do you think this will have a positive impact on the workforce, too?

Lots of people haven't got skills to maybe look online to apply and search for certain jobs. Suddenly having IT skills opens up a whole new field of opportunities rather than just driving or manual labour.

Given the audience is not already online, will you be promoting this initiative offline too?

Yes. It will be publicised in all UK Online centres. We're also talking to Job Centre Plus about signposting the scheme there. The Post Office will also help with signposting. Hopefully when people go in to collect their pensions or benefits [they will be made aware].

Obviously, we'll also be publicising this to our customers to get donations to help provide stock for the scheme.

We're funded by the Government, so we'll also be talking to them.

For more information about the aims and ambitions of Race Online 2012, check out the video below.

Introduction to Race Online 2012 from MarthaLaneFox.com on Vimeo.

The UK's digital champion Martha Lane-Fox has revealed plans to make sub-100 PCs available to those without broadband access.

Under the plans, refurbished PCs with a flat-screen monitor, warranty and telephone support will be offered for 98.

"Motivation and inspiration are still two of the biggest barriers [to people using the internet], but clearly perception of price is another big deal for people," Lane-Fox, who was also one of the co-founders of LastMinute.com, told the Financial Times.

"We have an opportunity here in the UK to make sure we are achieving internet skills and usage as high as TV usage. We should be using our old computers and refurbishing them to close the gap in this country."

The PCs will be made available at 60 different centres across the UK once the pilot scheme is launched in the coming days.

A nationwide rollout has been planned for later in the year.

The project will form part of the Race Online 2012 campaign, which was launched in July.

Lane-Fox put her weight behind the initiative, hoping to get an additional 10 million people who have never been online connected to the web by 2015 - not 2012 as the name of the project would hint.

She has also outlined plans to get millions more online by the time the Olympics hits the UK in 2012.

Bringing all Government websites under one domain will help save tax payer's money and improve user experiences.

This was the claim made today by the Government's Digital Champion' and lastminute.com co-founder Martha Lane-Fox, in a new report outlining her recommendations for an improved Government online strategy.

She has suggested the amalgamation of all departmental web pages under the direct.gov domain, complemented by a central digital team, run from the Cabinet Office, to help move more services online, will make for a more coherent system and improve citizen access.

"Ultimately, departments should stop publishing their own websites, and instead produce only content commissioned by this central commissioning team," said Lane-Fox.

"There is no need for a major migration of content from existing departmental websites, they should simply be archived or mothballed when essential content has been commissioned and included in the new site."

However, she added there must be a separation between services citizens want to access and campaigns the Government wanted to push onto them.

Cost and complexity

Pointing to the complexity of student loan applications, where prospective students still need to print out a 30 page document after completing the process online, she said the Government needed to look to the commercial sector to see how to simplify online processes.

"I strongly suggest that the core DirectGov team concentrates on service quality and that it should be the citizen's champion with sharp teeth' for transactional delivery service," added Lane-Fox.

Ensuring services are available online was the key to making cost savings. By shifting 30 per cent of Government services online, annual savings of 1.3 billion could be achieved, she claimed, and if 50 per cent were to shift, this saving would hit a staggering 2.2 billion.

Lane-Fox acknowledged steps already taken by the Government to "rationalise" websites by 75 per cent, leading to costs falling from 560 million a year to 200 million. However, Lane-Fox also claimed this could come down further to just 100 million if the correct steps were taken.

This would need a kite mark system to assure users of its authenticity but could again mean a massive improvement for citizen access.

"My recommendations have radical implications for Government's entire web presence, as well as for DirectGov," she concluded.

Government response

Minister for the Cabinet Office, Francis Maude, welcomed the report.

"The shift towards online services also has the power to transform the relationship between Government and individuals," he said.

"As Martha Lane Fox's insightful report shows, there is no excuse for not making quality online services the default solution for providing services for people needing Government services. Not only are services more convenient and cheaper, but they can be better and more personalised."

However, he acknowledged there were still those who could not get onto the internet and they needed services too.

"This [commitment] does not mean we will abandon groups that are less likely to access the internet: we recognise that we cannot leave anyone behind. Every single Government service must be available to everyone no matter if they are online or not," he added.

Where there's a will there's a way seems to be the mantra Martha Lane Fox will be sticking to when it comes to getting 10 million Britons online.

The former dot com boss, and the Government's "digital champion," has been set the task of getting all those in the UK who don't engage with the internet, online, and has signed up to do this by the end of 2012.

However, during a time of sweeping cuts, Lane Fox has admitted there isn't any cash to fund such a project.

"There is no money," she told The Guardian. However, Lane Fox strongly believes funds aren't necessary to get the right result.

"There is a massive amount you can do," she added. "You can make big inroads into that 10 million number without having to spend money."

The main help right now is the 500 private companies which have made "substantial commitments," and Lane Fox claimed: "By using their networks where we can, we think we can make a big change."

She also said there was a lot of technology that had already been invested into by the public sector, which the project could take advantage of.

"The government's spent billions on technology they've spent it in schools, in GP surgeries, in libraries, in community centres," added Lane Fox.

"We've got to make it easier for people to find that technology and re-use it and learn about it at a time convenient to them. There are 500,000 computers locked up in schools every night. Wouldn't it be great if they could be opened up at times beyond when the children use them?"

Her positivity looks set to keep the goal of getting all of those offline, online by 2012 alive. She concluded: "If we can get anywhere near our aim I will be extremely happy and I will worry about 'what next' after that. This is a big enough mission."

Martha Lane-Fox has thrown her weight behind a campaign to get all of the UK online by 2015.

The co-founder of LastMinute.com and the Government's official "Digital Champion," has launched a manifesto for the cause, claiming there are 10 million people in the UK who have never been online and getting them connected will improve their lives significantly.

"By getting more people online, everyone wins," she said. "Businesses are competing for more online customers. Government needs to deliver better for less. Charities want to support the people they serve better. So we are calling on them to work together and tackle the unfairness and lost opportunities caused by digital exclusion, and deliver positive social change."

"As industry, the media and increasingly Government, expand ever faster into digital-only services, the manifesto identifies the need for urgent action to stop some sections of society being left offline and excluded from many aspects of everyday life in the UK," she added.

The first target has used the Olympics as an inspiration, with a plan to get millions more online by 2012. However, the overall goal is to get everybody online by the end of this parliament.

Prime Minister David Cameron, who reappointed Lane-Fox as Digital champion after she had been awarded the role by the previous Labour Government, has pledged his support to the campaign.

"In the internet age, we need to ensure that people aren't being left behind as more and more services and business move online," he said.

"But this issue isn't just about fairness - as Martha's work shows, promoting digital inclusion is essential for a dynamic modern economy and can help to make government more efficient and effective."

Lane-Fox is due to meet with the Prime Minister this afternoon to discuss the manifesto further.

The Prime Minister has announced plans to make most public services only available online in the coming years, although it is not the full commitment desired by his appointed Champion for Digital inclusion.

In a speech yesterday at the Royal Society, Gordon Brown said that he planned to "shift the great majority of our large transactional services to become online only" over the next five years after consultation with Martha Lane Fox.

The first services to shift in 2010 will be student loans, jobseekers' allowance, working tax credits and child benefit. In 2011, VAT returns and employer tax returns will also go online.

Brown is clearly an advocate of the move to online services, announcing further funding of 30 million to get another one million people online by 2012 - not least because of the potential cost savings.

"[Going online only] has the potential to save as a first step 400 million but as transaction after transaction goes on line billions more," he said.

Lane Fox told IT PRO: "I welcome the news of the Prime Minister's plan to provide an extra 30 million in funding to UK online centres to help at least one million of [the digitally excluded] to get online."

However, in a speech delivered by Lane Fox at the Royal Geographical Society earlier this month, she called for all services go online to help push the 10 million people not using the internet to try it out.

"I think that shutting down services would be the bet way of carrying through the most amount of people, as long as it is carried through with training," she said.

Brown also referred to work he had done alongside Sir Tim Berners-Lee in his speech to help "make public data public." The Prime Minister plans on making databases available online from central government, local councils, the NHS, police and education authorities.

"Releasing data can and must unleash the innovation and entrepreneurship at which Britain excels - one of the most powerful forces of change we can harness," he said.

The government should make its services, such as Council Tax payments, TV licensing and so on, only available online to force people to use the internet.

So claims Martha Lane Fox, co-founder of lastminute.com and the Government's Champion for Digital Inclusion.

During a discussion yesterday the Royal Geographical Society questioning whether there was a digital divide in the UK, Lane Fox suggested the drastic tactic to encourage those 10 million who have never used the internet to get online.

"I think there is a real opportunity to move certain services so they are only online," she said.

"By switching services, like what we have done with analogue TV, there is a real opportunity to carry people on [to the internet]."

She claimed that by moving just one government service online, the state could save 900 million and claimed that it wouldn't cost much more than that to put those 10 million people online.

Lane Fox admitted that the idea "may sound [like a] nanny state" but said: "If you look back to the 900 million savings, it is a number people need to take seriously. I think [this] could provide really valuable intervention by government."

Four million of the web non believers are also some of the most disadvantaged, according to statistics cited by Lane Fox. More than a third (35 per cent) are also over 65, 38 per cent are unemployed and 19 per cent are families with children, she claimed.

"I think that shutting down services would be the bet way of carrying through the most amount of people, as long as it is carried through with training," she added.

"What I have learnt is that politicians don't necessarily agree with me but I will keep badgering them."

Everyone needs someone to look up to, and IT professionals are no different. The sector has a wide range of truly amazing people genius geeks, brilliant business minds, ingenious inventors who are well worth a bit of hero worship.

Some may well look up to modern leaders such as Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer - we'd like to have the latter's public speaking skills, at least - or get historical and look back to the likes of Ada Lovelace or Alan Turing.

Here are IT PRO's top tech heroes - let us know yours at comments@itpro.co.uk.

Douglas Adams

One of the figures that had a great influence on me as a child was not a technologist in the purest sense, but the author Douglas Adams.

There's no doubt that Adams was a visionary and the link between great science fiction and science was evident in his writing.

Imagine a book that had information, much of it spurious, on pretty much everything. In 1977, Douglas called it the Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy' today, we call it Wikipedia.

A 1990 BBC2 TV documentary called Hyperland, written by Adams, introduced to me and the rest of the audience the concept of Hypertext'. It blew me away. Tim Berners-Lee was coming up with HTML at around that time.

Adams was famously a huge Mac advocate, and yes, he bought the first Macintosh sold in the country (allegedly Stephen Fry was the second).

He loved the purity and human touch of the Mac, and while he got to use and praise the first version of Mac OS X he sadly never got a chance to play with the iPod, a device he no doubt would have gone gaga for passing away in May 2001, just four months before it was introduced.

His influence in tech culture is writ large IBM named its 1988 chess computer Deep Thought' after the planet-sized computer that came up with 42' as the answer to Life, the Universe and Everything is but one example.

Adams was always immensely quotable and it is with one to which we can all relate that I will end with "Technology is a word that describes something that doesn't work yet." - Benny Har-Even

If you don't know who he is, well, you should after all, you're using his greatest creation.

The man invented the web. And then he gave it away for free. If there's any person who should be taught about in UK schools, it's this Brit.

After pitching his interesting idea to his bosses at CERN in Geneva, Berners-Lee didn't seek to make himself the richest man in the world with his clever idea. Instead, he humbly realised that others could come up with similar methods, and that making his widely available was the only way it would work.

So here we are. The guy could take his knighthood around the well-paying speaking circuit, pump out a few biographies extolling his own awesome-ness, or just sit at home knowing he'd accomplished more than most ever do.

Instead, he teaches, continues to research, and looks to take his creation further with his work at the World Wide Web Consortium.

On top of that, he's evangelising for free data. You see, the more good data that's made public, the more we can all analyse it to figure out how to make the world a better place. He actually lead TED attendees in a "RAW DATA NOW" chant.

He's intelligent, talented, humble and cares about the world. What more could you want from any person, let alone any geek? Nicole Kobie

I've been in contact with Black on and off since I started in tech journalism back in 1999. She first captured my attention as a woman trying to champion other females into a career in IT.

Since, then she's done no end of good work for individuals and groups alike in her work with the BCS and the University of Westminster.

Most recently, despite being an incredibly busy person and then some, Black has worked hard to highlight the plight of Bletchley Park. Without Black and others like her, this critical piece of computing's history, would be consigned to just that. She's keen to protect this wondrous place for future generations as so many technological advances occurred between its walls - if only walls could talk.

It would seem Black is also the epitome of multi-tasking, wearing all the hats she wears in addition to being mum to four children. And whenever I've seen her, either in person, or speaking at an event she always seems really jolly.

If I were a young girl at school today and attended a talk held by Black, I would find it very hard not to catch her infectious enthusiasm for what she does and why she loves tech. - Maggie Holland

At first, my choice was going to be Steve Jobs as the leader of Apple, but then I realised that what I really loved was not the company but rather the way the products were built and designed. And the man behind that aspect of Apple is London-born Jonathan Ive.

The way he has ushered in a sea-change when it comes to computer and device design is remarkable, and in the space of a few years has put Apple at the top of the tree when it comes to aesthetics and the all-important ease of use.

Ive doesn't get the big headlines like a Jobs or a Ballmer but he is crucial to how Apple is now viewed as the coolest company on the block.

The evidence? Well, think of the fact that he was the principal designer behind the iMac, PowerBook, MacBook, MacBook Pro, iPod and iPhone.

The design and ease of use persuaded me to buy an iPod, MacBook and iPhone over the past few years, and I don't really consider myself a fanboy' as such, as I'm open to any company's products.

But it is Jonathan Ive and his design excellence that has played major part in convincing me to follow the cult of Apple'. - Asavin Wattanajantra

Martha Lane Fox was a massive dot com

success as the co-founder of Lastminute.com. The brand became a household name after its launch in 1998 and was one of the sites to survive the bubble bursting in 2000.

Admirable as this is, it is her exploits after her departure in 2003 from lastminute.com that really prove why she is a hero of ours.

In 2004, Lane Fox was severely injured in a car accident while on holiday in Morocco. This led to her spending two years in and out of hospital having multiple operations on her legs, pelvis and arms. She has had skin grafts and now several metal plates in her body but this hasn't deterred her passion for business and technology.

Her most recent move was to become the Champion for Digital Inclusion for the Government and is now using her technological expertise to help encourage more people to use modern day technology.

After her appointment, she released a statement saying: "Although I realise I am lucky enough to be one of the least digitally excluded people in the country, I have seen first-hand how technology can help to create positive change in people's lives."

Her journey has been an amazing rollercoaster and now she is giving her experience to those who need it. She is definitely a heroic character in the technology industry. - Jennifer Scott

Who's your tech hero? Let us know at comments@itpro.co.uk.

Getting everyone in the UK online will boost the economy by 22 billion.

This is according to a new report from the UK's champion for digital inclusion, Martha Lane Fox.

The poorest people in the country are missing out on 1 billion in savings by not being online, the report found. Such digitally excluded households miss savings of 560 annually, while their 1.6 million children are missing out on 10.8 billion in potential earnings in their lifetimes, the report by PriceWaterhouseCoopers said.

Lane Fox said: "It's often the people facing the toughest times who have the most to gain from what technology has to offer and as the internet is rapidly becoming a tool for everyday life, we should work together to make sure everyone can benefit."

Getting unemployed people online could boost their earnings by 12,000, while if just five per cent of those who are unemployed and offline could find work using a jobs site, it could add 560 million to the economy. The government could save 900 million a year if all digitally excluded people got online, the study showed.

The cost savings and earning boost combine to add 22 billion to the UK economy, the report said.

Of the 10 million UK adults who have never used the internet, four million are excluded socially. Some 39 per cent are over 65, while 38 per cent are unemployed. Another fifth have children.

Lane Fox called for help getting those four million online in the next three years. "We want to show there is both a moral and economic imperative for the wider community to take the issue of digital inclusion much more seriously," she said in a statement.

"With a focus on peer-to-peer training, creative partnerships with private companies and replication of the best public sector projects we believe we can achieve a more digitally included society by 2012," she added.

The government's Digital Inclusion team has lost a few laptops after its Soho-based offices were broken into.

The Digital Inclusion team looks to bridge the digital divide and get more people online. Lastminute.com founder Martha Lane Fox works with the team after being named the Champion for Digital Inclusion earlier this year.

A spokeswoman for the team confirmed the burglary had occurred and said the police were investigating, but added that just a few computers were taken. "It wasn't a significant amount, just a couple," she told IT PRO

She added that the team is "not worried about confidential material leaking," as no important data was held on the machines, but normally accessed via a network.

Indeed, Lane Fox didn't seem too upset about the burglary in postings on her personal Twitter account. She first notified the world of the theft via that site saying: "O bloody hell the digitalinclusion office has been broken into and all computers taken" - although that post has since been removed.

She later added that she saw some "dark humour" in the incident, and suggested someone "thought it was a quicker way to get included".

Martha Lane Fox's focus will be the six million poorest people in the UK who are not online, she said in a speech yesterday.

The newly appointed Champion for Digital Inclusion told the Reboot Britain conference in London that although there were 17 million people in the UK without internet access, her focus was going to be on the poorest of them.

The BBC quoted Lane Fox saying: "We are really going to focus, I hope, on the six million that are at the bottom of the pile. Partly because that's the right thing to do and partly because we know quite a lot about these people - who they are and where they live."

"It should matter to all of us because 80 per cent of government interactions are with the bottom 25 per cent of society. By keeping that 25 per cent offline you are inherently keeping the cost of government high."

This was her first speech since her appointment in June this year. The Digital Champion post is for two years, working with the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills to help the 17 million people considered excluded from Digital Technology.

Lane Fox said in a statement last month that she was very excited about the role and said at the conference that she felt "lucky" to be chosen as the Digital Champion for the Government.

The government this week appointed Martha Lane Fox, co-founder of lastminute.com, as the "Champion for Digital Inclusion".

The dot com pioneer will work in the post for two years as part of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills' push to help the 17 million people considered as being excluded from digital technology.

Lane Fox commented on her appointment in a statement, saying: "I am extremely excited to be given this opportunity. Although I realise I am lucky enough to be one of the least digitally excluded people in the country, I have seen first-hand how technology can help to create positive change in people's lives."

She added: "I will use ideas, contacts and experience from both the commercial and charitable sectors to make sure that, with the help of the Task Force, I quickly start to deliver effective projects."

The "Task Force" she mentions includes members from the BBC, BT and Help the Aged.

The announcement came just after the release of the long-awaited Digital Britain report from Lord Carter who will be returning to the private sector at the government's summer recess.

"The best public ambitions benefit enormously from the commercial and personal experience of people like Martha Lane Fox; willingly giving of their time and their expertise," he said of the appointment. "I am delighted that Martha has accepted this vital responsibility."

Lane Fox will take up the post on 22 June and receive 30,000 a year to work two days a week in the role.