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The ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ is stepping up its commitment to helping people get online and bridge the digital divide, the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's Chief Operating Officer Caroline Thomson will announce today.

Speaking at the Digital Britain summit she will announce that Seetha Kumar will become the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's first Online Access Champion.

Seetha will be tasked and resourced to make sure that the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ plays its full part in helping more people take advantage of online services. The new role complements Seetha's current responsibility for running ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Online.

Caroline Thomson will also announce that the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ will convene an online access forum, building on the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's existing relationships and partnerships across the sector.

The forum will focus on how – by working together and leveraging the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ resources – greater online access can be achieved among the estimated 17 million adults who are still not using computers and the internet.

She will also tell the Digital Britain summit that the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ is conducting new audience research to gain a deeper understanding of why different groups do not use the internet, and what more the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ can do to stimulate take-up.

She will pledge to share that research with government, Ofcom and other bodies working in the field.

In his interim Digital Britain report in January, Communications Minister Lord Carter called on broadcasters and in particular the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ to help increase digital access. The ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ believes it can use its strong relationship with audiences to make a real difference in this area.

Caroline Thomson will say: "The ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ needs to make a step change in the way it delivers its online services to ensure they build the widest possible public value. We have a strong presence in the online world. But we've not always done all that we could to use this presence to help bring people online and drive access to wider content.

"With Seetha's new role, we are determined to do more to attract hard-to-reach groups online. There's also more we can do to encourage access to content beyond the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ: from enabling higher traffic from our website to others; to opening up the iPlayer to other broadcasters; to sharing and syndicating ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ content more widely."

The announcement builds on existing ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ efforts to inspire and help people get online. Nearly one in 10 internet users say that bbc.co.uk was one of the main reasons they first accessed the web.

The ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ has also developed particular initiatives to support people in using the internet. For example, its service Webwise provides practical guidance to internet beginners and a series of online guides attracting nearly 100,000 UK users a week.

The announcement today signals a new role for the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ in increasing online access, helping fulfil its sixth public purpose of "delivering to the public the benefit of emerging communications technologies and services".

Welcoming the announcement, Seetha Kumar said: "This is an exciting new challenge to help more people to take advantage of online services. The ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ can make a positive impact in driving demand and building the skills for a truly Digital Britain."

Notes to Editors

Seetha Kumar was appointed as the Controller of ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Online last September. Reporting to Erik Huggers, the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's Director of Future Media and Technology, she is publisher for ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Online and leads the overall strategic and editorial development of bbc.co.uk.

Seetha was previously Head of ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ HD and launched the UK's first high definition public service free-to-air channel in December 2007.

Prior to this Seetha was Executive Editor of the award-winning Africa Lives, Head of Lifeskills for Television and Creative Director for Crime and Health, Documentaries.

To find out more about the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's work on the future of Public Service Broadcasting go to bbc.co.uk/thefuture.

³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Press Office