‘Riveting’, ‘Effective’, ‘Food for thought’; - delegate reactions to the most striking presentation at the annual fest for fans of fibre.

But the speaker was not a telecoms technologist, not a network operator, not from some beleaguered rural local authority, not a minister, sometime an advisor to government but, most definitely, not a revolutionary grass-roots activist.

Matthew Taylor (Chief Executive of the RSA)  arrived mid-afternoon on the opening day of NextGen 10 and delivered a message quite unlike those of the experts from the great telecoms tribe of ‘usual suspects’.

‘The Big Society theme’, he said, ‘opens up new potential for community engagement and new relationships between local government and citizens, between public sector procurement and the sort of new enterprises needed to transform society.’

This shift from last generation copper to a new fibre era is not about technology, or about pipes and content, it’s not simply about broadband speeds - and, said Matthew Taylor, ‘it is not an upgrade.’

Innovation, particularly transformational innovation, requires far more than tinkering at the edges for some marginal improvement in the established  way of doing things.  Truly transformational innovative endeavor can only be measured by the extent to which it is disruptive.   No one should imagine that the next few years will be very comfortable for anyone who thinks they know anything about the broadband business.

The roots of this transformation will be in communities - leastways in those communities that choose not to wait to see what will be done to their local infrastructure but choose  instead look to see what can be done for their local communities.

This means local leadership from across all aspects of society - public, private, enterprise, households, the health and education sectors, volunteers, and all the diverse components of the way we live, work and play.

This non-technical, community-focused, approach raises the game - and not before long.  Scandinavian/Nordic countries have enjoyed local fibre access networks for several years and it's not difficult to see how that has helped to transform the way their communities work together.   Along with Germany the UK still doesn’t feature in the list of countries that have at least 1% of households enjoying fibre to their homes.  Regulators in both countries, of course, have viewed their incumbent Telco’s as ‘national champions’.

The Big Society theme offers the potential for citizens to be more engaged in long-term development of their local infrastructure.   The potential for civic-mindedness is, however, only a potential - entirely dependent on the engagement of ordinary people.

The big challenge, therefore, is not about the technologies of pipes or the content that might one day use those pipes.  There is a huge hidden wealth - untapped resources that could be unlocked by new types of financing, cooperation and collaboration.

Maybe we should all get out more and go see those communities, at home or overseas, that have understood the infrastructure issues and now really appreciate the benefits for their society.

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Readers of this editorial also read 'This is not an Upgrade' and 'Innovation - the road less travelled?' 

This editorial was written for members of the UK's Communications Management Association (CMA) and an extract appears at www.thecma.com.  CMA member organisations spend over £13bn per annum on networked products and services.

NextGen 10 was organized on behalf of INCA - the Independent Networks Cooperative Association and was attended by over 300 delegates.