Improving Digital Infrastructure in Pembrokeshire

Part of 2. Questions to the Leader of the House and Chief Whip – in the Senedd at 3:01 pm on 14 November 2018.

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Photo of Helen Mary Jones Helen Mary Jones Plaid Cymru 3:01, 14 November 2018

Leader of the house, physical infrastructure is obviously crucial to small businesses in counties like Pembrokeshire, which, of course, is a county of lots of small towns. The physical infrastructure is crucial, but we also need cultural change if we're going to achieve a really full digital renaissance. We also know that our small businesses—our small retail businesses—are very much under pressure from the really big online giants like Amazon. The Federation of Small Businesses has come out in their recent report and suggested a network of digital town-centre managers who could work with small retail businesses in a particular town to develop a sort of whole-town offer online. That could be a really interesting and innovative way of enabling some of those small businesses that haven't got time or the skills to develop a really strong online presence of their own. What consideration has the Welsh Government given to the suggestion from the Federation of Small Businesses, and is there any way in which you can work to promote this idea, which seems to me to be a very positive suggestion?