...clean energy and enable new technologies such as distributed generation. Both the smart grid and intelligent transport systems would have environmental benefits, the authors added.
"We also note that additional investment in the smart grid is in line with national objectives to increase the security and reliability of critical infrastructure such as the power grid," the authors wrote. "Modernising our power grid will not only create a more robust and resilient grid, it will also allow utilities to improve their grid-control systems and reduce their vulnerability to cyberthreats."
The LSE report was produced in conjunction with the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), a US think tank that is in turn partially sponsored by IBM — a company that has interests in the fields of smart-grid technology and intelligent transport systems. One of the report's authors, Patrik Kärrberg, told ZDNet UK on Wednesday that this situation did not lead to a conflict of interest.
"We are not working on a mission from IBM at the LSE," Kärrberg said. "We have written our report independently."
Asked whether he thought the government would take notice of the report's recommendations, Kärrberg said he would prefer not to comment. "As a researcher, I would rather say that, if these investments were done, we would definitely see a lot of well-paid jobs being created in the UK. The UK is already well ahead of many other countries in all these three areas."
Kärrberg added that the relationship between a £15bn investment and the creation of 700,000 jobs would broadly scale up or down depending on the level of investment. "With half the investment you'd end up with half the jobs, and if you double the investment you'd approximately double the number of jobs," he said.
A spokesperson for the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR), which would have responsibility for governmental investment in a broadband rollout, told ZDNet UK that the department welcomed the LSE/ITIF report and would be "considering its findings carefully".
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"However, it's already clear that [the report] has much in common with the government's recently published strategic policy document — New Industry, New Jobs, which identifies information and communication technology as one of the key areas where government action can have most impact," the spokesperson said in an emailed statement.
BERR's spokesperson added that Lord Carter, the communications minister who is compiling the Digital Britain report, would be meeting one of the LSE/ITIF report's authors "to share strategic thinking on the role of ICT in aiding economic recovery in the UK".
In the budget that was announced a week ago, the Chancellor announced £750m in government funding for emerging technology, particularly in the manufacturing, digital and biotechnology sectors.
