Patricia Hewitt, the e-minister, will tomorrow outline plans to bridge the so-called "digital divide", which could lead to some 40 per cent of the British population being excluded from high-speed internet access. Patricia Hewitt, the e-minister, will tomorrow outline plans to bridge the so-called "digital divide", which could lead to some 40 per cent of the British population being excluded from high-speed internet access. The Government will invite consultants to produce a study looking at ways of spanning the divide, created because it is unprofitable for telecoms companies to provide new broadband services in rural areas.Ms Hewitt said: "High-speed internet connections will be as important to our economy as modern roads and railways. In the aftermath of foot and mouth disease, broadband connections could play a crucial role in helping to revitalise rural economies in hard-hit areas such as Devon, Cornwall and Cumbria."One plan under review is to "bundle up" public sector contracts for broadband services ­ which could come from schools, libraries, doctors' surgeries, hospitals and police stations ­ making them more attractive to telecoms companies because of their combined size. The work is being led by the Office of the e-Envoy, a Cabinet Office unit, headed by Andrew Pinder.The problems of the digital divide first surfaced last September in an internal BT report which identified dozens of broadband "dead zones", including Cornwall, Wales, the North-east, the North-west, Scotland and Northern Ireland. It is estimated that the divide could affect up to 23 million people.John Fisher, chief executive of the internet lobby group Citizens Online, gave a cautious welcome to the the initiative, adding: "Appointing consultants is all well and good, but we need to see productive work.". An online picture library providing access to a range of Britain's historical art hopes to expand into continental Europe after receiving £3.25m in venture capital funding.

An online picture library providing access to a range of Britain's historical art hopes to expand into continental Europe after receiving £3.25m in venture capital funding. Heritage Image Partnership has already signed deals with a number of well-known British heritage institutions ­ including the British Library, the Science Museum and the Royal Photographic Society ­ to put a range of their images on the web.The dedicated online service ­ www.heritage-images ­ which was launched two weeks ago aims to provide access to 200,000 images within the next year. The company said it was in talks with a further 10 institutions about expanding the range of images available. Others already signed up include the National Museum of Photography, Film & Television, the Guildhall Art Gallery and English Heritage's National Monuments Record.The company hopes to move into continental Europe later this year, starting with France, Italy, Germany and Spain. It is also considering Scandinavia because of that country's high level of internet use.The money raised will be used for working capital, including marketing costs. The funding, which closed in March, was arranged by the hi-tech venture capital firm MTI, and led by VCF Partners. Other investors included e-Technology VCT, Enterprise VCT, and Gartmore Fund Managers.The service is aimed at newspaper, book and magazine publishers, TV film-makers and advertising and graphic design agencies. It is expected to compete with the likes of Corbis and Getty Images.

"The unique side to our service is content ­ we have a huge image collection that had been very hard to access commercially," said John Spring, HIP's marketing director.. The government is to encourage people to put personal information, such as credit card numbers, addresses, interests, even lists of family and friends, on the internet. The government is to encourage people to put personal information, such as credit card numbers, addresses, interests, even lists of family and friends, on the internet. The plan is central to the Government's £1bn project to wire up public services online, The Independent on Sunday has learned.Known as "Project HailStorm", the initiative will allow web surfers to switch between public services on the internet without having to re-enter personal details. Critics have accused the Government of acting like "Big Brother" and warned that the plan could pose serious security and privacy questions.Graham Cooper, European vice president of Privada, an internet privacy company, said: "From a privacy point of view I would be very worried about leaving my details online. Computer hackers could have access to personal information on one site.