A £14 MILLION scheme to help Lancashire firms join the information superhighway has been launched.

A new partnership providing one of the best packages of technology and innovation services available in Europe has been formed under the North West Technology Web.

A network of centres in Blackburn, Preston, Bolton, Manchester and Skelmersdale will be the the regional contact points for the web which is being supported with grants of more than £5.75 million from Europe.

The NWTW is co-ordinated and managed by Lancashire Enterprises plc and backed by companies including BAe, IBM and Norweb.

"This is a flagship programme for the North West. Each centre will be linked through state-of-the-art communications technology which will meet the needs of business throughout the region," said vice chairman Louise Ellman.

"Our clear objective is to work with small and medium-sized companies, encouraging them to develop new products and markets by using the most advanced innovation and technology processes available."

The web will feature the region's first Information Superhighway.

An advanced fibre optic network will be installed, capable of sending multimedia, videos and data between the centres and a network of partner organisations.

As an example it will soon be possible to transfer the equivalent of the contents of 10 telephone directories from Blackburn to Bolton in just 15 seconds.

Each local centre, including the Blackburn Technology Management Centre, will provide a package of services for small and medium sized companies.

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