A team of highly experienced individuals with considerable expertise of working across the digital economy in the private and public sector have been appointed to serve on the Digital Wales Advisory Board.
The announcement, made in a written statement by Lesley Griffiths, Deputy Minister for Science, Innovation and Skills, follows the recommendation of Professor Ian Hargreaves in his review of the Creative Industries.
The Board will advise Ministers on key aspects of the digital agenda – including infrastructure, skills, competitiveness, public service delivery, as well as digital inclusion.
The Welsh Assembly Government’s framework policy document Delivering a Digital Wales, is being prepared for publication later this month to ensure that Wales can capitalise on the opportunities of the digital age.
The following eight people have agreed to serve on the Board; Dr Sangeet Bhullar, Simon Gibson, Andrew Green, Professor Gareth Hughes, David Hylands, Huw Jones, Ron Jones and Jean-Francois Schmid. Simon Gibson will be the independent Chair. All appointees have agreed to contribute to the work of the Board on a pro bono basis.
The Deputy Minister said the Board members had both a high degree of subject knowledge and significant direct delivery experience.
“This will ensure the Board can provide Ministers with the highest possible level of expert advice on a complex, cross-cutting subject area that is constantly evolving.
“I am delighted they have agreed to serve on the Board and take time from their busy schedules to support the Welsh Assembly Government to ensure Wales can capitalise on the opportunities of the digital age.
“Their combined expertise and knowledge will be invaluable as the digital agenda cuts across all Ministerial portfolios, with a range of departments responsible for delivering a range of policies and projects.”
She added that membership also reflected the Welsh Assembly Government’s commitment to inclusive policy making and the need to ensure expert coverage from each of the five main themes being developed in Delivering a Digital Wales.
Simon Gibson said,
“I welcome the recognition and development of a pro-active Digital Strategy for Wales.
“A competitive and technically advanced telecommunications infrastructure is critical for the future of our economy. These communication networks can be achieved by utilising a blend of the appropriate technologies to ensure all citizens in Wales have access to the services and applications, which will assist future economic growth and improve the quality of life.
“The Board will work with the Welsh Assembly Government to drive the clever provision of Digital Services and encourage partnerships between the various government departments, public sector agencies and private companies.“
The Board has been set up for an initial twelve months and will meet on a quarterly basis with the minutes of each meeting published on the Welsh Assembly Government website. Its inaugural meeting will take place on 3rd November 2010.
Board Members
Dr Sangeet Bhullar is the Founder and Executive Director of WISE KIDS, a non-profit organisation providing innovative training programmes and consultancy in New Media, Internet and Mobile Technologies, Internet Proficiency, Literacy and Safety.
Simon Gibson OBE is the Chief Executive of Wesley Clover, a venture fund specialising in seeding technology companies. He previously co-founded Ubiquity Software Corporation – named Innovator of the year in 2001.
Andrew Green is the Chief Executive Officer of the National Library of Wales. The National Library is well known around the world for its work on digitisation: converting print, archival and other documents into digital versions and making them available to all through the Web.
Professor Gareth Hughes was, until his recent retirement, the Chief Executive of the European Regional Information Society Association (ERIS) – a European regional network association committed to supporting members’ economic and social development through ICT-based innovation.
David Hylands is the Chief Information Systems Officer at Wrexham County Borough Council and a Local Government representative on the Public Sector Broadband Aggregation Project.
Huw Jones is the Deputy Chair of the Wales Employment and Skills Board and previously S4C’s longest serving Chief Executive.
Ron Jones is the newly appointed Chair of the Creative Industries Panel and Executive Chairman of Tinopolis, one of the UK’s largest independent television production companies.
Jean-François Schmid is Director of Research & Technology at BT Innovate & Design. Prior to BT, he was Senior Strategy Director for Cable & Wireless focusing on their international operations.
