Professor and Director of Digital Media and Innovation
Coventry, United Kingdom
Professor and Director of Digital Media and Innovation
Coventry, United Kingdom
Innovation Executive and Executive Producer.
I have specialized in putting together cross-disciplinary teams to produce creative output in television in both factual and drama output for cinema and live events. More recently I have also lead and created teams producing original research, strategic innovation projects and delivering organizational change Sometimes the teams can be virtual working across sites.
As well as leading teams I also facilitate, chair and speak to groups both inside and outside the BBC at conferences, internal seminars and workshops. I specialize in cross-disciplinary collaboration.
Innovation and Foresight work in the past has also involved managing original reseach with industry publications and producing internal prototypes to stimulate discussion about the future.
I am a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in London, a fellow at the School for Social Entrepreneurs a member of BAFTA (the British Academy of Film and Television) and interested in the intersection of innovation practise across social, civic, design and technology sectors.
Innovation management and consultancy
Leading and managing collaborations across disciplines , and external bodies.
Managing strategic policy formation and experience in change management.
Production skills from producing to commissioning content.
Communication and diplomacy skills
Research and Journalism.
Executive Coaching.
Facilitating.
Teaching.
(Educational Institution; Higher Education industry)
November 2008 — Present (1 year 1 month)
I have joined Warwick's International Digital Lab as Director of Digital Innovation to spearhead a new initiative to create an internationally leading Digital Media institute. The aim is to
build a team of industrial and academic specialists that will see WMG and the University taking a lead in this new and rapidly developing area of research and innovation in the Digital Economy. My specialisms come from the Creative Industries but now the value of skills drawn from the creative industries and their transferable potential into other sectors of the digital economy is recognised as being central.
(Public Company; 10,001 or more employees; BBC; Broadcast Media industry)
December 2005 — October 2008 (2 years 11 months)
Our team manages innovation research for Future Media and Technology for the BBC.
My current project is the scoping of a new web based audience-facing project which will enable the public to explore how contemporary media is made/ It is both a strategic project but with direct delivery outputs and will appear on the bbc.co.uk next year. It has involved multiple senior stakeholders commissioned as it was by the Director General of the BBC, Mark Thompson. It continues a strand of work developed three years ago to open the BBC up more to our audiences for better participation, engagement and transparency.
Previous projects include the framework setting and creation of the BBC Blog Network. You can see it in action at http://blogs.bbc.co.uk. This involved getting six divisions together to agree the framework and scope of a trial , the setting up of a steering committee and Director level endorsement through the Journalism Board of the BBC.
(Public Company; 10,001 or more employees; BBC; Broadcast Media industry)
February 2003 — December 2005 (2 years 11 months)
This Innovation Unit had client relationships with Divisions of the BBC. I worked with BBC World Service and BBC Nations and Regions on a range of projects from the ultra-local to the global helping each Division and its New Media teams think ahead 2-5 years on new products and services. We commissioned original research, helped them write board level papers to launch new products and services.
A key project during this period was to assess the viability of integrating more our 35 foreign language based services delivered by the World Sevice around the world into our UK sites for minority communities and others to enjoy alongside the English language provision. I commissioned some prototypes and authored a Board level paper to introduce some pilots and a trial period.
(Public Company; 10,001 or more employees; BBC; Broadcast Media industry)
January 2001 — February 2003 (2 years 2 months)
This was the original Blue-Sky unit of the BBC set up in 2000 by John Birt who realised the internet was going to transform the BBC and Broadcasting. We were a multi-disciplinary team in a lab-like setting inviting good ideas and good people to meet to set up prototypes, concept cars, do original research and influence how departments around the BBC could think about the future.
A key project in this period was an original research project looking at the possibility of creating more visually-lead EPGS and other navigational devices and interfaces leading to published research at IBC (International Broadcasting Conference), and at BBC R&D. This was a cross divisional collaboration between BBC R&D, BBC Design and Navigation and BBC Imagineering.
(Public Company; 10,001 or more employees; Broadcast Media industry)
January 1995 — January 1998 (3 years 1 month)
Commmissioning Factual Series from the Independent Production Sector for BBC and BBC2. Developing ideas, working with Independent Companies during the process both as Executive Producer during the production process and as executive responsible to the Broadcaster.
BA/MA , Modern History and French
participatory media; collaboration accross boundaries - interdisiciplinary or geographical; innovation process and management of projects; journalism, writing, executive coaching, facilitating large groups.
Fellow, Royal Society Arts, London. Member BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television) Advisory Board, NM2 a European Union project to research and build software to create interactive media narratives, Speaker - Reuters Institute of Journalism on Journalism in an age of Participation, Internal Consultant to the World Service Trust, student at London's School for Social Entrepreneurs 2007/08