Who's involved

Jeremy Silver, CEO of Digital Catapult, is an entrepreneur, author and angel investor. He is a Trustee of the British Library and a member of the UK Creative Industries Council. Jeremy sits on the boards of HammerheadVR Ltd, Imaginarium Studios Ltd and FeedForward.AI. He was previously Executive Chairman of Semetric (acquired by Apple), Founder CEO of Featured Artists Coalition (FAC), a strategic advisor to Shazam (acquired by Apple), and CEO of Sibelius Software (acquired by Avid). Jeremy was Worldwide Vice-President of New Media for EMI Group in Los Angeles and Head of Media at Virgin Records where he worked with Genesis, Massive Attack, Brian Eno and Bryan Ferry, among others. His book “Digital Medieval” is a history of the music industry online. He has spoken at TEDx Houses of Parliament, the CBI, SXSW and Midem among many trade events. He is an Industry Fellow at the University of Glasgow.

Ana Avaliani is the Director of Enterprise and Sustainable Development at the Royal Academy of Engineering supporting engineering and technology innovators and entrepreneurs looking to solve today’s most complex economic and social challenges. Ana started her career in a telecommunications start-up with a role focusing on technology scouting, finding & implementing novel technologies. Ana has extensive experience in innovation management across public and private sectors in the UK and internationally. Prior to joining the Academy, Ana worked at PA Consulting Group, technology and innovation consultancy firm, leading on high profile projects including the setup of the UK Lebanon Tech Hub in Beirut Lebanon.

Kenneth Cukier is a senior editor at The Economist and host of its weekly technology podcast, Babbage. He is the author of the New York Times Bestseller “Big Data” with Viktor Mayer-Schönberger, which was translated into over 20 languages. In 2002-04 he was a research fellow at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. Kenn is a board director of Chatham House, an associate fellow at Oxford’s Saïd Business School, and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. His latest book is “Framers” (Penguin, 2021) on mental models and the limits of AI.

Sam Hunt is Programme Director for Festival UK* 2022, a UK-wide project celebrating cross-sector creativity. Prior to this role, he was Creative Director of London’s first ‘Borough of Culture’ Waltham Forest 2019, a brand new flagship cultural engagement initiative from The Mayor of London, and Executive Producer at Hull 2017 UK City of Culture.

As co-founder and CEO of IoT Solutions Group, one of Digital Catapult Award winners, Emma works with clients and industry partners to develop solutions to real-world challenges in a meaningful way. Emma combines a background working with Low Power Wide Area Network operators and 25 years of business development and project delivery experience.

Howard Mitchell is the Head of Innovation at HS2, his department is responsible for driving new ideas, technologies, techniques and practices across the programme. Innovation at HS2 manages a portfolio of high value projects, with the aim of creating significant value to the programme and a lasting innovation legacy for the UK. Prior to joining the programme, Howard was the Head of Innovation and Business Development at a major automotive technical centre in the UK, solving innovation challenges in transportation from a different angle. Howard has worked extensively in the Energy sector, as a founding member of a Corporate Venture Capital Fund for E.ON SE based in Germany, the US and UK.

Ian Poulett started his career at IBM where he completed an apprenticeship, after which he worked in the USA, before returning to the UK to work in the automation industry for seven years. Ian realised the need for Ethernet in Industrial Applications whilst he worked on the Jaguar X-Type project as an application Engineer specialising on the communication system in both the body and paint shops. He expanded his knowledge of Industrial Data Communications by joining a European Company that specialised in Industrial Data Communications and gained invaluable experience as he worked his way up through the company to become UK Sales Manager.

In April 2008 Ian joined RuggedCom to set-up the Sales & Support facilities covering the UK & Ireland. Initially, he worked single-handedly but over the last four years Ian has built up a team of eight Sales and Support staff to run various projects across the UK & Ireland. After the acquisition of RuggedCom by Siemens, Ian now is the business unit manager for the Industrial Communication and Identification products, solutions and services for the UK and Ireland.

As the need for secure, resilient & reliable communications becomes more critical Ian has built his team up to support Siemens products covering Copper, Fibre, Wireless and 5G for use in robust Solutions. Today as Industry 4.0 accelerates the team supports wide ranging projects ranging through factory automation, automotive, railway communications, electrical substations and offshore wind farms.

Vanessa Viana is Managing Partner at Capital Lab Ventures, the first cross border venture firm bridging deep tech investments in the UK, Latam, Israel and Europe. She has more than twenty years of experience in venture capital, private equity, M&A, and risk management.

From 2011 to 2019, Ms Viana was the co-founder and fund manager at Bradesco Private Equity, having managed a $2 billion multi-strategy Private Equity fund and the Corporate Venture Capital fund within Bradesco Bank’s open innovation platform. Vanessa led the investment, growth and exit events, including the IPOs, of portfolio companies. Representing the Canadian pension fund Alberta Investment Management Company, she serves as a member of the board of directors of Iguá Saneamentos S.A., a leading water and sanitation provider in Latam, and is a member of the company’s ESG and Investment Committees. Prior to that, from 2005 to 2011, Ms Viana held various roles at Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, BMG Bank, and Sakonnet Energy Trading. She began her career as a risk consultant at Kroll Associates from 2001 to 2005.

Ms Viana holds a MSc with Distinction in Management of Information System and Digital Innovation from the London School of Economics and Political Science as a Chevening Scholar, a Master of Finance and Economics from the Fundação Getúlio Vargas, a Bachelor of Economics from the University of South Saint Catherine, a Bachelor degree from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, in Brazil, and Concordia University, in Canada.

Louise Sheridan is the Deputy Director at Centre for Data Ethics & Innovation. Prior to joining the CDEI, Louise has worked extensively with the UK and international telecoms and tech sectors. Her previous roles include COO of an Edtech startup driving inclusive entrepreneur education; establishing the UK government's international tech hub network across Africa, Brazil, Indonesia, and India to build digital ecosystems in these countries; and leading UK participation in Digital Nations, an international collaboration to improve digital public services. She is passionate about supporting startups and scaleups, and in the potential of innovation to solve global issues.

Jeremy Silver, CEO of Digital Catapult, is an entrepreneur, author and angel investor. He is a Trustee of the British Library and a member of the UK Creative Industries Council. Jeremy sits on the boards of HammerheadVR Ltd, Imaginarium Studios Ltd and FeedForward.AI. He was previously Executive Chairman of Semetric (acquired by Apple), Founder CEO of Featured Artists Coalition (FAC), a strategic advisor to Shazam (acquired by Apple), and CEO of Sibelius Software (acquired by Avid). Jeremy was Worldwide Vice-President of New Media for EMI Group in Los Angeles and Head of Media at Virgin Records where he worked with Genesis, Massive Attack, Brian Eno and Bryan Ferry, among others. His book “Digital Medieval” is a history of the music industry online. He has spoken at TEDx Houses of Parliament, the CBI, SXSW and Midem among many trade events. He is an Industry Fellow at the University of Glasgow.

Alexander Woolf, Director, Romulus Holdings Ltd and Founder of Huddle. Alexander led the launch and continued growth of Huddle, a new coworking and flexible workspace brand. He previously worked in both London and New York as a Growth Strategy Consultant for a range of large global clients.

Rob Prevett is a Media Entrepreneur and an Advisor around digital disruption. As Founder and CEO of D/SRUPTION he works with organisations to help them understand emerging technologies and innovative new business models. Rob also runs Disruption Summit Europe, a cross-sector event for business leaders involved in disruption, innovation and digital transformation; and led the inaugural Disruption50 a programme to identify the Uk’s most disruptive organisations.

Liz Rosenthal, Founder & CEO, Power The Pixel; Programmer, Venice International Film Festival; Executive Producer CreativeXR. Liz advises international media organisations on innovation strategy, funding programmes and project strategy. She is an expert in devising innovation-centred development labs and programmes around interactive storytelling and VR.

Mark Melling is Head of RYOT Studio EMEA, Verizon Media, in his role he leads the RYOT Studio team, part of the Oscar-nominated and Emmy-winning RYOT business. He has had extensive experience in developing and launching content monetisation platforms in mobile and digital video in North America, previously leading strategy, production and monetisaton of digital video as AOL’s Director of Video for Europe.

Imogen Heap, Singer-Songwriter, Producer and Engineer. Imogen is an advocate of using digital technology. Using it to interact and collaborate with her fans, create and distribute music in new ways. She is the Co-Inventor of MiMu, the world’s most advanced wearable musical instrument and released her single “Tiny Human” on Mycelia, an experimental music distribution platform that uses blockchain-based technology.

Dame Wendy Hall, DBE, FRS, FREng is Regius Professor of Computer Science, Pro Vice-Chancellor (International Engagement), and is an Executive Director of the Web Science Institute at the University of Southampton. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society and was President of the ACM, Senior Vice President of the Royal Academy of Engineering, and has been a Member of the UK Prime Minister’s Council for Science and Technology, the European Research Council, the Global Commission on Internet Governance and the World Economic Forum’s Global Futures Council on the Digital Economy and Chair of the European Commission’s ISTAG. Dame Wendy was Co-Chair of the UK government’s AI Review and has recently been announced by the UK government as the first Skills Champion for AI in the UK.

Priya is a Venture Partner at Merian Ventures, a venture capital firm for women-led innovation, and Member of the Innovate UK Council. Formerly British Consul General to San Francisco, she is on the Advisory Board of Tech London Advocates, Chairs the Board of Trustees of Modern Muse and is an Advisor to the Big Youth Group. Recently named a Top 5 Asian Investor in UK Tech.

Marcus du Sautoy FRS OBE, Simonyi Professor for the Public Understanding of Science and Professor of Mathematics at the University of Oxford. Marcus is the author of six books including his most recent book, The Creativity Code (Fourth Estate 2019). He has presented numerous radio and TV series including a four-part landmark TV series for the BBC called The Story of Maths. He works extensively with a range of arts organisations bringing science alive for the public from The Royal Opera House to Glastonbury Festival. His play I is a Strange Loop (in which he is both actor and author) was part of the Barbican’s Life Rewired season. He received an OBE for services to science in the 2010 New Year’s Honours List and was made a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2016.

Alissa Dhaliwal, Head of Innovation, leads the CBI’s work on innovation policy, lobbying and policy development on R&D and innovation adoption. At CBI Alissa has covered policy areas including public procurement, healthcare and leading the development of its life sciences sector approach. Previously Alissa worked for an MP in Parliament.

Paul Clarke, Ocado’s Chief Technology Officer role includes exploring opportunities to use its technologies and competencies to disrupt other sectors. He nurtures Ocado’s technology relationships with government, universities and schools. Having read Physics at Oxford University, Paul has worked in software engineering, consultancy, interim management and a number of software startups.

Scott Carey is the Group Editor of B2B titles at IDG, providing editorial leadership of Computerworld and Techworld. He is an experienced enterprise technology Journalist, with a keen interest in big IT and cloud vendors, venture capital and UK startups and a deep knowledge of the SaaS market and digital transformation at some of the UK’s biggest companies. He has a diploma in magazine journalism from Cardiff University and appreciates sport, the media and travel, both personally and professionally.

Programme Manager at Doteveryone, Sam leads TechTransformed, Doteveryone’s programme for responsible innovators that empowers them with new practices and methods to put responsibility at the heart of business planning, design thinking, and product management. Prior to Doteveryone, Sam led strategy and change management for business transformations within the financial technology sector in Canada.