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The Digital Britain Report Steering Board

DEPARTMENT FOR CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT News Release (118/08) issued by COI News Distribution Service. 7 November 2008

JOINT DCMS/BERR PRESS RELEASE

A forum of independent experts has been appointed to guide the work of "The Digital Britain Report" and develop a comprehensive plan to further our digital economy and society.

Among the members of the Steering Board, who will provide input into the Digital Britain Report are the authors of recent and related reviews, including Dr. Tanya Byron, Francesco Caio, Barry Cox, Chairman of the Digital Radio Working Group, Andrew Gowers and Robin Foster from the Convergence Think Tank. Along with other members of the Steering Board, they will provide sponsorship and expertise in their particular areas of focus and will advise on the overall strategy and direction of The Report.

Stephen Carter, the Minister for Communications, Technology and Broadcasting said:
"Fully embracing a digital future is a must for any successful knowledge economy."

He added:
"The Steering Board will serve and advise The Digital Britain Report in its ambition and its practical recommendations."

The expert advisers and their primary area of focus are:

Peter Black - Network technology
Dr. Tanya Byron - Online protection
Francesco Caio - Next generation networks
Andrew Chitty - Production/new media
Barry Cox - Digital radio
Matthew d'Ancona - Print media/new media
Robin Foster - Public service content
Andrew Gowers - Creative economy
Ian McCulloch - Media markets
Peter Phillips - Regulatory frameworks
Stephen Temple - Spectrum

Notes to editors

1. Further details on The Digital Britain Report were announced on 17 October 2008. The press notice is available at http://www.culture.gov.uk/reference_library/media_releases/5548.aspx

2. Digital Britain Steering Board members:

Peter Black: Peter Black brings an extensive history of senior executive management success in the communications industry. Peter has worked with many companies including BT, Thus & Virgin Media, both in the UK and North America. Peter has specialised in businesses with a focus on telecommunications, broadband, data communications, media and information systems. Recently working closely with Ofcom, Peter was the Independent Telecommunications Adjudicator where he and a small team managed the telecommunications industry to dramatic success in rolling out Local Loop Unbundling from its weak state of only 15000 lines to the five million lines we have today. He has also recently been involved in facilitating how the telecommunications industry will interconnect their NGNs and most recently ran the UKPorting initiative to significantly enhance the consumer's ability to port mobile and fixed telephone numbers.

Dr. Tanya Byron: Tanya did her first degree in psychology at York, her clinical psychology Masters training at UCL and her doctorate (on the treatment of cocaine, amphetamine and ecstasy misusers) between University College Hospital and Surrey. She has worked in the NHS for 18 years working in drug dependency, HIV/AIDS and sexual health, adult mental health and eating disorders services. She was the Consultant of an in patient unit for 12 to 16-year-olds with severe mental health problems and child protection issues. Tanya now works one clinical day a week as a Consultant in child and adolescent mental health. In September 2007, the Prime Minister asked Tanya to conduct an independent review looking at the risks to children from exposure to potential harmful or inappropriate material on the internet and in video games. The review was published in March 2008. Tanya is Chancellor of Edge Hill University and patron of the charity, Prospex. Tanya also presents television programmes on child behaviour, science and current affairs (Little Angels; Teen Angels; House of Tiny Tearaways; Panorama; How to Improve Your Memory - with Professor Robert Winston, BBC TV). Her series about human behaviour (Am I Normal?) aired on BBC2 in spring 2008. Tanya also writes with Jennifer Saunders (The Life and Times of Vivienne Vyle). Tanya has published three books on child behaviour and has recently published Your Child Month by Month - a guide to child development and the early years with Dorling Kindersley. In addition Tanya writes a weekly column for the Times newspaper and for several magazines. Tanya is married to the actor Bruce Byron and is mother to Lily (13) and Jack (10).

Francesco Caio: Francesco Caio is chairman Nomura International. From February to October this year he chaired an independent review on next generation access: "The next phase of broadband UK; action now for long term success." Francesco joined Lehman Brothers in September 2006 where he served as vice chairman Lehman Brothers Europe and chairman of the European Advisory Board. Prior to this, he was chief executive officer of Cable & Wireless from 2003. In 2000, he founded Netscalibur, the European business telecommunications and internet service provider, and from 1997 to 2000, was chief executive of Merloni Elettrodomestici, one of the European leaders in domestic appliances. In 1996, he was appointed chief executive of Olivetti having previously led its telecommunications and multimedia divisions. Francesco led the creation of Omnitel Pronto, Italy's second largest mobile phone company before its acquisition by Vodafone, and was its first chief executive officer from 1994 to 1996.

Andrew Chitty: Andrew Chitty is the Managing Director of Illumina Digital, the digital media production company he founded in 1998 and which has recently joined the All3Media Group. Illumina has been at the forefront of creating innovative mulitplatform content working extensively with the BBC and Channel 4 as well as a range of public service institutions on projects that have won awards including four BAFTAS, the UN award for e-learning and the Golden Ladle for world's best cookery site. Andrew is currently Vice Chair (Interactive) of PACT, chairs the National Skills Council for Digital Media on behalf of Skillset and was co-author of OFCOM's paper describing New Options for Public Service in the Digital Age which explored the idea of moving from public service broadcasting to a wider vision of public service content.

Barry Cox: Barry Cox worked as a journalist on the Scotsman, the Sunday Telegraph, Granada's World In Action, and at LWT, where he became Controller of Features and Current Affairs, and then Director of Corporate Affairs. He was Director of the ITV Association between 1995 and 1998, Deputy Chairman of Channel Four [1999-2007] and a consultant with ITN. He was chairman of the Digital TV Stakeholders Group between 2002 and 2004, and the News International Visiting Professor of Broadcast Media at Oxford University in 2003. He is currently chairman of Digital UK Ltd, the consortium of public service broadcasters which is leading the switch from analogue to digital TV in Britain, and chairs the Digital Radio Working Group which is looking at making a similar switch in radio.

Matthew d'Ancona: Matthew d'Ancona is Editor of The Spectator, and has put the transformation of its digital platform at the heart of his editorship. He is also Advisory Editor to Spectator International Editions. He writes political columns for The Sunday Telegraph and GQ, where he is a Contributing Editor. He is a regular presenter on Week in Westminster and is working on a Radio 4 series on Britishness to coincide with a collection of essays on Britain led by the Prime Minister. He was BSME Current Affairs Editor of the Year in 2007 and Political Journalist of the Year in the British Press Awards 2004. His third novel, Nothing to Fear, is published in November. He makes frequent appearances at events on the future of the web, including Google Zeitgeist. He was elected a Fellow of All Souls College Oxford in 1989.

Robin Foster: Robin Foster is an adviser on economic, policy and strategic issues affecting the communications sector. He is currently Director of media strategy consultants, Human Capital, and an independent member of the UK Government's Convergence Think Tank, which is advising on the future of UK communications sector policy and regulation. He ran the Global Communications Consortium research programme at London Business School from January 2006 to March 2008. Until August 2005, Robin was Partner, Strategy and Market Developments and member of the Executive and Policy committees at the UK communications regulator Ofcom, where he ran the annual strategic planning process and directed the programme of research and analysis for Ofcom's first review of Public Service Broadcasting. Previous positions include director of strategy at both the Independent Television Commission and the BBC, and head of the telecoms and broadcasting consulting division at economic consultants NERA. Robin's publications include his January 2007 report on Future Broadcasting Regulation, commissioned by DCMS. As research fellow at Bournemouth Media School in 2000-2002, Robin led a programme of research into the future of television in the UK ("Future Reflections").

Andrew Gowers: Andrew Gowers is interim Head of External Relations at London Business School. Twenty-five years a journalist, most of them at the Financial Times, he served as Editor of that paper from 2001 to 2005, prior to which he was founding Editor and joint Managing Director of Financial Times Deutschland. In 2006 he moved to the corporate world, working from 2006 to 2008 as Head of Corporate Communications at Lehman Brothers, the global investment bank.

Ian McCulloch: Ian McCulloch started in Commercial Television in 1980 at LWT in the Sales Department. During the consolidation period he went through the Sales and later company mergers of YTV, TVS, Meridian and then Granada. He moved to the Broadcasting side of the business where his role was to ensure the most revenue generative ITV schedule working with Marcus Plantin, David Liddiment and Nigel Pickard. As COO Broadcasting for Granada he was instrumental in the merging of the Granada and Carlton operations and the creation of one ITV. In 2005 after attending Harvard AMP he moved back into the sales environment as Commercial Director of ITV. After creating and implementing a radical and successful growth and cultural change strategy departed ITV in 2007 and he now operates as a media consultant.

Peter Phillips: Peter Phillips is a member of Ofcom's Board, and is responsible for its strategy, consumer policy, technology, chief economist and market research teams. Prior to Ofcom he was Director of Business Development at the BBC, leading the award winning sale of BBC Broadcast in 2005. Earlier posts at the BBC included Chief Operating Officer at BBC News and BBC Head of Corporate Planning. Before that Peter was an investment banker in the mergers and acquisitions team at SG Warburg (now UBS) and a senior manager in the strategy consulting firm Bain & Company. He has a double first in Mathematics from Oxford, and is a trustee of the Crafts Council and the Nuffield Trust and an adviser to the Royal College of Physicians.

Stephen Temple: Stephen Temple was an early pioneer of Digital Britain with his GSM initiative not only transforming Europe's mobile radio industry from analogue to digital but also conquering the world of mobile radio standards. He also shaped Europe's digital TV future, co-founding Europe's Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB) and inspiring the regulatory foundation for digital broadcasting services in the UK. In the private sector he pioneered NTL's high speed broadband Internet and led the development of Vodafone's broadband convergence strategy. He is a chartered engineer, won the USA IEEE 1994 award for International Communications and was awarded a CBE in 1996 for services to Trade and Industry. For several years he was a member of Ofcom's spectrum advisory group.

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