Speaker profiles

Dr Peter Noyes is the Vice Chancellor of University of Wales, Newport and has held this post since 2007.  Peter is a graduate of Loughborough University and King’s College, London.  He is a Chartered Psychologist and Fellow of the Royal Society for the Promotion of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce.  His non-academic interests include rugby, football (he is an avid supporter of Brighton and Hove Albion) and horse racing. Peter is passionate about the regeneration of Newport and South East Wales.

Gwyn Thomas is the CIO for the Welsh Government, in addition to his role as director for health and social care informatics.  Gwyn returned to Wales in 2005 to join the Informing Healthcare programme as chief executive.  Previously, he was chief executive of the NHS Information Authority (NHSIA), which was responsible for developing and managing the national infrastructure services that supported the delivery of patient care across the NHS in England. Gwyn led the NHSIA through a highly productive period; overseeing its creation from the merger of a number of pre-existing organisations and shaping it to deliver an extensive portfolio of high profile national projects and services.  Gwyn is visiting professor at Brunel University.

Professor Ruth Farwell has been Vice Chancellor at Buckinghamshire New University from 2006, having been Pro Vice Chancellor at London South Bank University.

Ruth is Chair of GuildHE, a member of the HEFCE Board and Chairs their Teaching, Quality and Student Experience Committee.  She is board member of Buckinghamshire Business First and Buckinghamshire Thames Valley LEP.

Peter Tinson is the UCISA Executive Secretary, a post he has held since May 2005.  As Executive Secretary, Peter is regularly invited to join advisory boards and steering groups to give the sector viewpoint on particular issues.  Prior to joining UCISA, Peter held a number of posts at City University, London and was responsible for policy and procedure including the conditions for use for the network and institutional computers. Peter writes a blog and contributes articles occasionally to the Guardian Higher Education Network.

Martyn has extensive strategic experience in both public and private sectors – notably as Director of Information Services at Cardiff University and in leading ICT for global companies within Unilever and ICI.  Martyn also benefits from long standing experience on the JISC board and as Director of JISC Advance and JISC Collections.

Before becoming Janet’s CEO Tim held senior positions at the BBC and Walt Disney.  He’s a graduate of Southampton University, Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and Member of the British Computer Society.  In the summer, Tim’s been engaged by London Olympic Broadcasting as a TV production quality controller.

John is Director of Computing Services at the University of Liverpool and is responsible for the management, planning and implementation of all computing and IT related services for the University.  His department provides a focal point for all IT support services and promotes the development and use of new technology and systems to deliver future strategic objectives throughout the University.  John joined the HE sector in 2009 having held a number of operational management positions with Siemens, operating across a number of industry sectors in the UK and abroad.

Hugh has spent the last 30 years delivering information systems and services to support business success, working for companies including 02, Barclays Capital, Next and other blue chip companies, both in the UK and worldwide. Hugh joined Leeds Metropolitan University as Interim Head in 2007, becoming Director of IMTS in 2008.

Simon Daykin is the CTO at Enterprise Service Provider Logicalis, where he leads the technical strategy and platform development.  Simon is a Chartered Engineer, starting his ICT career in the defence industry, moving into the finance sector before joining Logicalis.  He has extensive experience in developing large ICT platforms and driving transformation projects in some of the most demanding of environments.

James has over 20 years in the IT field and has worked in a number of industry verticals including technology, hospitality, insurance, retail and consultancy.  He holds an MBA and a degree in Electronic Engineering, a BSc Business and a Graduate Degree in Education.  He is best known for his intense desire to provide a customer and business focus to IT.  As a result, he brings a pragmatic, service oriented approach to both the organisation and the departments he leads.

Described as an agent provocateur and a leading revolutionary by the Financial Times, Professor Eddie Obeng is a business management educator, author and motivational speaker. As Founder/Learning Director of Pentacle, the world's first Virtual Business School, Eddie has been pioneering his concepts based on the World After Midnight since the 1990s when the pace of change started to outstrip the rate at which we can learn. He focuses on helping businesses create and deliver business strategies which allow people to work together to their fullest potential.  He helps individuals to apply their learning through innovative and effective Performance Enhancement Tools and techniques.

He is also Professor at The School of Growth, Innovation & Enterprise at Henley Business School, and was previously an Executive Director at Ashridge Management College (where, at the age of 32, he was the youngest business school director in Europe), having begun his career with Shell.   He is on the board of the UK Government's Strategic Innovation body, The Design Council.  Eddie writes on a wide range of management topics, is a major contributor to the Financial Times Handbook of Management and is the author of a series of books which describe his philosophy for managing in the New World.

Born in Africa and brought up with a strong oral tradition he is great orator and presenter.  Eddie is a highly competitive guy with a patient and supportive feminine side which makes him tough enough to deal with awkward middle-aged executives but compassionate enough to listen.