Jon Agar is a historian of modern science and technology, and Co-Head of the Department of Science and Technology Studies, University College London. He is the author of several books, including The Government Machine (MIT Press, 2003), on the history of information technologies in UK government, and Science in the Twentieth Century and Beyond (Polity, 2012)
Jonathan Aylen is senior visiting fellow at the University of Manchester. His recent research focuses on development of Cold War technology with papers on Britain’s first atomic bomb and on the use of the Argus 200 computer for both the Bloodhound 2 guidance system and ICI chemical plant. His first experience of computers and telecommunications was using a remote ICL1900 series computer to run Fortran programmes for economics research in the mid-1970’s.
Ahmad Beltagui is a Reader at Aston Business School, Aston University, Birmingham (United Kingdom). His research relates to the management of design and innovation, with a particular focus on digital technologies and service operations. Ahmad holds degrees in Product Design Engineering and Operations Management. His research has been published in leading innovation and operations management journals such as Research Policy and California Management Review. His current funded research examines the historical precedents for digital transformation.
Sam Blaxland is Lecturer in Education at UCL and is a former Lecturer in Modern History at Swansea University, where he was also a Postdoctoral Fellow. At Swansea, he wrote a history of student culture and government policy towards higher education to mark the institution’s centenary. This was published as Swansea University: Campus and Community in a Post-war World, 1945–2020. Sam has a wider interest in post-war British political and social history. His second book is on the Conservative Party in Wales, and his current project focuses on two hundred years of student life in London. He is a regular commentator on politics and current affairs for media organisations like the BBC.
Niels Brügger is Professor in Media Studies, and head of the Centre for Digital Methods and Media, Aarhus University, Denmark. Research interests include internet and web historiography, web archiving, and media theory. He has published monographs and a number of edited books, including Oral Histories of the Internet and the Web (Brügger & Goggin (Eds.), Routledge, 2022), The SAGE Handbook of Web History (Brügger & Milligan (Eds.), SAGE, 2018), and The Archived Web: Doing History in the Digital Age (MIT Press, 2018). He is co-founder and Managing Editor of the journal Internet Histories: Digital Technology, Culture and Society (Taylor & Francis/Routledge, 2016-).
Antony Bryant is Professor of Informatics, Leeds Beckett University; Chief Researcher, Institute of Educational Research, Vytautas Magnus University. Recent writings include ‘Liquid uncertainty, chaos and complexity: The gig economy and the open source movement’, Thesis Eleven, FEB2020; ‘A Conversation between Frank Land and Antony Bryant’, Journal of Information Technology; ‘What the Web has Wrought’, Informatics. He has also written extensively on qualitative research methods, including The SAGE Handbook of Grounded Theory and The SAGE Handbook of Current Developments in Grounded Theory.
Martin Campbell-Kelly is professor emeritus at the University of Warwick. He has held visiting appointments at the Smithsonian Institution, the MIT Sloan School of Management, and the National Archive for the History of Computing at Manchester University. He specializes in the business and economic history of the information-technology industries. His books include From Mainframes to Smart Phones: A History of the International Computer Industry (2015) and Cellular: An Economic and Business History of the Mobile-Phone Industry (2022), both co-authored with Danial D. Garcia-Swartz. He is co-author with William Aspray and others of Computer: A History of the Information Machine (4th ed., 2023).
John Carrington worked at BT for over 20 years, joining when it was part of the GPO. For almost 10 years John worked in international telecommunications with senior roles in finance, strategy and new business development. From 1983 he played a key role in the development of cellular communications in the UK and Europe. John was the founding CEO of Cellnet – now O2. He was an initial signatory in 1987 of the agreement that established the digital international cellular standard, GSM.
William H. Dutton was founding Director of the Oxford Internet Institute (OII) and Oxford’s first Professor of Internet Studies. Presently, he is an OII Senior Fellow and a Martin Fellow supporting work of Oxford University’s Global Cybersecurity Capacity Centre (GCSCC); Director of the Portulans Institute; Research Fellow of MSU’s Quello Center; and Emeritus Professor, University of Southern California. His latest book is The Fifth Estate: The Power Shift of the Digital Age (OUP 2023).
Vassilis Galanos is Teaching Fellow in Science, Technology and Innovation Studies at the University of Edinburgh. Vassilis researches the nexus of expertise and expectations in the historical unfolding of artificial intelligence in relation to other ICTs as well as how this influences its conceptualisation, regulation, and motivation for pursuing it. Vassilis’s work also extends into Media Studies and Internet Studies, while also serving as Associate Editor of the journal Technology Analysis and Strategic Management.
Bob Gwynne is Assistant Curator at the National Railway Museum and deals with a wide range of queries, from Flying Scotsman to pre-Stephenson railways. A query about the Model Railroad Club of MIT led to a collaboration with Jonathan Aylen to catalogue the TOPS archive. This led to a deeper understanding of the links between computers and railways including a recent paper in the Science Museum Group Journal on Railways, Data and the Information Age.
John Handby has had a long career working with advanced technology and major change programmes; firstly with the Government and then major corporates operating as IT Director/CIO. Subsequently he ran a technology research and networking company, became an advisor to major companies on technology issues and was a board member of several high tech start up companies. For some years now his main interest has been the emerging world of artificial intelligence and its sociological implications.
Dr. Mennatullah Hendawy is an interdisciplinary urban planner working on the intersection of cities, ethics, communication, and technology toward equitable and sustainable urbanism. Hendawy is an Assistant Professor at Ain Shams University in Cairo, Egypt. She is also affiliated with Impact Circles e.V. and the Center for Advanced Internet Studies in Germany and the University of California, Santa Cruz, USA. In 2021, she received her Ph.D. in Planning Building Environment from TU Berlin in Germany with a summa cum laude. In 2015, she completed an MSc. in Integrated Urbanism and Sustainable Design from Stuttgart University with a focus on urban policies. Hendawy holds a Bachelor of Science in Architectural Engineering from Ain Shams University in Cairo, Department of Urban Planning and Design. Hendawy is the PI of a MOOC project on Urban AI in Africa (funded by EPFL). Earlier, she was a research associate at the Chair of Urban Design, TU Berlin. Between 2017 and 2021, Hendawy was a visiting researcher at the Leibniz Institute for Research on Society. Hendawy was a fellow at different institutions, such as the European Societies of the European New School of Digital Studies at European University Viadrina, Poland/Germany (2022), the Orient Institute Beirut, Lebanon (2021), and the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation department at Columbia University, USA (2020).
Robin Mansell is Professor Emerita, Department of Media and Communications, London School of Economics and Political Science (2001-2022). Formerly, Professor of Information and Communication Technology Policy at SPRU (Science Policy Research Unit), University of Sussex, her research focuses on the governance of digital media and sources of regulatory effectiveness and failure. Books include Imagining the Internet: Communication, Innovation and Governance (OUP 2012) and, co-authored, Advanced Introduction to Platform Economics (Elgar, 2020).
Chris Miller worked for BT for 36 years, initially on EPSS software fault analysis and subsequently on PSS software acceptance testing and the development of hardware and software to test X.25 networks. He later held positions in software development, product management – leading significant expansion of the X.25 network to embrace High Street Retail needs, strategic marketing and operations. On leaving, he managed a company specializing in voice and communications solutions for Superyachts and now runs his own company which provides hardware, firmware and software design services to industry. He has a BSc in Applied Physics with Electronics from Durham University
Jack M. Nilles was director of a series of space application programs for the US Department of Defence and NASA. He changed course and became Director of Interdisciplinary Program Development at the University of Southern California where he led research on teleworking. After leaving USC he designed a series of telework programs for industry and government. He is now an occasional consultant on similar activities. His latest book is Managing Telework: Strategies for Managing the Virtual Workforce (Wiley 1998).
Professor Jim Norton OBE is a Fellow of the UK Royal Academy of Engineering and Chair of both the Academy’s Community of Practice in digital Systems Engineering and digital Projects Review group. He is a Past President of the BCS and was for 18 years an external member of the Board of the UK Parliament’s Office of Science & Technology. In his early career he worked on development and testing of both EPSS and PSS
Dr Chris Reynolds, retired Reader in Computer Science, Brunel University, Is interested in how humans and computers can work together on complex information systems. His work includes veterinary research records (Cooper Technical Bureaux), computerised sales contracts (Shell Mex & BP), software needs for Integrated Management Information Systems (ICL), radar defence systems (Linesman), Artificial Intelligence and educational software (Brunel), documenting climate change and archiving heritage site records (DSIRO, Australia), and constructing a website on Hertfordshire history (hobby).”
Tola Sargeant is a noted observer and analyst of the 21st century IT industry, with a broad view across the B2B industry sector, including the new startups and scaleups that are influencing the future. She has been a Director at influential UK IT analyst firm TechMarketView since 2009, and took on the role of Managing Director in May 2017. An analyst at heart, Tola has responsibility for TechMarketView’s strategic direction, overseeing Client Services and Sales and Marketing activity, as well as TechMarketView’s groundbreaking research and analysis. With some twenty years’ experience in the sector, Tola is a respected industry analyst known for her commentary on the UK software and IT services market and for her in-depth knowledge of public sector and healthcare IT.
Before joining TechMarketView, Tola was Practice Leader for Ovum’s Geographies & Industries practice where she was responsible for Ovum’s government and healthcare IT research globally, a role that included advising the UK government’s £12bn National Programme for IT in the NHS. Prior to that, Tola analysed the telecoms and networking markets for a range of Informa publications and spent time as a Foreign Correspondent covering financial and technology news for the Japanese News and Wire Agency, Jiji Press, in London. Tola has an MSc in International Business from Manchester Business School and a First Class BSc in Russian and Economics with International Business from the University of Surrey. Tola is proud to be an active member of The Prince’s Trust’s Technology Leadership Group, supporting the charity in its efforts to help young people achieve their full potential.
Simon Rowberry is the Director of the Centre for Publishing and Lecturer in Publishing at University College London. He researches the history of digital publishing and has published two books on the topic: Four Shades of Gray: The Amazon Kindle Platform (MIT Press, 2022) and The Early Development of Project Gutenberg (Cambridge University Press, 2023). He is currently working on a longer history of reading on screen before the rise of the Web.
Dr Mike Short CBE, is a leading figure in the development of telecommunications, in the UK and internationally, having been involved since the earliest days of the privatised BT and the launch of cellular in the UK. Mike has over 40 years’ experience in electronics and telecommunications and latterly served as Vice President of Telefonica, the parent company of the O2 mobile phone network, for 17 years to December 2016. He has specialised in Mobile communications since 1987, managed the launch of 2G (GSM) and 3G mobile technologies in the UK and led research and development for Telefonica Europe.
His career also includes the promotion of international technical standards in mobile technology, and is also a former Chairman of the global GSM Association, the UK Mobile Data Association, and president of the Institution of Engineering and Technology. He was honoured with a CBE in 2012 for his services to the mobile industry.
Until recently Mike currently led the science and engineering profession in the Department for International Trade (DIT), having joined as the department’s first Chief Scientific Adviser in December 2017.
He is a visiting Professor at the Universities of Surrey, Coventry, Leeds, Lancaster and Salford, where in recent years he has led the development and collaboration in areas such as Telecommunications , Smart cities, Digital healthcare, Cybersecurity and Driverless vehicles.
He is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering , BCS , IET , ITP and the Royal Geographical Society .
Ed Smith worked in the telecommunications and computer industries, for BT and several other organisations. His research work spans both historic and near term future time horizons. His historical work is focused on the historical development of information and communications technologies, their commercial exploitation and the significance of their contribution. He holds BSc and PhD degrees from the University of Leicester, a Post Graduate Certificate in Commercial Management from De Montfort University and is an ITP Research Associate. He is a Fellow of the BCS, a Fellow of the ITP, a Chartered Information Technology Practitioner, and a Chartered Engineer
Brian Sudlow is a Lecturer in History at Aston University, Birmingham (United Kingdom). His research in intellectual and literary history has focused on secularization, modernity, and the place that technology has played in those processes. He has written about the contemporary history of Silicon Valley, the history of forecasting in France, and Paul Virilio’s techno-criticism. In October 2022 he curated the exhibition Digital Doors to History at Birmingham’s Thinktank for the Festival of Social Sciences.
Jane Winters is Professor of Digital Humanities and Director of the Digital Humanities Research Hub at the School of Advanced Study, University of London. She has led or codirected a range of digital projects, including the Heritage Connector, Big UK Domain Data for the Arts and Humanities and Digging into Linked Parliamentary Data. Jane’s research interests include digital history, born-digital archives (particularly the archived web), digital cultural heritage and open-access publishing. She has published most recently on non-print legal deposit and web archives, born-digital archives and the problem of search, and Digital Humanities and the academic books of the future.
Brian Vagts is a graduate student in the Science and Technology Studies program at Virginia Tech and an Associate Professor of History at Northern Virginia Community College. Prior to his current work in STS he obtained a M.A. in History and a M.Ed. in Education, both from George Mason University. His research interests are in the history of computer networking and the development of networked culture and behavior.
Juliet Webster Juliet was Director of the Gender and ICT Programme, Internet Interdisciplinary Institute, Barcelona, formerly at Edinburgh and East London universities, Trinity College, Dublin, and in the European Commission DG Employment. Her books include Virtual Workers and the Global Labour Market (ed, with Keith Randle); Shaping Women’s Work: Gender, Employment and Information Technology; and The Information Society in Europe: Work and Life in an Age of Globalisation (ed, with Ken Ducatel and Werner Herrmann)
Chris Winter FIET FBCS CITP is an Ambassador for the Digital Poverty Alliance, an evangelist for digital accessibility and a former IBM Fellow, now retired. Chris started his career in 1969 and commenced his thirty-one-year career with IBM in 1978. He has focused his efforts on his charitable work since 2020.
George Zoukas (PhD, The University of Edinburgh, 2019) is a Science and Technology Studies (STS) postdoctoral research fellow at the Department of History and Philosophy of Science, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA). Focused on Internet history and sociology, the communication and public image of science and technology, and the sociology of scientific knowledge, he has held relevant research and teaching positions at NKUA, the University of West Attica, and The University of Edinburgh.
