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11|07|05

New Chairs for Nations and Regions Advisory Committees

Ofcom today announces the appointment of four new chairs for its Advisory Committees for the Nations and Regions effective from the 1 July 2005.

As set out in section 20 of the Communications Act 2003, the Committees have been established to provide advice to Ofcom (and any other committees established by Ofcom) about the interests and opinions of people living in England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales on all communications matters as well as the opportunity to shape regulatory policies.

The chairs have been selected from existing members of the Advisory Committees. They are:

• Chair, Advisory Committee for England:
  Suzy Brain England is from Bradford, West Yorkshire and has a portfolio of directorships after a career of managing change in the private, public and voluntary sector. She is Chair of a West Yorkshire organisation helping teenagers into education, training and work. Suzy, who started as a journalist, is a Chartered Director and former Midlands Business Woman of the Year. She mentors individuals to perform better at work.
• Chair, Advisory Committee for Northern Ireland:
  Professor Wallace Ewart is a former Pro-Vice Chancellor of the University of Ulster, Dean of Business and Management, and Director of Informatics. His areas of expertise include the application of Communication and Information Technology, with particular experience in the education, training, library and business sectors. His board appointments have included the Training and Employment Agency, the NI Growth Challenge, the Software Engineering Institute and the Library and Information Commission; he is currently a member of the boards of Ortus, Sentinus and chairs the NI Japanese Studies Project. He currently provides consultancy support to educational bodies in the UK, Ireland and Asia. He lives in Jordanstown and is married with two grown up children.
• Chair, Advisory Committee for Wales:
  Evan Jones is the Director of the Welsh Development Agency’s flagship ‘@Wales Digital Media Initiative’ and an expert in wireless broadband networking. Originally an independent television producer, Evan launched a multimedia company in the early 90's and his first web company in 1996. He was also leader of the London Borough of Waltham from 1992 -1995. Evan is currently focused on incubating early stage digital media companies and on developing advanced broadband programmes.
• Chair Advisory Committee for Scotland:
  Joyce Taylor has extensive experience in broadcasting, ranging from public service broadcasting to multi-channel television and the cable industry. Her career has spanned mainly education and television. Until two years ago, Joyce was managing director of Discovery Networks Europe where she managed the portfolio of Discovery Channels across Europe, Africa and the Middle East, based in London. Joyce was Chair of the DTI's Foresight Panel on Information, Communications and Media from 2000-2001. Originally from Glasgow but now based in Fife, until recently Joyce was a non-executive director of Mersey Television and has recently spearheaded a local broadband connectivity campaign in her local village. Joyce is also director of Dundee Women's Aid.

Each Advisory Committee, will report directly to the Ofcom Board and will publish its own annual report. The Advisory Committees were initially chaired by Ofcom Directors for England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.

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