Advisory
Crawford Beveridge - Executive Vice President & Chairman, Sun Microsystems
Crawford is a technology industry veteran with more than 40 years of international experience. His current role involves representing Sun outside of the US, particularly in high growth geographies, such as the EU, Brazil, Russia, India and China. Specifically he works with governments on public policy issues in an effort to ensure that there is a level playing field in areas of emerging technology policy.
Before joining Sun in 1985, he held various management positions in the US and Europe with Hewlett Packard, Digital Equipment Corp and Analog Devices Inc. In 1991 he left Sun to become the chief executive of Scottish Enterprise overseeing business development, venture capital, skills development, exports, infrastructure and inward investment.
He returned to Sun in April 2000 as executive vice president of People and Places and Chief HR Officer. He is a non-executive board member of Autodesk Inc., eSilicon, and Scottish Equity Partners Ltd.
Crawford holds a B.Sc. in Social Sciences from the University of Edinburgh and an M.Sc. in Industrial Administration from the University of Bradford. He also holds honorary Doctoral degrees from the University of Edinburgh, Napier University and Robert Gordons University. He was awarded a CBE in the Queen's New Years Honours list in 1995.
Howard Williams - University of Strathclyde
Howard is a world authority on public policy development in the telecommunications, internet and ICT area. With over 20 years professional experience, Howard has worked with many leading international institutions and firms, including the European Commission and the World Bank. In 2004 he was appointed lead policy advisor to the UN Working Group on Internet Governance and continues to be an advisor to the newly created Internet Governance Forum. He is a member of the Vodafone/Nokia SIM panel - a high level international committee dedicated to fostering research and dissemination on the impact of mobiles in developing countries and key sectors such as health and finance. He is also a senior advisor to the China/EU Information Society Project which involves close collaboration with ministers and senior staff in key ministries in China.
At Strathclyde, Howard Williams created the Masters in Communications Management in 2001. Each year, this world leading programme provides a unique opportunity for 30 individuals from developing countries to participate full time in a capacity building programme specifically designed for the ICT sector in developing countries. He has also secured significant institutional funding and donations for the programme ensuring that full scholarships are available for each delegate.
Crawford Gillies - Senior Adviser to Bain & Company
Crawford Gillies joined Bain in 1983 and became a partner in 1988. He has worked with clients throughout Europe in a wide variety of sectors on issues of strategy, organisation and performance improvement. From 1996 to 2001 he was responsible for Bain & Company’s business in the UK and assumed leadership of the firm’s European business from 2001 until he stepped down at the end of 2005.
He is now pursuing a career as a plural director and adviser. He is currently a Non Executive of Standard Life plc and of Control Risks Group Holdings plc, and Chairman of both Hammonds, the international law firm and Touch Bionics, a small Edinburgh based start-up. He is also an independent Director of the DTI, where he chairs the Audit & Risk Committee, and is a member of the Scottish Enterprise International Advisory Board.
Prior to joining Bain, Crawford qualified as a chartered accountant, is a graduate of the Harvard Business School and of the University of Edinburgh where he studied law.
He is also a former Chairman of CBI London.