Advisory
In the 1980s I acted as Advisory to the European Commission in the establishment of their Industry Programmes (ie. ESPRIT). This led to me acting as Advisor to a number of Governments, including the UK, Japan, Korea, Singapore and Brazil, who established similar Industry-University applied research programmes.
Recently I was appointed Advisor to the Thai Government to advise them on research and development in the area of computing and electronics. Specifically this involves working with the National Electronics and Computer Technology Center (NECTEC) advising them on their research strategy.
In the 1980s I worked with Japan's Minstry of International Trade & Industry (MITI) on their Fifth Generation Computer Project, a ten-year programme to develop develop so-called intelligent computer systems. This national Japanese programme caused considerable alarm in Europe and many of the leading industrial nations established similar government co-ordinated industrial research programmes.
The CEC's response was the ESPRIT information technology programme intended to establish research collaboration amongst Europe's industries and universities. I worked as the advisory during the setting up of the ESPRIT programme, and chaired a ESPRIT committee for five years.
In parallel to the government programmes established in Europe, the leading East Asian nations established similar co-ordinated programmes. Due to my early involvement with the Japanese Government and the CEC, I was invited to act as advisor to a number of government ministries, such as the Ministry of Science & Technology (MOST) in Korea.
I have served on various advisory committes, including the UK Government's (DTI) Retail Advisory Panel, and led a number of UK (DTI) delegations to study and report on developments in East Asia, in particular Japan. I also serve on a Treasury committee on education and training for the financial services industry.