Advanced Television

Mike Lynch to deliver RTS and IET joint public lecture

April 9, 2014

Dr. Mike Lynch will deliver the first Royal Television Society (RTS) and Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) joint public lecture on 13 May 2014 at The Royal Society. The lecture will be chaired by Tim Davie, CEO of BBC Worldwide and Director, Global.

Entitled ‘Prediction is very difficult, particularly about the future’, Dr. Mike Lynch uses the words of Nobel prize winning physicist and philosopher Niels Bohr as a starting point to explore the big questions facing us in a technology-led future: Are we facing the end of privacy as we know it, and should we be concerned? How can our creative industries and technology work together successfully? Do we still have enough ambition in the UK to continue to punch above our weight?

Speaking about the event Dr. Mike Lynch says:“The UK punches well above its weight in the creative industries and in engineering and I look forward to leading a lively discussion about where these strengths might lead us, and what there impact will be on our society.”

Theresa Wise, CEO of the RTS adds: “Content is becoming the central part of many technology companies’ strategies. By joining with the IET we will bring together our respective audiences to discuss not only the challenges being faced by the industry today but what the future holds for society in general. Dr. Mike Lynch is regarded as one of Britain’s most successful technology entrepreneurs so is the perfect person to lead this discussion.”

Stephen Scowcroft from the IET adds: “We’re delighted to be collaborating with the RTS on this lecture. Engineering lies behind many television, digital and technology innovations – so bringing our two worlds together to explore some of the ways in which they interact and the joint challenges we face will be very valuable, and something we hope to do more of in the future.”

Dr. Mike Lynch is a celebrated technologist who has a proven track record of identifying and monetising fundamental technologies. He founded Autonomy in 1996 based on technology invented at Cambridge University, where he studied Information Sciences, received a Ph.D. and held a research fellowship in adaptive pattern recognition. He served as CEO of Autonomy for over 15 years, during which time it became one of the UK’s most successful technology companies on the FTSE100. The company was acquired by HP for $11 billion in 2011 and following his departure Dr. Mike Lynch founded Invoke Capital, a technology investment company focused on identifying world-leading technology emerging across Europe.

Dr. Mike Lynch has won numerous awards, including Computer Weekly’s ‘Most Influential Person of the Year’ and the Chartered Institute for IT’s award for Outstanding Contribution to IT in 2011. He was awarded an OBE for Services to Enterprise in 2006. He is a fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, an honorary fellow of Christ’s College Cambridge and a non-executive director of the British Library. He is also a scientific advisor to the UK Prime Minister.

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