David Brown

Sir David Brown, Chairman of Motorola Ltd, is one of the most prominent figures in the electronics industry today. As well as holding the chairmanship of Motorola, he has much involvement with high-level government advisory bodies and is committed to a range of professional institutions. He is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, a Chartered Engineer and Past-President of the Institution of Electrical Engineers. He is a member of the President's Committee of the Confederation of British Industry and a Past-President of the Federation of the Electronics Industry.

Sir David works actively to promote links between engineering and education. He has twice been an IEE Faraday Lecturer and is a Past-President of The Association for Science Education He was Chairman of the University for Industry Design and Implementation Advisory Group and a member of the University for Industry Board.

Sir David first joined Motorola in 1991. He was appointed to the Board of Directors in 1994 and became Chairman in 1997. He previously worked for STC, ICL and Northern Telecom holding senior positions in software engineering, marketing and general management.

He holds Honorary Doctorates from the Universities of Bath, Portsmouth and Surrey and was knighted in January 2001 for services to British Industry.

Synopsis

The New Economy - An Engineer's Perspective

From his twin perspectives as a career-long telecommunications engineer and Chairman of one of the UK's largest electronics companies, Sir David Brown will reflect on whether and when the New Economy, seemingly so long coming, will finally arrive. He will begin by exploring how the prospect of everything being digital; everyone having broadband; and intelligence being everywhere is changing our understanding of mobility. Then he will comment on the economic effects of that changed understanding under three headings - the macroeconomy, microeconomy and socioeconomy - before suggesting the criteria we might use to decide when the New Economy has arrived.