Isle of Wight resident Andy Stanford-Clark used to have what we thought of was one of the coolest job descriptions attached to his role at IBM – ‘IBM Master Inventor’!
Well, as of this week, he’s got another one to fit on to his business card – Chief Technology Officer of IBM UK.
Yes, after a competitive process that involved Andy going up against people from inside and outside IBM, Andy was selected for the role that will ultimately oversee the future of IBM UK’s technical direction.
Pretty amazing as you only get into that kind of a position if 1) you really know your stuff and 2) frankly, you’re a visionary.
A lovely bloke too
Andy – who also happens to be a lovely bloke – is famous on all sorts of levels.
He’s Isle of Wight famous for his early work monitoring the movement of the Isle of Wight Ferries across the Solent and getting them to Tweet as they’re approaching or leaving any of their ports.
He’s also globally famous for creating the world’s first house that Tweets, way back in 2009 – when many people were still saying, “What’s Twitter?”.
More recently he’s also shared his knowledge and experience with the people of the Isle of Wight though Cafe Scientifique
What’s it feel like Andy?
When OnTheWight asked Andy earlier in the week what getting the top tech role in the UK for IBM meant to him, he told us,
“I’m very excited to take on this important role for IBM UK. In many ways it’s a natural evolution of my work in developing new technologies, and working closely with our customers for many years.
I very much enjoy public speaking, media appearances and speaking at conferences, and there will be a lot of that in my new role. It’s a very good fit for my skills and experience.
There were a lot of applicants for the CTO position, and I’m particularly proud that, as an existing IBM employee, I was able to beat strong competition from outside IBM, so this wasn’t just an internal appointment.
Isle of Wight believer
Andy is a passionate believer in the Isle of Wight too, sharing OnTheWight’s long-held belief that through learning technology, the residents of the Isle of Wight can not only earn really good money, but they can also get involved with jobs that they’ll find very fulfilling:
“I think it’s important to be able to demonstrate to young people that many of us from the Island can and do have jobs on the mainland, and some of them can go on to high-powered roles in technology across many industries. And of course, there are also many technical and engineering jobs here on the Island that can make a difference in the world.”
Congratulations!
Congratulations – A role richly-deserved.
Image: @drlucyrogers
