BBC exec to head up uni’s CIO centre

A former BBC tech executive has been hired to run a university's innovation hub designed to shape the IT leaders of the future.

David Chan will take up the role of director of Centre for Information Leadership at City University.

He was most recently chief information officer (CIO) of mortgage lender, GMAC-RFC and previously worked as the BBC's head of business systems in addition to holding a number of roles at big names such as Barclays, Lloyd's of London, Prudential and the Civil Service.

"I have always had a strong interest in educating and developing the next generation of CIOs. Until now, there has not been a centre to address the interdisciplinary nature of the CIO's responsibilities, nor to define the important role that CIOs must play in shaping enterprise strategy and government policy, both now and in the future," Chan said in a statement.

"With the new centre, we will address this need within the national debate, by offering an independent, authoritative and relevant voice for CIOs and by building stronger links between academia and business, putting theory into practice and practice into theory."

The university's newly created CIO centre will form part of School of Informatics and offer short courses, CPD and Doctorates research and consultancy.

Experienced information professionals will also be able to sign up for a new masters degree in information leadership, which will be launched next year.