THE JUDGING PANEL
The full judging panel for the 2019 Awards will be announced later in the year – below are some of the judges from this year’s UK and US awards.
ALISON ROSS - CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE AND OPERATIONS DIRECTOR, AUTO TRADER
BRENDAN O'ROURKE - CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER, O2
After an early career spent travelling globally implementing IT and network systems for startup mobile operators Brendan worked at Director level in PwC in the UK, Spain and Japan before being headhunted as CIO for BT Openworld to launch the first broadband and IPTV services in the UK . After 5 years at BT and 5 years working at senior levels in innovative startups he was headhunted by Telefonica as a digital leader working firstly in the UK on Online, then Globally as CIO of Telefonica Digital and for the last 4 years as CIO for O2 in the UK, a £6bn revenue telecommunications and digital brand.
Brendan is a member of a number of industry advisory boards, talks frequently on the topics of digital innovation and the role of the CIO, and serves on the CIO Board of TechPartnership focused on increasing the technology talent in the UK.
CHRISTINA SCOTT - CTO, NEWS UK
Christina was formerly at the Financial Times, where she held the titles of CIO, Chief Product and Information Officer and Senior Vice President of Technology for the Pearson Professional arm of parent company Pearson.
At the Financial Times, she was responsible for driving the paper’s digital transformation, using data insight to drive customer experience.
Christina has more than 20 years experience in the IT industry, having previously worked in technology teams at a number of companies including the BBC, FT and ITV Digital, where she specialised in digital transformation.
In 2016 Scott was awarded the CIO of the Year award in the Women in IT awards and previously has been highly recognised in a number of top technology and female executive rankings.