London Tech Week: How can the tech sector help in Levelling Up the United Kingdom?

Blake Bower

Director of Digital and Technology Policy, Digital Culture Media and Sport

Blake Bower is Director of Digital and Technology Policy at the UK Department for Digital Culture Media and Sport. In this role Blake has wide-ranging responsibilities including the development and delivery of the UK's Digital Strategy, the regulation of digital markets, the government's relationship with the tech sector, and digital inclusion policy; and takes responsibility for the Office for Artificial Intelligence.

Before joining DCMS Blake was Director of Trade and Investment (Goods) at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy playing a key role in the delivery of trade deals between the UK and the rest of the world. With more than 10 years of experience in government, he has held roles covering a wide range of policy areas such as European Strategy, International Climate Change, Electricity Market Reform and Identity. He has also been Board Secretary and head of planning, performance and governance at the Ministry of Justice.

Prior to joining the Civil Service, Blake's career included roles in both the private and third sectors focused on business responsibility and sustainable development. He holds degrees in Biological Sciences and in Environmental Technology as well as an MBA from the University of Warwick. 

: Blake Bower
: @BlakeBower

Sheila Flavell CBE

Chief Operating Officer, FDM Group

Sheila has over 30 years experience in the global tech sector. She is a business leader who has a passion for enhancing diversity in the workplace and creating exciting careers for the next generation of digital talent. She played an integral role in FDM’s flotation on AIM in 2005 and was a key instigator of the management buy-out of the Group in 2010 and the subsequent listing onto the main FTSE Market in 2014. Sheila’s knowledge of the sector has been crucial in driving FDM’s global expansion programme, taking them into the FTSE250. She spearheads the ‘Global Women in Tech’ campaign and created FDM’s Returners Programme. Sheila sits on the Board of techUK. One of her proudest moments in business was when FDM achieved a zero gender pay gap.

She has won numerous awards during her career for services to the tech industry and was recognised in the 2020 New Year’s Honours list with ‘Commander Of The Order Of The British Empire’ for her services to gender equality in IT and the employment of graduates and returners. She is also listed in Computer Weekly’s ‘Most Influential Women in UK Tech, Hall of Fame.’ At the 2020 European Tech Women Awards, The Department of Trade and Industry recognised her outstanding achievements by conferring Sheila with a ‘Career Recognition’ award. Some of her other recent accolades include, Information Age ‘Women of the Year 2018,’ ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ at the 2017 Scotland Women in Tech Awards, ‘Tech Champion’ at the 2018 TechWomen100 Awards, as well as being regularly named one of the 25 Most Influential Women of the North American Mid-Market by CEO Connection. She has also been named ‘Entrepreneur of the year’, ‘Leader of the Year,’ included in the 100 Women Role Models in Tech by Business Cloud and selected as one of Brummell Magazine’s Top 30 Most Inspirational Female Entrepreneurs in the City.

Sheila is fully invested in progressing broader diversity matters beyond gender and is inspirational in showing the way and proving what’s possible – especially (but not exclusively) for women.

When she is not working she can be found flying an R44 helicopter over the Sussex Downs.

: @@SheilaFlavell1

Selaine Saxby

British Conservative Party politician, Member of the Parliament of the United Kingdom

Selaine Saxby MP has been the Conservative Member of Parliament for North Devon since the 2019 General Election. Selaine has a particular interest in levelling up North Devon and in protecting our environment, being promoted to Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in September 2021. She is the active Chair of four APPGs: Broadband and Digital Communication, the Celtic Sea, Cycling and Walking, and the Wood Panel Industry. Selaine currently sits on the Work and Pensions Select Committee, ensuring that welfare and pensions payments work the best they can for people across the country.

: https://www.selainesaxby.org.uk/
: Selaine Saxby
: @SelaineSaxby

Anna Sutton

CEO & Co-Founder, The Data Shed

Anna’s career started with 15 years’ Marketing experience in agencies and businesses across a variety of sectors where she came up against a variety of data and insight challenges. For Anna, data & analysis is the beginning and end of every business decision, stating that “Gut Feel” has no real place in organisations, but getting the information needed to get by without it, is often difficult. The Data Shed was set up by Anna and her business partner to help other organisations optimise the data they hold. Integrating, cleaning and enhancing for trust and insight; then pushing out to appropriate analysis tools and supporting business change programs to give the decision makers access to data in a meaningful way. Over the last 10 years, The Data Shed have worked with clients of all sizes and shapes to tackle all sorts of data problems and in the last 12 months they have pushed their own SaaS product live and onboarded their first customers. Data Democratisation is at the heart of everything The Data Shed do!

: https://thedatashed.co.uk/
: Anna Sutton
: @DataShedAnna