Q. What projects are you currently engaged in on a day to day basis and how do digital & technology innovations fit into this?
A. Through the Creative Industries KTN, I am involved in encouraging companies from across the audio visual industries to engage in new interdisciplinary collaborations which explore new ways of telling stories, of engaging audiences in crossplatform media, as well as experimenting with new business models. We are also beginning to explore the potential of 'the Internet of Things': as ubiquitous computing becomes a reality, what are new products, services and experiences will begin to emerge.
Q. Who do you admire in this space? Who's inspiring you? Who's pushing the boundaries and how?
A. Somethin' Else is experimenting with new approaches to storytelling on a number of platforms: Papa Sangre and Night Jar are games without visuals, almost interactive radio drama; The Supermes is an attempt to create a self-generating soap opera within the Sims,
Submarine, based in Amsterdam, is a rare crossplatform producer which is exploring new ways of doing documentary with projects like Collapsus and Unspeak.
The Agency of Coney blends ideas derived from theatre, gameplay and other sources with its own original approach to creating stories in which the audience plays the leading role.
In a different category, I admire VOD specialists Ostmodern for their exemplary use of UXD in development and building digital products that actually work.
Q. What would you like to see from this year's Megas entrants?
A. I'll be looking for applications that exploit the specific affordances of digital platforms to engage audiences and users. They inform, educate, entertain or connect people in ways that could not be replicated in the analogue world and that add real value to their lives.
Q. What does innovation mean to you?
A. To create value by inventing a new way of meeting a human need through the exploitation of technology.
Q. How important are technology innovations in effecting social change?
A. Innovations in technology are not important of themselves: social change can arise from the appropriate use of new technologies in systems designed to meet human needs.
Q. Where do you see the future of digital & technology innovation? What projects will be winning a Mega in 5 years' time?
A. A major area of growth is going to be the 'Internet of Things' or 'everyware'. We're going to see an explosion of projects, products and services which bridge the physical and the digital with applications across a range of sectors: healthcare, transport , energy, architecture, entertainment …
Q. What app can't you live without?
A. Recently started using Bus Checker which has greatly reduced the stress of getting around London. And without being too sycophantic, the Guardian app on the iPhone was indispensible during the hacking scandal and the test series against India.
Q. Is there anything else you would like to add to encourage or inspire potential Megas entrants?
A. One principle which has always inspired me is that 'it's easier to make the interesting feasible than to make the feasible interesting'.
