Key Participants
John Robertson MP
Joint Chairman of the apComms group
John Robertson held the safe Labour seat of Glasgow Anniesland at a by-election in November 2000 after the death of the long-serving MP and Scottish First Minister Donald Dewar. He secured the new seat of Glasgow North West following boundary changes in 2005.
Prior to this, John Robertson had spent over thirty years working as a manager for British Telecom. John Robertson was highly active in communication workers union affairs at British Telecom and was West of Scotland chairman of Connect for three years until elected to Parliament. As an MP, he has remained interested in the Telecoms industry, became the Chair of the All-Party Telecommunications Group in 2002 and then Joint Chair of the new apComms group upon its formation in July 2007.
Derek Wyatt MP
Joint Chairman of the apComms group
Derek Wyatt MP has represented Sittingbourne and Sheppey in North Kent since May 1997, having previously been a councillor in the borough of Haringey. Before being elected as an MP, Derek was Director of The Computer Channel at BSkyB and travelled extensively throughout America from mid 1995 to research the internet and to assess its impact. Derek is a leading Parliamentary campaigner on internet-related issues.
On arriving at Westminster he formed the All Party Internet Group (APIG) and remained its Chairman until the merger with apComms in July 2007. APIG won an award for its report on data retention and in 2003 launched a global spam summit. Derek also led several APIG visits to Washington DC to discuss internet issues with US politicians, government officials and industry representatives.
Alun Michael MP
Former DTI Minister with responsibility for e-commerce
Alun Michael has been the Labour and Co-operative MP for Cardiff South and Penarth since 1987. He was Minister of State for Industry and the Regions between 2005 and 2006. He was Deputy Home Secretary 1997-98, Secretary of State for Wales 1998-99, First Secretary of the National Assembly for Wales 1999-2000, and 2000 and Minister for Rural Affairs 2001-2005.
In Opposition, Alun was Whip (1987-88) then a front bench spokesman on Welsh Affairs (1988-92), Home Affairs and the voluntary sector (1992-97).
Prior to becoming an MP, Alun was a Journalist (1966-71), and a youth and community worker (1971-87). He became a JP in 1972 and chaired the Cardiff Juvenile Bench. He is a member of the National Executive Committee of the Co-operative Party.
Andrew Miller MP
Chairman of PITCOM
Andrew Miller is Chairman the Parliamentary Information Technology Committee, PITCOM. PITCOM addresses the public policy issues generated by IT and its application across the UK economy, public and private. Its membership comprises MPs and Peers, suppliers and users of ICT products and services, academics, senior civil servants and journalists. Since his election in 1992, Andrew Miller has also served as a Parliamentary Private Secretary to Ministers in the Department for Trade and Industry.
Andrew Miller is the author of: 'Information and Communication Technology Tools for Better Government' a paper commissioned by the Cabinet Office Minister in preparation for the Modernising Government White Paper. He also presents widely on Information Technology, E-working and E-Government.
Lord Erroll
Cross Bench Peer
The Earl of Erroll is a Cross Bench Peer who first entered the House of Lords in 1978 and was elected a Hereditary Peer in 1999. He was appointed Secretary to the All Party Internet Group in 2005. He is a Board Member of the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST) and the E-Democracy programme. He is also a Council Member of the Parliamentary Information Technology Committee (PITCOM) and the European Information Society Group (EURIM) and a Member of the Advisory Board of the Information Systems Security Association (ISSA).
He has extensive commercial ICT experience and has been the Chairman of several technology enterprises.