On the lighter side of things , we ask the industry experts what makes them tick . . . .
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David Craig , CEO , Iceotope
wWhat would you describe as your most commitment memorable achievement ?
My family and I accidentally built a charity . It educates children in Kenya . We ’ ve done it without a single paid officer . Everything is done by volunteers and in 20 years we ’ ve educated around 20,000 children . We have around 800 in school just now . We ’ ve also built an orphanage . It ’ s been done entirely by volunteers and us amateurs , wholly by learning as we go along . It has become something of a labour of love .
What first made you think of a career in technology ?
Complete luck . I had spent my teenage years as a musician , lifting and heaving amplifiers for people . My wife and I wanted to settle down together and I needed a regular income .
So , I went to the job centre and was interviewed that afternoon for the position of storeman with Burroughs Computers which later merged with Sperry and became Unisys . I started as a storeman in a technology company the next morning and I ’ ve been in the industry ever since .
What style of management philosophy do you employ with your current position ?
We do many things . We employ a commitment process ; we ’ ve built esprit de corps and a sense of
and mission in everything we do . We ’ re very much into trusting people , allowing them to try and test and to grow . But clearly , we give direction and clear rules to follow . We need to achieve things ; we need to be driven and we are . But we have created an environment in which success is praised and growth is absolutely encouraged as an exemplar .
When I joined , we only had one person who was named on the patents of the organisation and now over half our engineering community have contributed to patents that sit behind our intellectual property . That is a proud moment when you see people contributing , growing and developing .
What do you think has emerged as the technology trend of 2021 and why ?
Everything has been shifting more towards AI . Without a doubt , AI is the transformative technology of the future . Sitting behind it are hugely transformative technologies like the Blockchain that can only assist in it . But AI is the technology of the next several decades , everything that will transform will come from what we ’ ve been able to do with AI .
I started as a storeman in a technology company .
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