Alan W. Brown

Curriculum vitae

Forty years
in brief

Fig. 1 · The arc: academia → research → industry → academia, 1983–2026
Academia Research institute Industry

Highlights

80+refereed journal and conference papers
13 booksas author, co-author or editor, 1990–2026
£20M+in externally funded research projects at Exeter
1 of 5elected IBM Distinguished Engineer from 3,000+ who joined from Rational
$250Mannual product revenue led as VP of R&D at Computer Associates
US patentawarded 2011 for guided architectural decisions in software process

Current roles

  • Professor in Digital EconomyExeter Business School, University of Exeter
  • Research DirectorDigital Policy Alliance
  • AI DirectorDigital Leaders
  • Founder and DirectorInnovider Ltd
  • Co-founder and DirectorUnities Academic Consulting

Employment

  1. Sept 2018 – present Academia

    Professor in Digital Economy

    Exeter Business School, University of Exeter

    Founded and co-leads the Initiative in Digital Economy at Exeter (INDEX). Former director of DIGIT Lab, a £12.4M EPSRC Next Stage Digital Economy Research Centre; deputy director of the £4M DSTL-funded Defence Data Research Centre. Teaches on MBA and masters programmes, and delivers executive education for clients including Capgemini, RAND and AWS.

  2. Nov 2012 – present Own practice

    Founder and Director

    Innovider Ltd

    Advisory practice supporting C-level leaders on digital transformation strategy and delivery — including Thales UK’s CTO, the National Audit Office’s Digital Director, and Digital Jersey.

  3. Sept 2012 – Aug 2018 Academia

    Professor of Entrepreneurship and Innovation

    Surrey Business School, University of Surrey

    Founded and co-directed the Surrey Centre for the Digital Economy (CoDE) with Professors Roger Maull and Annabelle Gawer, holding four EPSRC grants. Research on agile delivery, digital transformation, IoT and distributed ledgers with clients such as NAO, BBVA, Airbus, Centrica and McLaren.

  4. Feb 2001 – Aug 2012 Industry

    IBM Distinguished Engineer · Rational CTO for Europe

    IBM Rational Software · Raleigh, NC and Madrid

    From 2008, European CTO based in Madrid, advising major clients on software engineering economics and global agile delivery, and shaping Rational’s pricing, packaging and product strategy. Earlier led product strategy for model-driven development tools, and teams of up to 100 people.

  5. Apr 2006 – Sept 2009 Academia

    Adjunct Professor of Computer Science

    NC State University

    Co-founded the Center for Open Software Engineering (COSE).

  6. Aug 2000 – Feb 2001 Industry

    Senior Technology Evangelist

    Catapulse · Cupertino, CA

    Business development at a Rational- and Benchmark-backed start-up building hosted software development tools; acquired by Rational in 2001.

  7. July 1997 – Aug 2000 Industry

    Director of Research → VP of Research and Development

    Sterling Software / Computer Associates · Plano, TX

    Led technology strategy for application development products generating over $250M a year, including component-based development.

  8. Aug 1996 – July 1997 Industry

    Manager, Object Technology Branch

    Texas Instruments Software Research Lab · Dallas

    Led research and prototyping in CORBA, Java and COM for mission-critical domains across TI.

  9. July 1991 – July 1996 Research institute

    Senior Member of the Technical Staff

    Software Engineering Institute, Carnegie Mellon University

    Led a 10-person CASE Environments research group with a budget of nearly $2M; advised the FAA, the Pentagon and the Office of the Secretary of Defense.

  10. June 1988 – June 1991 Academia

    Lecturer in Computer Science

    University of York

    Research and teaching in databases, CASE and software engineering environments.

  11. Oct 1984 – May 1988 Academia

    PhD student, then Research Associate

    University of Newcastle upon Tyne

    Worked on the Alvey-funded Aspect project, designing its views mechanism.

  12. July 1983 – Sept 1984 Industry

    Programmer/Analyst

    Fraser Williams Group · Liverpool

    Information systems on DEC PDP-11 and VAX machines.

Education

Fellowships & service

  • CurrentFellow, British Computer Society; member of the BCS Fellows Technical Advisory Group (F-TAG); columnist for ITNOW
  • 2019 – 2023Fellow, The Alan Turing Institute
  • 2014 – 2017Invited member, RCUK Strategic Advisory Team for the Digital Economy theme
  • 2014 – 2017External examiner, Postgraduate Certificate in Entrepreneurship, Cambridge Judge Business School
  • PastSeries editor (with Mark Thompson), “Business in the Digital Economy”, Palgrave Macmillan
  • PastAdvisory editor, computer science series, Chapman and Hall
  • OngoingProgramme committees and reviewing for IEEE, ACM and major software engineering venues

Ventures & advisory

  • Unities Academic Consulting · co-founder
  • NotBinary (now TPXimpact) · founder investor
  • Digital Jersey · strategic advisor
  • Headspring Executive · strategic advisor
  • Defacto.ED · strategic advisor
  • Newbury Building Society · digital advisory panel

Clients through research and advisory work have included the UK National Audit Office, Thales UK, Airbus, BBVA, Centrica, McLaren, Royal London, Scrum.org, Capgemini, RAND and AWS.