Project team
This project is being led by Curtis+Cartwright Consulting Ltd, a technology and management consultancy that helps public sector organisations make best use of current and emerging technologies. It was established in 1999 and prides itself on the repeat business from long-term clients. Curtis+Cartwright has worked in the education and research sector since 2005 on a variety of library-relevant projects, and has excellent experience of providing support and leadership to the public sector on innovation, foresight, strategy development and business change.
Curtis+Cartwright works with a wide range of Associates and is conducting this project in collaboration with futures experts at SAMI Consulting, Sarah Thomas (Bodley’s Librarian) and Richard Ovenden (Associate Director of the Bodleian Library).
Biographies of key team members are provided below.
Dr Geoff Curtis (project manager)
Geoff founded Curtis+Cartwright and has some 30 years of experience managing and conducting a broad range of consultancy assignments, especially in the public sector. These include IS/IT strategy development, ICT infrastructure strategy development, security consultancy, procurement support, organisation and management studies and system engineering studies. Geoff was previously a director of The Smith Group Ltd (now Detica) for some 15 years.
Dr Claire Davies
Claire joined Curtis+Cartwright in 2005 after completing a PhD in analytical organic geochemistry at the University of Bristol. She is a Consultant at Curtis+Cartwright and has managed and supported numerous assignments across the public sector. She has a particular expertise in developing guidance and outputs to facilitate decision-making and improve business outcomes, and enjoys organising and running tailored meetings, workshops and focus groups with stakeholders across the public sector.
Dr Max Hammond
Max joined Curtis+Cartwright in June 2006, after completing his PhD in organometallic chemistry at the University of Warwick. Max has deep experience within the libraries domain and has managed and conducted a wide range of consultancy projects, with a particular focus on understanding complex systems - both organisational and technical. Max has undertaken a range of futures studies and scenario-development exercises within the education and research sectors.
Dr Rob Hawtin
Rob joined Curtis+Cartwright in July 2009 as a Researcher, moving into consultancy after a successful academic career encompassing research and teaching in computational chemistry. Rob is enjoying developing the skills he gained in academia in a consultancy context. His work as a Researcher for Curtis+Cartwright has so far included supporting projects in the Police and Education sectors.
Gill Ringland
Gill is well known as an author, consultant and trainer on scenario planning and strategy. Since 2002 she has been CEO and Fellow of SAMI Consulting which specialises in working with organisations to improve decision making and implementation, based on views of the future.
She is a world-recognised scenario thinker, through her books which are amazon.com best sellers (which include “Scenario planning” and “Scenarios in Public Policy”). Recent projects include “Assessment of the ICT Infrastructure of the City”, working with Sirim (the industrial research laboratory of Malaysia) to develop a new medical devices industry, and scenarios to 2060 with Natural England.
Dr Chris Yapp
Chris has some 29 years experience in the IT Industry at Honeywell, ICL, HP, Microsoft and Capgemini. He has held many roles in this period across public and private sectors. He has been involved with networking technologies and is a past director of the English chapter of the internet society. For 20 years, Chris has been heavily involved in Innovation, Futures Thinking and Strategy around the Information Society. He is a frequent speaker on these issues and has advised governments in UK, EU and wider around these topics. He is an Associate of the Think Tank, DEMOS. He has contributed to a number of books on these topics. He co-edited and wrote, with Sara de Freitas “Personalization of Learning in the 21st century”, and was an advisor on the People’s Network in Public Libraries and with Culture Online.
Dr Sarah Thomas
Sarah Thomas is Bodley’s Librarian and is in charge of library services at the University of Oxford. She previously served as University Librarian at Cornell University from 1996 until 2007. In a career spanning thirty-five years, Dr Thomas has cataloged books in Harvard University's Widener Library, taught German at the Johns Hopkins University, managed Library Coordination at the Research Libraries Group in California, served as the Associate Director for Technical Services at the National Agricultural Library, and directed both the Cataloging Directorate and the Public Service and Collection Management Directorate at the Library of Congress. In 2007 she received the Melvil Dewey Award from the American Library Association.
Richard Ovenden
Richard Ovenden, FRSA, FSA was educated at Durham University and University College London, and has worked as a professional librarian since 1985. He has served on the staff of the House of Lords Library, the National Library of Scotland, at the University of Edinburgh, and now at the Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford (as Associate Director and Keeper of Special Collections). He has served on several JISC committees and is currently the Chairman of the Digital Preservation Coalition.
He has published widely on the history of collecting, the history of the book, on the history of photography and on professional concerns of the library, archive, and information world. He is a member of the History Faculty at Oxford, and holds a Professorial Fellowship at St Hugh’s College, Oxford.
