Ofcom has appointed Professor William Dutton as Chair of the Advisory Committee for England. Bill will also be member for the South East region.

As Director of the Oxford Internet Institute and Professor of Internet Studies at the University of Oxford, Bill is an expert in emerging technologies and how they shape both policy and the citizen and consumer experience. A Fellow of Balliol, his department focuses on the societal implications of emerging technologies like the Internet.

Graham Creelman, East Region

Graham spent 10 years as the Managing Director of Anglia Television and Director of Regional Programming for the ITV Network. He was the founding Chair of Screen East, the Film Council’s representative body in the East Region. He is now a Creative Consultant; Chair of the RDA's Creative Industries Sector Group; a Trustee of the ITV Pension Fund; Chair of the Regional Cultural Consortium and a Non-Executive Director of Government Office for the East of England.

Dharmash Mistry, London

Dharmash is one of seven Partners at Balderton Capital, one of Europe’s leading venture capital firms. Before joining Balderton he spent eight years building Emap’s consumer and digital business in various Executive roles. Most recently he was part of the management team that sold Emap’s consumer business to H Bauer for £1.1bn. Prior to this he spent a number of years at The Boston Consulting Group, having previously started his career as a Brand manager at Procter and Gamble.

Olwyn Hocking, North East

Olwyn is currently the Director of Digital Voice for Communities, a social enterprise which works with agencies, charities and local authorities on media initiatives designed to help bridge the “digital divide”. Prior to this, Olwyn was the Head of Regional and Local Programmes for the BBC in the North East and Cumbria and Controller of Regional Programmes at Tyne Tees TV. She is a Fellow of the Royal Television Society..

Wendy Pilmer, North East

Wendy runs her own consultancy having spent the last 21 years at the BBC, most recently leading the BBC's tri-media operations in the North East and Cumbria. She was Deputy Controller of Radio 4 between 1999 and 2002 and previously Head of Presentation at 5Live, Head of Specialist Music at Radio One and a SONY Award winning producer at Radio 1 and 4.

John Varney, North West

John currently runs his own consultancy, Maximum Clarity, supporting public and private sector bodies with a wide range of technology issues. His previous roles include just under five years as Chief Technology Officer for the BBC and six years as Director of Technology for Granada. In these roles John oversaw the launch of digital terrestrial television in seven of the 13 ITV Regions and managed the development of a range of new BBC services including its R&D division. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and the Royal Television Society.

Helen Foster, West Midlands

A rural broadband specialist, Helen is the Managing Consultant at BroadEdged Consultants. Recent clients include the West Midlands and South West Development Agencies and the Scottish Government. Prior to her current role she was Chief Executive and Managing Director of the West Midlands Networking Company which delivered regional broadband objectives for the RDA and DTI.

Robert Watson, East Midlands

Robert has 24 years experience in the Telecoms business, including five years as BT's Regional Manager for the East Midlands. During that time he worked with a wide range of bodies including the RDA, City and County Councils and local businesses to promote new technology for both business and social benefit which included the roll out of broadband. Robert spent 13 years in the Army before moving into Telecoms and he currently runs a business advice consultancy.

Further to these eight new appointments, Anne Scorer has been reappointed to the Committee. Anne runs a digital media consultancy and is currently based at the South West RDA as a Senior Consultant: Creative Industries. She previously managed her own independent TV production company producing high-quality documentaries Anne is a member of BAFTA and has been on the Ofcom Advisory Committee for England since 2005.

Ofcom has established separate advisory committees for the Nations on the whole breadth of its communications responsibilities in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and for the English Regions. These Committees have been established under statute, specifically Section 20(1) of the Communications Act 2003.

Members of the advisory committee for each Nation are appointed through an open public process.

The Advisory Committees for the Nations are tasked to identify those aspects of Ofcom's current work and of communications in general which are of particular importance for their nation, to work with the Ofcom Executive to inform themselves on these topics and to offer advice to Ofcom accordingly. The Committees are also asked to be prepared to respond to specific consultation requests from Ofcom on matters where a non-metropolitan perspective will be valuable even though there may not be specific national issues.