Professor David Gann CBE

Professor David Gann CBE is vice president, Development and Innovation at Imperial College London and holds the chair in Technology and Innovation and Management at Imperial College Business School where he was founding head of the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Group and built a portfolio of research in collaboration with design, technology and engineering firms.

David co-founded Imperial College London’s Digital Economy Lab and the Digital City Exchange - cross-faculty research on systems and services innovation for the digital economy.

David’s main interest is innovation strategy: exploring why and how innovation happens, the ways it continually informs the world we live in, and how it can be managed. His research focuses on intensification of innovation using digital technologies to improve collaboration and reduce cost and uncertainty of innovation processes.
David is Chairman of the Smart London board, reporting to the Mayor of London. He is a member of the London Enterprise Panel’s Digital, Creative, Science and Technology Working Group, a member of the UK’s Information Economy Council and a Trustee and Board member of the Institute for Sustainability.

David has worked with many technology ventures and large engineering and technology firms, including as Group Executive at Laing O’Rourke plc from 2007 to 2011. He advises government and firms on research, development and innovation strategies and in 2011 was a member of the Hargreaves Review of Intellectual Property and Growth.

David was awarded a CBE for services to engineering in the Queen’s birthday honours list in 2010. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.