them, or even where can we see opportunity in them. Although we do gather some of our knowledge and expertise from the external world, a lot of it comes from talking to the experts within our membership base. That’s one of the reasons our insight reports are so highly regarded – they are the product of conversations with both the customer community and the vendor community. We get both sides of the equation when we look at the role of technology in how the industry is changing. Taking it back for a moment, tell us about your background and how that has ultimately helped to shape the DPP? I spent 25 years in production, as a director, producer and then later on as an executive producer – running content companies or content departments. The creative end of the industry is absolutely where I come from – production is my passion. In some ways, it’s quite odd that I’ve ended up being a founder of – and a key part of – an organisation that’s much more focused on the technology and operations part of the industry. But how that has actually helped us and made the DPP distinct is that I have never seen technology as an end in itself. Technology on its own does not fundamentally interest me. What interests me is what technology can do. Process doesn’t interest me. Producers are famously resistant to any kind of set processes or set ways of doing things. So, similarly, they don’t interest me fundamentally and inherently. But when I can see how established processes or best practice processes can bring great outcomes for content and for audiences, I’m really excited by them. That approach helps ensure the DPP is always focused on what we’re all actually here to do, which is to get the product (which is content) to the audience, and we don’t get lost in an infatuation with the process and the technology themselves. I think the other way in which my background helps shape the way we are is that, as a producer, you learn
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