DT Hub Board

Chair

Alison Vincent

Alison Vincent sits as a non-exec director and technical advisor to multiple private and public companies. She has previously held senior technical positions at organisations including Cisco, HSBC and IBM. Her roles have spanned cyber security, research and development, strategy execution, product management and business development. She has particular expertise in digital strategy, innovation and mergers and acquisitions.

She is an ambassador for women in science and engineering and is a passionate supporter of the STEM agenda in schools. She has a PhD in cryptography from London University and is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, the British Computing Society and the Institution of Engineering and Technology. She is also a non-exec director on the board of Connected Places Catapult.

Vice-Chair

Mark Enzer

Mark is a keen champion of innovation through collaboration and is particularly interested in the transformation of the built environment and the infrastructure industry, including digital transformation, systems-thinking, connected digital twins, smart infrastructure, low-carbon sustainable solutions, product/platform-based delivery and the circular economy.

Mark was the Head of the National Digital Twin programme and contributed to the leadership of this ambitious programme to enable an ecosystem of connected digital twins across the built environment. For five years, Mark was Mott MacDonald’s Chief Technical Officer and was accountable to the Executive Board for technical excellence across the Group. As Strategic Advisor for Mott MacDonald Digital Ventures, he provides strategy-level advice to key clients on digital transformation, connected digital twins and broader industry transformation.

Mark Coates

Mark Coates is Bentley’s International Director of Public Policy and Advocacy, where he helps to inform and guide government, policymakers, business leaders, and decision-makers globally on the benefits of digital transformation. A former quantity surveyor with an extensive background in global project delivery, Mark began his work in the construction sector 33 years ago. He has worked with Thames Water, United Utilities, ICI, Highways England, the Olympic Delivery Authority, and Crossrail.

For the past ten years, Mark has been driving digital transformation, seeing great advances made in sectors by adopting digital ways of working. He has worked on numerous infrastructure projects, consulting asset owners and their advisors on technology adoption to attain better project results while being conscious of time, cost, and quality. He is a member of the Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation, chairman of the British Water Forum and a member of the advisory board of the Institute of Government and Public Policy.

Davin Crowley-Sweet

Davin is Chief Data Officer at National Highways, with specialisms in the transport and the built environment sectors. He is passionate about data and digital centric change that enable step changes to businesses, lives, the economy and the environment. Davin’s experience in leading complex transformation programmes has given him deep understanding of the technical and non-technical risks and opportunities to make things happen and make them last.

Davin is a recognised thought leader and public speaker with articles published in Forbes magazine. He was voted by industry peers as DataIQ's top 100 most influential people in data since 2019.

Cristina Data

Cristina has 20 years' experience in telecommunications, from business intelligence and strategy to regulation. She is a Non-Executive Director at Energy Systems Catapult and Director of Policy and Analysis at Ofcom in their Spectrum group where she leads a team of policymakers and analysists looking at the future of wireless technologies for digital transformation. Prior to joining Ofcom, Cristina held various marketing and strategy roles at Telefonica O2, EE, and Red Bee Media. Cristina holds a master's degree in management engineering from the Politecnico di Torino university in Italy. She is married with two daughters.

“I am very excited to be part of the DT Hub Strategic Board, sitting at the heart of the Catapult system; leveraging the work done by the Catapults within their own sectors, to build digital twin solutions that can tackle greater problems across a wider footprint. I am keen to bring my experience of working with Energy Systems Catapult, and my knowledge of the communication sector. Communications is a critical component in ensuring that we can build digital versions of the physical reality.”

Matt Edwards

Matt has worked in the water industry for over 20 years across a wide spectrum of roles in engineering, asset management, operations and customer management, and programme and change management. He is currently the Chief Data Officer for Anglian Water Services and serves as the Water Company Data and Digital Board member for the Government’s retail Market Operator (MOSL) for England and Wales.

He has an undergraduate degree from Edinburgh University, a postgraduate degree from Cranfield University and is a Chartered Member of the Institute of Water and Environmental Management. For the last five years Matt has worked as part of the National Infrastructure Digital Transformation Task Group with a specific focus upon enterprise information management, advanced analytics, and digital twins.

Simon Evans

Simon is the Global Digital Energy Leader and the Global Digital Twin Leader at Arup, and chairs the Gemini Call for the Digital Twin Hub. He was also the delivery team lead for the National Digital Twin programme, and led the Arup team in authoring the Gemini Papers for CDBB. Simon is a technology developer and a chartered mechanical engineer, with a background in renewables and offshore oil and gas.

He has a passion for the transformational applications of digital technology, where he speaks and publishes extensively on the topics of digital engineering and digital twins and has received numerous awards for his contributions to the engineering profession. He is a Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Engineers, author of the digital twin maturity spectrum, and co-host of the digital twin fan club podcast.

Benjamin Ford

Ben Ford is Technology and Innovation Manager – Operations for Network Rail. Originally a metallurgist, Ben turned to alchemy when he became an innovation consultant, helping small companies transform their opportunities. He built collaborative partnerships, bringing together capabilities, market demand and investment to create new customer added value. He came to the railway ten years ago to help promote innovation, championing SME engagement, pioneering new procurement mechanisms, and building closer relations with government bodies, and between rail industry organisations. With increasing digitalisation of consumption, he recognised the need for digitalisation of supply, for optimised decisions and service delivery.

Ben has increasingly focused on planning, operations, and improving customer insight. Covid allowed him to secure investment in the largest change in understanding rail demand since the 1970s, making use of telecoms data, foundational knowledge for the digital twin systems we need.

Charles Kennelly

Charles Kennelly is Chief Technology Officer at Esri UK, a company that has long been envisioning, encouraging and enabling the adoption of digital twins through the development of geographic information system (GIS) solutions. For over thirty years, Charles has helped organisations across all industry sectors to harness the potential of GIS and create digital twins in fields ranging from habitat conservation and renewable energy to public safety, city planning, transportation and engineering.

He is passionate about promoting understanding of digital twins and showcasing how organisations can embed geospatial technology into their digital twin strategies to solve diverse business problems.

Liz St Louis

Liz is a dynamic, highly motivated and experienced leader with over 30 years’ experience. She is currently Assistant Director of Smart Cities at Sunderland City Council. Driving transformation programmes and digital and data initiatives throughout her career, she has a passion for person centred user design and ensuring digital and data enabled transformational change that makes a real and measurable difference.

Leading the delivery of the Smart City Programme for Sunderland, Liz is responsible for driving forward city-wide investment in next-generation digital infrastructure and use cases that will make a transformational difference across a city landscape. The opportunities afforded by digital twins have an important role to play in guiding this work and unlocking new insights.

Peter van Manen

Peter is Principal Consultant at Frazer-Nash Consultancy, working on digital twins and autonomy in the defence, energy and transport sectors. Both promote well-timed and well-judged interventions in high impact industries. The digital twins support policy, manage assets and provide assurance of critical infrastructure. Assured autonomy enables widespread utilisation of uncrewed vehicles for inspection and delivery, reducing operator burden and exposure to potential harm.

Peter worked for over 20 years at McLaren, leading the electronics company supplying control and data systems to all competitors in Formula One, NASCAR and IndyCar. The company also developed and deployed systems for the automotive and aerospace industries.

Melissa Zanocco

Melissa is Head of Programmes for the Infrastructure Client Group, as well as one of the instigators of Our Vision for the Built Environment and is committed to transforming the built environment sector to produce better outcomes for people and nature.

She is Co-Chair of both the Project 13 Adopter Community and the Digital Twin Hub Community Council as well as a member of the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation's Deep Decarbonisation Initiative, World Economic Forum Digital Twin Cities Project Global Advisory Committee and Construction Leadership Council Task Force. She was part of the UN Women UK delegation to the 66th session of the Commission on the Status of Women 2022.