Related News

Professor Tony Davies is to stand down as director of the eCommerce Innovation Centre, a self-funded research and consultancy department based at Cardiff Business School, Cardiff University, in Wales. He will retain an important association with the centre, becoming its chairman, in a part-time capacity.

The centre was founded by Davies in 1987 to foster greater understanding of electronic commerce in international trade. The first such centre to be established in Europe, it boasts a global reputation for quality of  research and support for businesses in developing e-commerce strategies and implementation programmes. With offices at Cardiff University, Bangor, Olwyn Bay and Milford Haven, the centre has been at the forefront of providing support to businesses in Wales through a number of externally funded projects.

It is estimated that over 6,000 companies in Wales have benefited from advice and support originated by the centre which has led to the creation of over 3,000 jobs and a collective annual increase of £250mn in turnover. Many of these projects have introduced groundbreaking features which have paved the way for subsequent projects across Europe by other universities.

Davies has played a key role in the development of international digital trade transaction standards in collaboration with the United Nations. These standards are now in everyday use by governments, corporations and smaller businesses across the globe for conducting logistics, banking, insurance and trade transactions. He was recently appointed as the head of UK delegation to the UN’s Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. He is also an expert advisor to the European Union on e-business policy, has advised the British government’s Cabinet Office and select committee and has assisted in developing the Welsh Assembly Government’s Information and Communications Technology Strategy.

Davies will stand down as director at the end of August. He will maintain his representative role at the UN and the EU, and will continue as a member of Ofcom’s Wales Advisory Board, the regulator for television and radio broadcasting and telecommunications.