Dr Stephen Unger

Stephen Unger's last full-time role was as an executive Board member of Ofcom, the UK regulator responsible for telecommunications and media. He served as Chief Technology Officer, Strategy Group Director, and as Acting Chief Executive. Specific achievements included a major reset to the regulatory framework that applies in the UK, which has dramatically increased the availability of ‘full fibre’ broadband services.

Before becoming a regulator, Stephen spent several years in the private sector. He worked for high-tech start-ups based in Cambridge's 'Silicon Fen', who were developing new wireless communications technologies. And he worked for companies that took these new technologies out of the laboratory, into the fiercely competitive world of commercial communications networks.

He started his career carrying out astrophysics research. He was the first Director of the Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes, then the most powerful such facility in the world. He led its technology development programme, and he dealt with the practical challenges that arise from running a research centre on top of a mountain. His own research was on the astrophysics of supermassive black holes.

Stephen now holds a portfolio of non-executive and advisory roles in the technology sector. A common theme across these roles is an interest in the transformative power of technology, and the perennial question of how best to harness that power for public good. He uses his spare time to write books on this topic.