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Agenda Setters: Where are they now... Ashley Highfield
Last year's winner still innovating at the Beeb

By silicon.com

Published: Wednesday 21 September 2005

As the countdown begins to silicon.com's sixth annual Agenda Setters poll of tech's 50 most influential individuals, it is time to look back at those individuals who held top 10 positions in 2004. Today we catch up with last year's winner, Ashley Highfield.

The BBC's director of new media and technology topped our annual Agenda Setters list last year and must be in with a shout of doing so again this time around.

Certainly the BBC has not slowed its push towards new technologies but the efforts of others, rather than a diminishment of Ashley Highfield's own drive, could account for any potential slip down the list. Wherever he finishes it is certainly heartening to see a man still in his 30s hold such influence over the way the BBC is positioning itself.

At the heart of Highfield's vision is the move towards a 100 per cent 'digital connected' Britain. The easiest way to force that adoption will be to make the public want it - to offer something they don't already get but which they believe they need.

The 50th anniversary of the Beeb's rivals at ITV reminds us that television and the way we watch it has moved on a great deal since the analogue signal was launched, with the arrival of broadband and the expectations of an always-on population.

The BBC is embracing the move towards not just digital broadcasting but also content on-demand with the trial of its MyBBCPlayer application, which will allow web users to download and watch and rewatch the organisation's radio and television content.

Similarly the greater availability of MP3 radio content suggests Highfield is well aware of developments in podcasting, sparking suggestions the company may even enter the crowded music download market.

There is also a move towards device-agnostic content. Early trials of TV content for mobile phones suggest the BBC will explore how its content will one day be accessible from anywhere at any time.

And the BBC is certainly Agenda Setting in all that it does. Traditionally its size was seen as the reason it enjoyed the turning circle of the QE2 but the BBC has not let its heft affect the nimbleness of its new media operations.

The creation of must-watch content online will drive adoption of technology and also speed-up conversations about how we interact with global media. The challenge it presents to the commercial sector - whether you think that is a good or a bad thing - will also speed up innovation cycles.

Expect a strong showing on the list again this year from Highfield.

silicon.com's Agenda Setters panel, made up again of CIOs, analysts, VCs, consultants, lawyers, academics and other experts, convenes in September at our London offices with the results revealed at the end of the month. If you want to pass on your comments for our experts - about Ashley Highfield or any other contender - drop us an email at editorial@silicon.com.