Richard Allan

Richard Allan is senior manager of government affairs for the United Kingdom and Ireland. Richard leads Cisco's policy work on advanced technologies in the EU and also supports policy work in the Nordic region. He recently stepped down from his seat in the U.K. Parliament where he was IT spokesman for the Liberal Democrat party and an active Member of Parliament (MP) since 1997, working on ICT policy issues.

During his time as an MP, Richard worked on issues ranging from digital convergence; implementing provisions of the U.K. Telecommunications Law that created OFCOM; assessing the development of the Internet and electronic commerce and the impact of the development of the Internet on traditional communications industry and policy structures. He speaks and writes regularly on a broad range of technology-related subjects and takes a particular interest in the development of e-democracy and e-government. In October 2004 he was appointed as an academic visitor to the Oxford Internet Institute.

Prior to serving as an MP, Allan worked for the National Health Service from 1991-1997, developing information systems to support primary health care and as a field archaeologist. He has a B.A. in archaeology and anthropology from Pembroke College, Cambridge, and an MSc. in information technology from Bristol Polytechnic.

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