Scientist and broadcaster Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock presents The Sky at Night. Maggie has fronted a number of space documentaries and regularly appears on science and non-science programmes.

From a modest background and diagnosed with dyslexia, Maggie studied at Imperial College where she obtained her degree in Physics and a PhD in Mechanical Engineering. After her studies, she toured the UK speaking to inner-city schools about what scientists do and how to become one.

She has worked in bespoke instrumentation in both industrial and academic environments. These instruments have ranged from hand-held land mine detectors to an optical subsystem for the James Webb Space Telescope (the replacement for the Hubble space telescope). She has worked for the MoD on missile warning systems, and for aerospace giant EADS on a range of projects to monitor the earth’s atmosphere.

Maggie is a research fellow and an Honorary Research Associate at University College London.

James began working at BBC TV on Tomorrow’s World in 1965 and went on to become chief reporter on the Apollo moon missions. He was main presenter of the BBC’s coverage of the first moon landing in 1969.

For more than 40 years he has produced, directed, written and presented award-winning television series on the BBC, PBS, Discovery Channel and The Learning Channel. These include historical series, such as Connections (aired in 1979, it achieved the highest-ever documentary audience); The Day the Universe Changed; Connections2 and Connections3.

A bestselling author, his publications include: Tomorrow’s World, Tomorrow’s World II, Connections, The Day the Universe Changed, Chances, The Axemaker’s Gift (with Robert Ornstein), The Pinball Effect, The Knowledge Web, Circles, and American Connections.

James is a frequent keynote speaker on the subject of technology and social change to audiences such as NASA, MIT, IBM, Microsoft, US government agencies and the World Affairs Council. His latest project is an online interactive knowledge-mapping system (the ‘knowledge web’: www.k-web.org) to be used as a teaching aid, a management tool and a predictor. His next book, The Culture of Scarcity, will be published in 2020.

As CEO of Digital UK Jonathan leads the technical and strategic development of the UK’s biggest TV platform, Freeview. In 2015, Jonathan oversaw the launch of Freeview Play, the connected TV service built into TVs which combines catch-up, on-demand and live TV all in one place.

With six million devices sold, Freeview Play is the fastest growing connected platform in the UK and an essential component of the TV ecosystem – aggregating free-to-air content on a universal basis to all of the country. Jonathan has also been instrumental in the recent launch of Freeview’s new mobile app, which allows viewers to browse, search and watch content from across a range of broadcasters on the go.

Jonathan is also responsible for Digital UK’s day-to-day management of digital terrestrial television (DTT) and development of the long-term strategy for the platform. Partnerships are critical to the work Jonathan leads at Digital UK and alongside Freeview, both organisations collaborate with broadcast partners and industry to deliver high quality TV for the nation.

A former Director of Strategy for both Ofcom and Channel 4, Jonathan has extensive experience working in the broadcasting sector and the regulatory environment.

Susie was appointed CEO of YouView, the award-winning digital television platform owned by BT, TalkTalk, BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5 and Arqiva, in February 2019. Susie was previously Director of Product & Business Development at YouView driving the product’s evolution from launch through to today’s cloud-based, data-rich TV platform in 3 million UK homes.

Susie joined YouView from the BBC where she was Head of Strategy with a primary focus on future media initiatives and platform strategy.

Before the BBC she worked as a consultant at Capgemini and Ernst & Young on strategy and transformation projects across the UK and the Middle East.

Gonzalo de la Vega is the General Manager of EMEA at Fastly where he is responsible for driving the growth and development in region.

As a digital media entrepreneur who likes to make things grow, he has worked on most sides of the value chain, including digital music at Sony Music, music apps at Microsoft, and networks at Telefónica.

Previously Gonzalo served as CEO of Nice People At Work and SVP of Sales at Musiwave. He is passionate about content production, distribution and technology. When not working at a startup, Gonzalo likes to make music, ski and scuba dive.