Professor Tom Crick MBE is Chief Scientific Adviser at the UK Government’s Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), where he provides strategic leadership on research, evidence, and innovation across policy areas including culture, creative industries, media, sport, and civil society.
He is also Professor of Digital Society and Policy at the University of Bristol, with an interdisciplinary research focus spanning artificial intelligence, data governance, and the role of technology and engineering in society, particularly across culture, creativity and the information ecosystem, with a particular focus on public value, place-based growth, and responsible and inclusive technology adoption.
Tom has held a number of senior leadership roles across academia and public life, including at Swansea University, where he was Deputy Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Civic Mission. He also served as an inaugural Commissioner of the National Infrastructure Commission for Wales. His work has had a significant impact on national policy, particularly in digital skills, AI adoption and governance across the UK, including major curriculum reforms and large-scale national initiatives, alongside wider system leadership across research, policy and implementation.
He currently serves on a number of national academy and government committees, including senior roles on international advisory bodies, and is a non-executive director in the utilities sector.
He was appointed MBE in the 2017 Queen’s Birthday Honours for services to computer science and the promotion of computer science education, and is a Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales and the Academy of Social Sciences.
