Alan has worked in Healthcare as a frontline medical scientist, in medical research, and more recently as Chairman and Chief Executive of large multi-national companies and smaller technology start-ups. His international experience includes the establishment and chairmanship of a subsidiary in China of a British technology company. He teaches in Universities in UK, Europe, North America and Asia with Professorships in European and Chinese Universities. He has raised and managed a Venture Capital Fund, is a Business Angel Investor and Trustee of charities. He has been honoured with The Queen’s Award for Enterprise Promotion in the UK and with membership as Knight First Class of the Order of the White Rose of Finland for services to Education.

His current work is focussed on the commercialisation of research, technology start-ups, understanding Innovation Districts and Ecosystems with a focus on Health Care, Science Parks and Innovation Centres, together with a special interest in the development of UK-China Education and Trade Relationships. He is a member of the Advisory Board of China Insight Foundation and a director of CFCC – China Future Creative Class a company based in Shenyang and Cambridge.

Alan promotes the vision of “A World Without Borders.” His career experience has prepared him well to be Executive Chairman at Cambridge Worldwide Associates.

Dr Alexandra Read is an educational technologist, researcher and consultant specialising in digital transformation, immersive technologies, AI and progressive curriculum development in education. For the last three years, as Head of Learning Technology for the Girls’ Day School Trust (GDST), she has led the design and delivery of trust-wide digital strategy, focusing on equitable, innovative learning environments and expanding opportunities for girls and women in STEM.

Before joining the GDST, Alexandra spent 12 years in the international independent school sector with ACS International Schools and began her career teaching technology in Florida, USA. She has extensive experience in AI strategy, data-informed decision-making, curriculum development and coaching educators to integrate technology effectively. Her PhD research explored the relationship between educational leaders’ technology proficiency and school-wide digital capability.

Alexandra is currently collaborating with the Pearson Innovation Lab research team on research into XR technology in the classroom and the development of a quality framework for XR in education. A frequent national and international conference speaker, she champions experiential learning, ethical approaches to AI and professional development that empowers teachers to innovate and redefine teaching and learning.

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Amir is a research assistant at the DEFI, supporting the systematic literature review study. He is also pursuing a part-time PhD researcher in Education at the University of Cambridge where his research focuses on equity in teacher recruitment processes and work with students with special educational needs (SEN) in England.

Dr Andreas Stylianides is a long time DEFI supporter and a fellow of Hughes Hall, Cambridge. His research interests include the design of virtual classroom environments for teacher learning.

Ann Kristin Glenster is Professor at the Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences, and Humanities at the University of Cambridge, and Executive Director of the Glenlead Centre, a consortium of independent researchers. She is also an affiliate of the Centre for Intellectual Property and Information Law (CIPIL) at the University of Cambridge.

Professor Glenster has provided policy recommendations to numerous governments, legislative bodies, agencies, regulators, and civil society organisations in the UK, US, EU, and UN. She has taught at the University of Cambridge, University of Oxford, Imperial College London, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), Brown University, and Harvard University.

She holds a PhD in Law from the University of Cambridge, conducted doctoral research at the Harvard Law School, and is a former Fellow of the Harvard Kennedy School for Government. She is an affiliate of the Centre for Intellectual Property and Information Law at the University of Cambridge.

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Dr Areum Han recently completed her PhD in Psychology at the University of Luxembourg and holds an MA in Education and Development from the University of East Anglia. Her research encompasses several interdisciplinary areas, including collaboration and learning analytics, development and assessments of 21st-century skills using educational technology, vocational education and inequality. She is also interested in spreading the positive impacts of education technology in practice.

Bryan Maddox leads the assessment strand at DEFI, holistically exploring the ways in which digital technologies and digital data can help support new models of assessment, in collaboration with industry partners. His research on the validity and fairness of assessment also aligns closely with DEFI’s vision of a more dialogic and inclusive educational system.

Bryan is Executive Director of Assessment Micro-Analytics Ltd, and Honorary Professor at the University of East Anglia, where he was previously Professor of Educational Assessment.  He has held Visiting Professor roles at the University of Oslo, and the University of British Columbia. His work focuses on the digital transition in educational assessment, with a strong interest in the test taker experience and inclusive assessment. He is skilled in observational research methods including digital ethnography, eye tracking and gesture analysis.

Recent publications

Abu Sitta, F., Maddox, B., Casebourne, I.,  Hughes, S., Kuvalja, M. & Oates, T. (2023). The futures of assessment – Navigating uncertainties through the lenses of anticipatory thinking. Cambridge: Digital Education Futures Initiative (DEFI) & Cambridge University Press and Assessment (2023). ISBN number: 978-1-7384336-0-5.

Zumbo, B.D., Maddox, B. & Care, N. (2023). Process and product in computer-based assessments: Clearing the ground for a holistic validity framework. European Journal of Psychological Assessment.

Addey, C., Maddox, B., & Zumbo, B.D. (2020). Assembled validity: Rethinking Kane’s argument-based approach in the context of international large-scale assessments (ILSAs). Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy and Practice. 27 (6) 588-606.

Carla is an international transdisciplinary thought leader and innovator engaged in the Futures of Education with AI EdTech. She was Director of Futures at UCL – Institute of Education and Global Digital Director of Education at Cambridge University Press.  She instigated and ran an interdisciplinary EdTech Think Tank, the Tmrw Institute, engaging with politicians, policy makers, academia, educators, NGOs, Foundations, EdTech and practitioners tackling international key challenges and digital trends in education and learning, ecosystems and contexts for the future of education.

Carla ran the Next Billion EdTech Prize for start-ups in resource-poor contexts and the Global South. She was a member of the advisory board of ErasmusX, Erasmus University Rotterdam where she is has been involved in strategic innovation and the development of AI strategy. Carla is a member of WEF’s Expert Network for AI and the working group on AI and Youngsters. She is an expert on the Brookings Institution Centre for Universal Education – GenAI taskforce. She is also a Trustee at Big Education.

Carla has been instrumental in developing and delivering on digital strategies and products for Learning and Teaching, developed, directed and managed Edtech-enabled transformation programmes, innovation and culture change for incumbents.

Cindy Deyu Xing is a research assistant in the DEFI Innovation Lab. She is also an Education PhD student at the University of Cambridge with research interests in foreign language acquisition,  educational technology, parenting and student success.

Personal website

Dr Corinne Roughley is a long time DEFI supporter and a fellow of Hughes Hall, Cambridge. Dr Roughley’s has a research interest in developing digital approaches for understanding prehistoric landscapes. She is an educator herself, serving for many years as tutor for the Institute of Continuing Education at the University of Cambridge, and more recently as Senior Teaching Associate, Foundation Year Programme, also at Cambridge.