New FAST chief set to focus on cloud and mobility

Alex Hilton fills role left vacant for a year after John Lovelock exited last February

The Federation Against Software Theft (FAST) has promoted former non-executive director Alex Hilton to the position of chief executive, filling the role which has been vacant for a year.

Hilton, who has worked with FAST since 2009, said the intellectual property landscape is changing, and he hopes to put a renewed focus on mobile and cloud technology in his new role.

The anti-piracy body has been searching for a new leader since the departure of former chief executive John Lovelock, who left the firm a year ago to head up the International Association of IT Asset Managers.

The new boss formerly held roles as anti-piracy chief at Microsoft, and most recently was managing director of cloud IaaS provider Rise.

FAST's chairman Phil Keown claimed that Hilton's four years of experience at the body stand him in good stead for the new role, adding that his key achievements are building membership and adapting to a rapidly evolving market.

Of his new appointment, Hilton said: "Over the past few years, FAST has been at the forefront of some of the most important debates in the industry.

"The advent of new routes to market such as mobile apps, BYOD and the cloud has created new challenges for businesses both supplying and consuming technology.

"FAST is well positioned to represent the industry and steer these debates, supporting our members to protect their intellectual property rights."