What has been your personal highlight of 2021?
Buying my campervan and taking to the open road with my wife, kids and dog. It's proved the perfect antidote to lockdown cabin fever. Despite the terrible weather, we had a blast.
Which tech figurehead has impressed you the most this year, and why?
Steve Wozniak, for starting his new Privateer Space company to clean up space junk. The tech industry is fantastic at creating new stuff but notoriously bad at cleaning up after itself. Instead of joining Elon and Richard in putting stuff up in space, Steve is focused on clearing some of the junk orbiting Earth.
At ITHQ, we run CSR programs designed to help reduce the environmental impact of tech on the planet as well, so Steve's new venture is very much up our street.
Which one lockdown habit do you plan to keep going?
I stopped drinking in August 2020. It has improved my life in so many ways. I'm pretty sure I will never drink alcohol again.
Which face-to-face industry event are you most excited to return to, and why?
All face-to-face meetings now carry a new sense of novelty, which is very cool. It's too easy to take meeting people for granted and lockdown has given me a renewed gratitude for the simple act of getting together and breaking bread. In terms of big events, I've missed InfoSec and IP Expo. It will be great to get in the room with other security pros and have inspiring conversations again.
If you had the time to learn one new skill, what would it be?
I would love to play the guitar. I've been a massive music geek for as long as I can remember, but I've never learned to play.
If you could go back in time and tell your childhood self one thing, what would you say?
"In 1999, short sell tech."
If you had to sing karaoke, what would be your song of choice?
Something instrumental with nothing singable. Rap at a push.
Sum 2021 up in three words.
Summer? What summer?
