Dr David
Ellyard

Synopsis:

New ideas and innovative technology are transforming our present lives and our common future. On this and allied topics Dr David Ellyard has development a compelling message from a life deeply involved in science, technology and innovation; as a researcher (including a year in Antarctica), high school and university level teacher, pioneering radio and TV broadcaster on science and innovation, prize-winning and prolific author, Government policy adviser and program manager on promoting innovation in business.

David helped build public understanding of science and technology through the pioneering programs Toward 2000 and Quantum (forerunner of Catalyst) on ABCTV. Later he established and managed the NSW Innovation Council which advised Government on how to encourage smart businesses in a knowledge-based economy.

David has always had a strong interest in the growth of scientific ideas and of technology, in how we came to know what we know and to do what we are able to do. In the future we will both know more and be able to do more. Such developments can have a dark side which must be managed.

A lively and compelling communicator in person and through the written word, David presents powerfully and provocatively on a diverse range of topics and to a wide range audiences; why innovation is the key to success in business, how technology is shaping the way we will live and work tomorrow, how business and government can work profitably together, what we all should understand about both the promise and the pitfalls of science.