Brussels, Thursday, 22 September 2011 – DIGITALEUROPE the leading industry association representing the ICT and consumer electronics sectors today announced the appointment of John Higgins as Director-General.

“The ICT industry is at a turning point, said Dr Erkki Ormala, DIGITALEUROPE President. Our association has an important role to play in helping the ICT sector flourish in Europe. John Higgins in his role as ambassador for our sector will help us realise our commitment to deliver jobs, growth and prosperity in Europe in such critical economic times”.

John Higgins joins DIGITALEUROPE from Intellect, the trade association for the technology sector in the UK, with a reputation for excellence and delivering value to industry, government and society. John Higgins has served on the Board of DIGITALEUROPE for several years.  Intellect was one of the founding members of DIGITALEUROPE and has been instrumental in the association’s growth and success over the past ten years.

John Higgins has worked in the IT industry since 1975, after graduating with an honours degree in Mathematics from University of East Anglia. He also holds a Diploma in Accounting and Finance from the Chartered Association of Certified Accountants.  John Higgins is Chair of WITSA's (World Information Technology Services Association) policy action committee. In 2005 he was appointed Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in the Queen's Birthday honours list.

Following the resignation of Bridget Cosgrave from DIGITALEUROPE at the end of August to launch a new venture dedicated to broadband opportunities, Markus Fritz Vice President of DIGITALEUROPE stepped into the role of interim Director-General.  John Higgins will commence a permanent mandate as the new Director-General of DIGITALEUROPE in November 2011.

“We have some outstanding assets in DIGITALEUROPE,” said John Higgins. “Our industry creates jobs, enriches the lives of citizens and consumers, enables business in Europe to be globally competitive, and drives public services to be more effective and efficient,” he said.

John Higgins outlined that DIGITALEUROPE will continue to work closely with member companies and member trade associations adding that, “We will also continue to enhance our strategic alliance partnerships to ensure that we remain a trusted industry partner of the European Institutions and key political stakeholders in their deliberations on matters relating to the digital economy in Europe.”

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Media Enquiries:

Natalia KUROP – Director Communications & Marketing, DIGITALEUROPE

T. +32 2 609 53 26 >> F. +32 2 609 53 39 >> M. +32 487 34 05 71 >> E. natalia.kurop@digitaleurope.org

ABOUT DIGITALEUROPE

DIGITALEUROPE is the voice of the European digital economy including information and communication technologies and consumer electronics. DIGITALEUROPE is dedicated to improving the business environment for the European digital technology industry and to promoting our sector’s contribution to economic growth and social progress in the European Union.

DIGITALEUROPE ensures industry participation in the development and implementation of EU policies. DIGITALEUROPE’s members include 61 global corporations and 37 national trade associations from across Europe. In total, 10,000 companies employing two million citizens and generating €1 trillion in revenues. Our website provides further information on our recent news and activities: http://www.digitaleurope.org

The membership of DIGITALEUROPE

Company Members:

Acer, Alcatel-Lucent, AMD, APC by Schneider Electric, Apple, Bang & Olufsen, BenQ Europa BV, Bose, Brother, Buffalo, Canon, Cassidian, Cisco, Dassault Systems, Dell, Epson, Ericsson, Fujitsu, Hitachi, HP, Huawei, IBM, Ingram Micro, Intel, JVC, Kenwood, Kodak, Konica Minolta, Lexmark, LG, Loewe, Microsoft, Mitsubishi, Motorola Mobility, Motorola Solutions, NEC, Nokia, Nokia Siemens Networks, Océ, Oki, Optoma, Oracle, Panasonic, Philips, Pioneer, Qualcomm, Research In Motion, Ricoh, Samsung, Sanyo, SAP, Sharp, Siemens, Smart Technologies, Sony, Sony Ericsson, Swatch Group, Technicolor, Texas Instruments, Toshiba, Xerox

National Trade Associations:

Austria: FEEI; Belgium: AGORIA; Bulgaria: BAIT; Cyprus: CITEA; Czech Republic: ASE; Denmark: DI ITEK, IT-BRANCHEN; Estonia: ITL; Finland: FFTI; France: SIMAVELEC; Germany: BITKOM, ZVEI; Greece: SEPE; Hungary: IVSZ; Ireland: ICT IRELAND; Italy: ANITEC; Lithuania: INFOBALT; Netherlands: ICT OFFICE, FIAR; Poland: KIGEIT, PIIT; Portugal: AGEFE, APDC; Romania: APDETIC; Slovakia: ITAS; Slovenia: GZS; Spain: AMETIC, Sweden: IT&Telekomföretagen; United Kingdom: INTELLECT Belarus: INFOPARK; Norway: ABELIA, IKT NORGE; Switzerland: SWICO; Turkey: ECID, TESID, TÜBISAD; Ukraine: IT UKRAINE