Ben Hammersley
Technologist, Journalist and Broadcaster

Ben Hammersley is a British writer and technologist, specializing in the effects of the internet and the ubiquitous digital network on the worldʼs political, cultural and social spheres. He now enjoys an international career as a speaker, explaining complex technological and sociological topics to lay audiences, and as a high-level advisor on these matters to governments and business. He is the British Prime Minister’s Ambassador to TechCity, London’s Silicon Valley; Editor-at-Large of WIRED magazine; one of the four members of the European Commission’s High Level Expert Group on Media Freedom. He teaches in London and Barcelona; has written five books on internet technologies, with a major non-fiction work coming from Hodder and Stoughton in March 2012; he regularly reports for and presents on BBC Radio 4.

Previously, Ben was the first specialist reporter on the internet for The Times, and a reporter and skunkworks engineer for The Guardian, where he designed and built the weblogs network, and the political discussion site, “Comment is Free”. He reported internationally, including from warzones, writing on everything from the launch of the PlayStation2 in Japan, to the fight against Al Qaeda in Afghanistan. He travelled undercover in Burma to interview Aung San Suu Kyi, photographed Hezbullah in Beirut, and has embedded with US and British troops in Afghanistan, and Philippine troops in Mindanao. His reporting from Turkey for the BBC pioneered multimedia reporting - being the first to report for television, radio, twitter, YouTube, and Facebook equally.

He is a fellow of the Royal Society for the Arts, the Royal Geographical Society, and the Royal Institution, and a member of Chatham House. He was awarded a UN Fellowship in 2011, and made a member of the Royal Institution channel Scientific Advisory Group in the same year. He is Ambassador for the National Media Museum, and a member of the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences. He is a Trustee of the Awesome Foundation in London, and an advisor to the Mozilla Foundation in San Francisco.

Current Positions:
Prime Minister’s Ambassador to TechCity, Office of the Prime Minister, 10 Downing
Street
Author, Hodder & Stoughton
Writing “64 Things You Need To Know Now For Then”, a guide to the new concepts of the
modern world, for international publication in March 2012.
Editor at Large, WIRED Magazine
Co-curator, “Life Online” Gallery, National Media Museum
Trustee, Awesome Foundation London
Judge, Lovie Awards
Judge, Layar Creation Challenge
Advisory Board, Online Rights Group
Visiting Lecturer, Ramon Llull University, Barcelona
Fellow, United Nations Alliance of Civilisations
Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts
Fellow of the British American Project
Fellow of the Transatlantic Network 2020
Fellow of the Council for the United States and Italy, Young Leaders’ Programme
Member, International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences
Member, Courvoisier Future 500

Please click on the links below to see videos of Ben:

Video 1

Video 2

Testimonials

"Ben was fantastic, everyone loved him. Some feedback on him in our evaluation form:
- Ben H was incredibly inspiring and insightful
- Surprising speakers, especially Ben Hammersley, very inspiring and unexpected. In general inspiring and mind opening.
- I particularly loved the outside perspective of Ben Hammersley. He was great, and just being about to step out of our industry was very beneficial.
- Good variety of speakers, Inspiration with Ben!
- The humble ‘characters’ (Alison, John, Troy, Ben, Craig and Andrew) of these giants are really engaging and overwhelming.
- Ben Hammersley was stimulating curiosity about all things from our business and I can apply them."
Jo Salmon, BBDO Europe Mifddle East and Africa, November 2011

"Thank you very much for the fantastic presentation you did yesterday! Everybody loved it!"
Anna Sbotinova, Saxo Bank, Copenhagen, April 2011

"Just a quick note to say thank you so much for Chairing Warc's Online Research  event last week. Feedback has been very positive and over all the event was really well received. Thanks again for your great questions and for keeping the whole day on track. It was great to meet you"

Claire Farrow for WARC, London - February 29th, 2012

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