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Tom Crick

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Tom Crick
MBE CEng FBCS FIET FLSW FAcSS
Crick in May 2023
BornJanuary 1981 (age 45)
Oxford, UK
EducationUniversity of Bath (BSc, PhD)
Known forComputing education, artificial intelligence, technology policy, systems engineering
AwardsIET Achievement Medal (2022)
BCS Lovelace Medal (2023)
LSW Hugh Owen Medal (2023)
BSA Honorary Fellow (2024)
Scientific career
InstitutionsUniversity of Bath
Cardiff Metropolitan University
Swansea University
Department for Culture, Media and Sport
University of Bristol
ThesisSuperoptimisation: Provably Optimal Code Generation using Answer Set Programming (2009)
Websiteresearch-information.bris.ac.uk/en/persons/tom-crick/

Tom Crick (born January 1981) is a British computer scientist and engineer, a science and technology policymaker, and a senior civil servant. He is Chief Scientific Adviser to the UK Government's Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, and Professor of Digital Society and Policy at the University of Bristol. His work spans national computing education reform, digital and data policy, and the engineering and governance of large-scale AI-enabled systems in public services and government.[1][2]

Early life and education

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Crick was raised and educated in Wheatley, Oxfordshire, attending Wheatley Park School.[3] He completed his undergraduate and postgraduate studies in computer science at the University of Bath, having been sponsored through his undergraduate degree by ARM.[3] His doctoral research, funded by the EPSRC, considered superoptimisation by developing practical strategies for generating provably optimal code for program optimisation using answer set programming.[4]

Career

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After a period as a postdoctoral researcher on ALIVE,[5] a European Commission FP7-funded project at the University of Bath, Crick was appointed lecturer in computer science at Cardiff Metropolitan University in 2009, before being promoted to full professor in 2016. He was recognised as a UK National Teaching Fellow in 2014.[6] He moved to a research chair at Swansea University in 2018, becoming Deputy Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Civic Mission from 2021-2023. He was appointed Professor of Digital Society and Policy at the University of Bristol in January 2026.[7]

Government service

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In November 2023, Crick joined the UK Government's Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) as Chief Scientific Adviser.[1] In this role, he provides scientific and technical leadership across the department's policy areas, advising ministers and senior officials on science, technology and artificial intelligence.[8] His responsibilities include supporting the design, governance, assurance and deployment of complex socio-technical AI-enabled systems across areas such as media, culture, the creative industries, sport and civil society, and contributing to cross-government scientific advisory structures that promote high-quality, evidence-based policymaking.[2][8][9] He is currently chair of the Social and Behavioural Science for Emergencies (SBSE) Steering Group.[10]

Professional service

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In 2017, Crick was elected Vice-President of BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT[11] for a three-year term. He has also served in a number of senior elected positions in the Association for Computing Machinery, including Vice-Chair of ACM Europe Council and a Member-at-Large of ACM Council.[12] Crick was elected Secretary/Treasurer of the ACM for a two-year term from July 2026.[13]

Crick is editor-in-chief (2021–present) of The Computer Journal,[14] published by Oxford University Press, and an editor (2020–present) of the Wales Journal of Education,[15] published by University of Wales Press.

Computing education and digital skills

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Crick has been involved with the reform of the school-level science and technology curriculum in Wales since 2010.[16][17][18][19] In 2013, he was appointed by the Welsh Government to chair an independent review of the ICT curriculum in Wales.[20] Crick concluded that the existing curriculum did not adequately equip learners with the digital skills required for contemporary education and employment.[21][22] This work treated digital education and skills provision as a large-scale socio-technical system, integrating curriculum design, assessment, teacher capability and supporting digital infrastructure.[23]

From 2015–2016, Crick chaired the development of the bilingual Digital Competence Framework[24] in Wales, which elevated digital competence (the skills, knowledge and attitudes required to be confident in the use of technologies[25]) to the same statutory position as literacy and numeracy in the new Curriculum for Wales. It outlined how schools could incorporate student-centred digital competency into their local curriculum.[24]

He then led the development of the Science & Technology strand of the new Curriculum for Wales in 2017.[26] His efforts united the traditional sciences (physics, chemistry and biology) with computer science and design & technology.[23] The new curriculum was published in January 2020 and started phasing in for all schools in Wales from September 2022 onwards.[27] Crick was also appointed Chair of the National Network of Excellence in Science & Technology,[28] a £4m Welsh Government strategic investment which focused on supporting STEM teachers in partnership with higher education institutions.[29]

Crick also chaired Qualification Wales’ 2018 review of ICT sector qualifications, which reported that they were outdated and needed considerable reform,[30] resulting in new GCSE and A-Level qualifications in Digital Technology from 2021 onwards.[31]

Non-executive and board-level roles

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Crick was a non-executive director of Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water from 2017–2026;[32] a non-executive director of Swansea Bay University Health Board from 2017–2024;[33] an inaugural Commissioner of the National Infrastructure Commission for Wales from 2018–2022;[34] a non-executive director of the Ofcom Advisory Committee for Wales from 2021–2023;[35] and a non-executive director of Industry Wales from 2021–2024.[36] Alongside being a Vice-President of BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, he was a trustee from 2013–2020.[37] He has previously been a trustee of the British Science Association and the Campaign for Science and Engineering (both 2011–2017).[38]

Awards and honours

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References

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  1. 1 2 "DCMS Chief Scientific Adviser: Professor Tom Crick MBE". UK Government. Retrieved 11 September 2024.
  2. 1 2 "AI Leadership Index 2026: Tom Crick". Computing. 24 March 2026. Retrieved 22 May 2026.
  3. 1 2 "Professor Tom Crick MBE". Archives of IT. Retrieved 11 September 2024.
  4. ↑ "Superoptimisation: Provably Optimal Code Generation using Answer Set Programming". University of Bath. Retrieved 11 September 2024.
  5. ↑ "ALIVE". University of Bath. Retrieved 24 September 2024.
  6. 1 2 "National Teaching Fellows 2014: Dr Tom Crick". Advance HE. Retrieved 24 September 2024.
  7. ↑ "Government Chief Scientific Adviser joins the School of Education". University of Bristol. Retrieved 22 May 2026.
  8. 1 2 "DCMS Chief Scientific Adviser Office". UK Government. Retrieved 18 January 2026.
  9. ↑ "DCMS Areas of Research Interest". Department for Culture, Media and Sport. 26 May 2026. Retrieved 17 July 2026.
  10. ↑ "Social and Behavioural Science for Emergencies (SBSE) Steering Group". Government Office for Science. Retrieved 17 July 2026.
  11. 1 2 "Google DeepMind's Demis Hassabis among the recipients of prestigious computing award – BCS Lovelace Medal 2023". BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT. 7 November 2023. Retrieved 11 September 2024.
  12. ↑ "ACM Volunteer Recognition: Tom Crick". Association for Computing Machinery. Retrieved 27 November 2024.
  13. ↑ "World's Largest Computing Association Elects New Leadership". Association for Computing Machinery. Retrieved 28 May 2026.
  14. ↑ "Editorial Board — The Computer Journal". Oxford University Press. Retrieved 28 September 2024.
  15. ↑ "Editorial Team — Wales Journal of Education". University of Wales Press. Retrieved 28 September 2024.
  16. ↑ "The future of science and technology in the Welsh education system". Swansea University. Retrieved 11 September 2024.
  17. ↑ "A Century of Inspiring People: Tom Crick". Swansea University. Retrieved 11 September 2024.
  18. ↑ Crick, T.; Sentance, S. (2011). Computing at school: stimulating computing education in the UK. Koli Calling'11. Koli, Finland: ACM. doi:10.1145/2094131.2094158.
  19. ↑ Brown, N.C.C.; Sentance, S.; Crick, T.; Humphreys, S. (2014). "Restart: The Resurgence of Computer Science in UK Schools". ACM Transactions on Computing Education. 14 (2): 1–22. doi:10.1145/2602484.
  20. ↑ "The ICT Steering Group's Report to the Welsh Government" (PDF). Welsh Government. 1 September 2013. Retrieved 29 September 2024.
  21. ↑ "Wales' schools 'left behind' in digital age, experts claim". BBC News. 23 May 2014. Retrieved 11 September 2024.
  22. ↑ Digitally Engaged, Data Savvy and Computationally Literate: Key Competencies for Future Citizens?, a TED talk by Tom Crick
  23. 1 2 Moller, F.; Crick, T. (2018). "A university-based model for supporting computer science curriculum reform". Journal of Computers in Education. 5: 415–434. doi:10.1007/s40692-018-0117-x.
  24. 1 2 "Digital Competence Framework: your questions answered". Welsh Government. 2018. Retrieved 11 September 2024.
  25. ↑ Crick, T. (2022). Rethinking Digital Competencies in the New Curriculum for Wales. ITiCSE'22. Dublin, Ireland: ACM. doi:10.1145/3502717.3532145.
  26. ↑ "Yr Athro Tom Crick – Gwyddoniaeth a Thechnoleg / Professor Tom Crick, Science and Technology". Addysg Cymru/Education Wales. 6 March 2019. Retrieved 11 September 2024 – via YouTube.
  27. ↑ "Curriculum for Wales - Hwb". Welsh Government. Retrieved 11 September 2024.
  28. ↑ "£4m to improve school results in science and technology". BBC News. 7 January 2017. Retrieved 24 September 2024.
  29. ↑ "Drive to improve science and technology in schools begins". Welsh Government. 1 December 2017. Retrieved 1 October 2024.
  30. ↑ "Delivering Digital: ICT qualifications are outdated and need fundamental reform". FE News. 10 December 2018. Retrieved 11 September 2024.
  31. ↑ "GCSE Digital Technology". WJEC. Retrieved 24 September 2024.
  32. ↑ "Our Directors: Professor Tom Crick MBE". Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water. Retrieved 17 June 2025.
  33. ↑ "Swansea Bay University Health Board Annual Report 2023-24" (PDF). Senedd Cymru. Retrieved 17 June 2025.
  34. ↑ "Commissioners: Professor Tom Crick MBE". National Infrastructure Commission for Wales. Retrieved 17 June 2025.
  35. ↑ "Minutes of the 84th meeting of The Advisory Committee for Wales" (PDF). Ofcom. Retrieved 17 June 2025.
  36. ↑ "Non-Executive Directors – Sector Development Wales Partnership (Trading as Industry Wales)". UK Government. Retrieved 17 June 2025.
  37. ↑ "The British Computer Society Annual Report and Consolidated Financial Statements (Year ended 31 August 2020)" (PDF). BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT. Retrieved 27 July 2025.
  38. ↑ "CRICK, Prof. Thomas". Who's Who (online ed.). A & C Black. 1 December 2023. Retrieved 28 September 2024. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  39. ↑ "Media Fellow alumni". British Science Association. 8 June 2021. Retrieved 30 September 2024.
  40. ↑ "Major WLCoW Award Recipients". Worshipful Livery Company of Wales. Retrieved 24 September 2024.
  41. ↑ "Thomas CRICK". The London Gazette. 17 June 2017. Retrieved 24 September 2024.
  42. ↑ "BERA announces 2020 Public Engagement and Impact Awards". British Educational Research Association. 17 November 2020. Retrieved 11 September 2024.
  43. ↑ "Fellows: Professor Tom Crick". Learned Society of Wales. Retrieved 11 September 2024.
  44. ↑ "World leading engineers win IET Achievement Awards". Institution of Engineering and Technology. 21 October 2022. Retrieved 24 September 2024.
  45. ↑ "Fellows". Academy of Social Sciences. Retrieved 11 September 2024.
  46. ↑ "Hugh Owen Medal 2023". Learned Society of Wales. Retrieved 13 September 2024.
  47. ↑ "Alom Shaha, Gisela Abbam and Tom Crick named British Science Association Honorary Fellows". British Science Association. 16 December 2024. Retrieved 17 December 2024.
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