Professor Vishanth Weerakkody,

Associate Pro-Vice-Chancellor

Biography

I joined the University of Bradford as a Professor of Digital Governancein 2017 after completing a 15-year tenure at Brunel University London where I held multipleleadership responsibilities including for learning and teaching, graduate employability,and external engagement and outreach. Since joining the University of Bradford,I have held multiple leadership responsibilities including as Associate Deanfor Planning and Resources for Management and Law, Dean of the Faculty of Management,Law and Social Sciences, and Associate Dean for International and Enterprise. AsAssociate Dean of Planning and Resources, I was responsible for leading theimplementation of a transformative growth programme for the Triple AccreditedSchool of Management. As Dean, I was responsible for completing the complexmerger of Management and Law with Social Sciences and implementing a unifiedculture and values across a diverse faculty. As Associate Dean of Internationaland Enterprise, I have developed and led the international strategy for thefaculty of Management, Law and Social Sciences resulting in significantinternational growth, strong academic and research partnerships, and globalengagement focused on supporting joint curriculum, knowledge transfer, and studentmobility.

In my present role as Associate Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Global Engagementand Partnerships, I lead the international strategy to grow and consolidate theUniversity of Bradford brand and footprint globally, and support social mobilitythrough a ‘responsible and ethical’ student recruitment and global stakeholderengagement agenda.

As a Professor of Digital Governance within the Triple Accredited School ofManagement at the University of Bradford, I maintain an active research trackrecord with regular publications in 3* and 4* journals and R&D funding whichhave led to two REF2021 impact case studies. My current research ismultidisciplinary and centred around public sector policy implementation,process transformation through digital government, social innovation, and theimplementation, diffusion and adoption of disruptive technologies within asmart city–services context. Focusing on the evolving role of technology, Iclosely follow and critique digital-enabled service transformation efforts in thepublic sector. In this realm, I have presented written evidence to separateparliamentary inquiries on the UK Universal Credit and Common AgriculturePolicy Development Programmes and given oral evidence on Digital Governance tothe Science and Technology Committee in the House of Commons.

My passion for solving societal problems through research and innovationtogether with a vast network of collaborators from both academia and industryhas allowed me to attract over £25 million of R&D funding from the EU,ESRC, Qatar Foundation, British Council, and UK Local Government. Given thechanging landscape of the UK within Europe, I am particularly passionate aboutresearch and innovation to tackle the societal challenges prioritised in theNational Industry Strategy, including the use of emerging technologies totransform health and social care and using community-led innovation to dealwith increasing levels of scarcity and poverty.

Prior to my academic career, I worked in several multinational organisationsboth in the UK and overseas and my last role in industry was as a Methods andProcess Analyst at IBM UK. I draw from over 30 years of commercial and academicexperience to combine leadership, innovation, and intrapreneurship toaccomplish both personal and institutional success.