A smart appointment

Pleased to read in Computerworld that The Chief Executive of the Ministry of Economic Development has appointed Bruce Parkes as Deputy Secretary for telecommunications and energy.

While individually there are many fine civil servants, collectively there is a legitimate criticism that there can be a lack of private sector experience. Bruce has held senior positions in both the telecommunications and energy sectors, and it is great to see someone with that background appointed to a senior role.

I’ve actually taken part in Commerce Commission hearings, on the opposite side to Bruce – when he was at Telecom, and I was part of the InternetNZ team. He was always very professional and didn’t let the areas in which you disagreed (which were a few) interfere with the relationship in the areas where you did agree.