The Directors’ Group is an extended and informal networking event where staff, partners, contractors or allies of full members are invited to describe and discuss current, forthcoming and future digital preservation projects. It encourages the development of bilateral and multi-lateral relationships among members; helps disseminate good practice; and ensures that the work of the coalition remains tied to the changing needs of the workforce.
Full members are invited to nominate up to three delegates. Delegates can be drawn from any department, project, partnership or constituent of the Board Member’s institution so long as they are able to contribute to and benefit from an open discussion on digital preservation and cognate issues. Delegates will be expected to present a brief and discursive summary of current and future work. Following a recommendation at a previous meeting the event will be help under ‘Chatham House Rules’, therefore allowing members to share genuine challenges and present emerging tools and processes without them being reported outside.
An outline programme, details of logistics and delegate registration are online at: http://www.dpconline.org/events/details/17-DG11?xref=17
This years' key note speaker will be Nick Appleyard of the Technology Strategy Board. 
Nick is responsible for the Technology Strategy Board's strategies and programmes relating to digital services and the internet. He graduated in physics from Cambridge University in 1989, and followed a PhD in Birmingham with an academic career spanning superfluid helium and quantum electronic devices. He joined the new Technology Strategy Board in July 2007 as Lead Technologist for Electronics, Photonics and Electrical Systems, and became Head of the new Digital department in April 2010.
We are living through an explosion in the availability of information, which is profoundly changing how we live our lives and run our businesses. To stimulate economic growth from the complex landscape of services, the needs of their users, and the digital infrastructure that supports them, the UK needs a consistent vision and a coordinated strategy, so that businesses can work together and learn from each others’ expertise. The Technology Strategy Board is the UK government’s innovation agency. Our activities range from Knowledge Transfer Networks, where businesses find information and partners, through to support mechanisms such as Research and Development project funding. During 2010 we are also investing in a Digital Test Bed for the free use of UK businesses. This will become a window onto the future of the internet, where new business models and technologies can be tested in front of thousands of real users, building market understanding and investment confidence to the benefit of UK businesses and their customers.