The Changing Face of Information Professional in the Pharmaceutical Industry

Abstract

At UKeiG’s 2016 Members’ day in June this year John Wickenden reflected on his varied career working with one pharmaceutical company. Over the years he managed to reinvent his role as technology advanced, influencing management and ensuring his continued relevance to the business critical objectives of his employer. There are so many lessons to learn from his experiences that we revisit his career in this issue and are taken on a whirlwind tour of nearly five decades of technological transition. With every decade of IT change Wickenden, rather than fearing obsolescence through disintermediation, grabbed the opportunity for change. He was left standing long after his company’s library was closed to make way for conference space.