BBC taps former Yahoo talent

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The BBC has announced the appointment of former Yahoo executive John Linwood as its new chief technology officer (CTO).

Linwood left his position as Yahoo's senior vice president of international engineering last month, where he was responsible for the development, deployment and delivery of all the company’s services outside the US.

As the BBC's CTO, he will take responsibility for delivering its technology strategy. The role encompasses the maintenance of the technical infrastructure behind all BBC output.

Linwood will also manage the technical aspects of its West One conference centre and the new, purpose-built MediaCity venture relocating several departments to Salford, in addition to overseeing the Corporation’s IT requirements.

During his time at Yahoo, he was credited with the development of some of the company's most successful consumer products including social networking, social media and user generated content, through to more traditional web properties such as media, e-commerce and search.

Prior to his four years with Yahoo, he held various roles over 11 years at Microsoft.

Erik Huggers, BBC Future Media & Technology director said Linwood’s experience with software engineering would help the BBC move into the digital age, where content is produced and distributed using digital platforms.

“With 28 years’ experience as a software executive, John's appointment adds critical expertise to our proud broadcast engineering heritage,” he said.

This latest appointment forms part of Huggers’ restructuring of the Future Media & Technology division, as the BBC looks to redefine its role in a changing media landscape for public service broadcasting.

Linwood stated: “I look forward to bringing my experience in software engineering to help the BBC take full advantage of the latest technologies across the broadcast production and distribution chain.”

He will officially take up his new role at the beginning of April.

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