Ian Cleland Ritchie, CBE, FREng, FRSE, FBCS

FBCS

FBCS is an abbreviation for Fellow of the British Computer Society . This is the most senior professional grade in the BCS. It is available to applicants with a minimum of five years of Information Technology experience in a senior IT position or who have an established eminent or authoritative...

, CEng

Çeng

The çeng is a Turkish harp. It was a popular Ottoman instrument until the last quarter of the 17th century.The word comes from the Persian word "chang," which means "harp" ....

 is a Scottish

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 businessman specialising in the Information Technology

Information technology

Information technology is the acquisition, processing, storage and dissemination of vocal, pictorial, textual and numerical information by a microelectronics-based combination of computing and telecommunications...

 sector.

In 1984, Ritchie founded the software company, Office Workstations Limited (OWL) in Edinburgh

Edinburgh

Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...

, after leaving ICL when they closed their Scottish Development Centre at Dalkeith Palace

Dalkeith Palace

Dalkeith Palace in Dalkeith, Midlothian, Scotland, is the former seat of the Duke of Buccleuch.Dalkeith Castle was located to the north east of Dalkeith, and was originally in the hands of the Clan Graham in the 12th century and given to the Douglas family in the early 14th century. James Douglas...

 the previous year.

From 1997 onwards, Ritchie became involved in venture capital

Venture capital

Venture capital is financial capital provided to early-stage, high-potential, high risk, growth startup companies. The venture capital fund makes money by owning equity in the companies it invests in, which usually have a novel technology or business model in high technology industries, such as...

 and was the founding chairman of several Scottish IT companies, including Voxar, VIS Entertainment, Orbital Software Group, and Digital Bridges. He has also been on the board of Scottish Enterprise

Scottish Enterprise

Scottish Enterprise is a sponsored non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government which encourages economic development, enterprise, innovation and investment in business...

, the Scottish Further and Higher Education Funding Council, and Channel 4 Television.

He was a founding director and chairman of the Scottish Software Federation from 1988 to 1990, and served as President of the British Computer Society

British Computer Society

The British Computer Society, is a professional body and a learned society that represents those working in Information Technology in the United Kingdom and internationally...

 from 1998 to 1999.

Ritchie was awarded an CBE in the 2003 New Years Honours List for services to enterprise and education. Ritchie also holds Honorary Doctorates from four Scottish universities.

As of 2008, Ritchie is Chairman of Computer Application Services, Scapa Technologies and Caspian Learning and a Director of Iomart. Outside of the business world, he is an Honorary Professor of Heriot-Watt University

Heriot-Watt University

Heriot-Watt University is a university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. The name commemorates George Heriot, the 16th century financier to King James, and James Watt, the great 18th century inventor and engineer....

, a non-executive Director of the Edinburgh International Film Festival

Edinburgh International Film Festival

The Edinburgh International Film Festival is an annual fortnight of cinema screenings and related events taking place each June. Established in 1947, it is the world's oldest continually running film festival...

, a board member of the Edinburgh International Science Festival

Edinburgh International Science Festival

The Edinburgh International Science Festival is a science festival which takes place each April in Edinburgh, Scotland. The festival features hundreds of talks, tours and exhibitions for children, families and adults in locations around the city...

, a trustee of the National Museums of Scotland

National Museums of Scotland

National Museums Scotland is the organization that runs several national museums of Scotland. It is one of the country's National Collections, and holds internationally important collections of natural sciences, decorative arts, world cultures, science and technology, and Scottish history and...

, a member of the board of Our Dynamic Earth

Our Dynamic Earth

Our Dynamic Earth is a science centre in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is a prominent visitors attraction in the city, and also functions as a conference venue. It sits in the Holyrood area, beside the Scottish Parliament building and at the foot of Arthur's Seat....

, and a trustee of the Bletchley Park

Bletchley Park

Bletchley Park is an estate located in the town of Bletchley, in Buckinghamshire, England, which currently houses the National Museum of Computing...

Trust.