Will Cavendish
Dr Will Cavendish was director general for innovation, growth and technology at the Department of Health from 2014 to February 2016. Between February and September 2016 he was seconded to the Cabinet Office to lead short-term projects. He has also previously held the position of director general for international energy and climate Change at the Department of Energy and Climate Change
Roles outside government
In September 2016, Dr Cavendish sought the advice of the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (ACOBA) on taking up an appointment as director of strategy at Google DeepMind (GDM), a technology company in the field of artificial intelligence. ACOBA noted that had not had any previous direct contractual dealings with GDM, though had had some contact with a separate sub organisation called Alphabet. ACOBA approved the appointment on condition that Dr Cavendish take up the role after a six-month period between leaving his last position in government, he would not draw on privileged information available to him in government when advising GDM, and he would not become personally involved in lobbying the UK Government for a period of 2 years. The appointment was taken up in October 2016. [1]
His appointment comes amid growing concern surrounding the political influence of Google after 80 instances in the past decade where the company has taken on government employees. [2]
Notes
- ↑ Summary of business appointments applications - Dr Will Cavendish, GOV.uk, accessed 26 October 2016.
- ↑ Jamie Doward, Google: new concerns raised about political influence by senior ‘revolving door’ jobs, The Guardian, 4 June 2016, accessed 26 October 2016.
