ARM, Ofcom and Tech City chiefs make New Year Honours List

Some of the UK tech scene's biggest names have been named on the Queen's New Year Honours list, including Tech City UK CEO Joanna Shields and former ARM boss Warren East.

They were among the 1,1,95 people to receive awards in this list, many of whom were rewarded for making an outstanding contribution to their communities through paid or volunteering roles.

This year's list also marked the first time since the order of the British Empire was founded in 1917 that there were more women on the list than men, with 51 per cent of the awards going to females.

Shields was awarded an OBE for services to the digital industries and voluntary service to young people, while recently-retired East received a CBE in recognition of his services to the technology industry.

Over the years, he's been credited with helping the Cambridge-based firm become one of the world's top tech manufacturers, as its processors are used to power PCs, smartphones and servers made by the likes of Samsung, LG, HP and AMD.

Meanwhile, Ofcom chair Dr Mary Bowe bagged a DBE for services to media and communications.

Other notable inclusions were Iain Gray, CEO of the Government-backed Technology Strategy Board, who was awarded a CBE, as was Mike Bracken, executive director of the Government Digital Service.

The achievements of Dr. Jenifer Tennison, technical director at the Open Data Institute, in the field of technology were also recognised with an OBE.

In the more consumer-focused technology world, Dr. Hamid Mughal, director of global manufacturing for Rolls Royce was given an OBE for his services to the technology, innovation and manufacturing sectors.

Meanwhile, Michael Acton Smith, CEO and founder of Moshi Monsters' maker Mind Candy received an OBE too for services to the creative industries.

Caroline Donnelly is the news and analysis editor of IT Pro and its sister site Cloud Pro, and covers general news, as well as the storage, security, public sector, cloud and Microsoft beats. Caroline has been a member of the IT Pro/Cloud Pro team since March 2012, and has previously worked as a reporter at several B2B publications, including UK channel magazine CRN, and as features writer for local weekly newspaper, The Slough and Windsor Observer. She studied Medical Biochemistry at the University of Leicester and completed a Postgraduate Diploma in Magazine Journalism at PMA Training in 2006.