As Digital Inclusion Programme Lead for Capgemini UK, Bethan is responsible for helping realise the technology company’s belief that the digital revolution should be an opportunity for all. Passionate about collaboration and skills sharing as ways to address digital skills gaps in communities, she drives the company’s relationships with national charity partners and leads the company wide, mission-oriented, employee volunteering programme. Over her 14 year career in corporate responsibility and sustainability, she’s co-created and delivered several national programmes with these charities and has built provision for hundreds of Capgemini employees to share their skills and expertise for purposeful and positive social impact each year. Bethan also has qualified teacher status and has completed a Masters in Sustainability and Business Leadership at the University of Cambridge, where, she continues as a course assessor to the CISL online Business Sustainability Management course.

Mark Thompson is passionate about harnessing technology to accelerate the transition to a more sustainable future. As Technical Director at QGEMS Energy Ltd, he leads the development of innovative cloud platforms that help balance and stabilize modern energy grids.

A Chartered IT Professional and Certified Scrum Master with over 25 years of experience, Mark has designed scalable, secure systems across industries including renewables, EV telemetry and charging, smart manufacturing, and military applications. His work focuses on security, data sovereignty, and practical AI — enabling intelligent and efficient energy use.
Mark fosters collaborative environments where experts from diverse disciplines can drive innovation. His recent work includes applying machine learning to forecast building energy demand and deploying IoT technologies to support more sustainable infrastructure.

At heart, Mark is a technologist committed to building solutions that serve both people and the planet.

Mark is an experienced Executive who has worked in both the commercial and public sectors across the creative and cultural sectors, professional services, manufacturing and higher education industries, and has previously been lead for Creative Industries at both the Regional Development Agency One North East, and at Arts Council England North East.
Mark joined the North East Combined Authority in October 2023, having previously been Project Director for five years for the cross-university project Creative Fuse North East. A key part of his current role includes leading on the strategic development and delivery of the Culture, Creative, Tourism and Sport portfolio for the Combined Authority, working with partners and stakeholders to develop the North East as an exemplar model for cultural place making, cementing its appeal as a place to visit, live, and work and growing the region’s creative and digital industries as part of the ambitions in the North East Local Growth Plan. In addition, Mark’s team also includes responsibility for supporting wider programme delivery including supporting digital ecosystem development, innovation, business support and access to finance.