Ian Valentine is a well-known industry visionary who has been working in Digital Media and connected TV for the last 12 years.

In 2000, Ian co-founded an internet based Interactive TV company, which developed the first XML based, internet micro-browser for the OpenTV environment. The company was bought by Sky, and Ian led this initiative for Sky, which transformed their Interactive Division to become the market leader in the UK iTV market. As Technical Alliances Director and Interactive R&D Board member at Sky, Ian launched “SkyNet” – the first truly open ’Apps Store’ model for Interactive TV services, and has published two ETSI Technical Standards for XML based online services. The wTVML standard was later recommended by the ITU for international use.

Ian is currently Founder and Chief Architect of Miniweb, a spin-off from Sky, providing a Connected TV services platform enabling easy navigation and consumption of internet video on TV devices. The full service platform incorporates search, recommendations, personalisation, community features, payments and advertising.

With Miniweb, Ian has won a number of awards including: Red Herring Europe 100 Winner 2008; Pick Hit Award for Innovation at IBC 2008; Best Interactive Service/Application, IPTV World Series Award 2009; TVB Europe Editors’ Award Best of IBC 2009.