Charles is Principal of Policy and Insights where he leads the technology and innovation practice and is country lead for Economist Impact in Australia. His team works with many multinationals from the ASX and Fortune 500 as well as Asian multinationals, governments, small and medium-sized enterprises, and high-growth technology firms.

 

Prior to this role he was editorial director for The Economist Intelligence Unit with responsibility for all industry and management research in Asia.

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Charles is currently based in Melbourne and has most recently managed the region’s technology research practice. He has led a number of projects analysing the implication for business of new technology trends such as the metaverse, AI, blockchain, fintech, smart cities, cloud computing, entrepreneurship and the internet of things, for Google, Cognizant, SAP, Cisco, Telstra, Microsoft and the Singapore government.  He is a frequent speaker at finance and technology events, recently giving keynote presentations at events in Shenzhen, Singapore, Hong Kong, Sydney, Seoul, Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur.

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Prior to joining The Economist Group, Charles ran an investor-communications consultancy where he managed stakeholder research projects and developed an index that tracked the corporate-governance practices of emerging-markets companies. Prior to that he founded a firm that manages initial public offerings across Europe, North America and Asia.

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He holds a master of business administration, focusing on strategy and organisational change, from the University of Oxford and an advanced certificate in public policy analysis from the London School of Economics and Political Science.