Sad News on the Passing of Julie Snell, Chair of The Scotland 5G Centre

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our Chair, Julie Snell, who died peacefully at St Richard’s Hospice in Worcester.

Julie, was hugely respected by all and will be greatly missed by both colleagues at The Scotland 5G Centre and also those that had the pleasure of working with her.

Following her role as CEO and Director of Bristol is Open, Julie was appointed as the first Chair of The Scotland 5G Centre in May 2020. The Centre greatly benefited from Julie’s vast experience, contacts and sector knowledge, during her time as Chair.

With over 35 years’ experience in the telecoms sector, Julie was named as one of the UK’s top smart city leaders. She used her influence to inspire and support more female talent to deliver transformational change within the sector.

Always passionate about innovative technology and its application, Julie was also involved in the healthcare sector. In 2021, she became a non-executive Director of the Hereford and Worcestershire Health and Care Trust, as well as the Interim Chair of the Worcestershire Local Enterprise Partnership.

Throughout her career, Julie was a non-executive director of Col8 Ltd, a company combining video and data giving users an intuitive interface. She was also Vice President of Urban Technology Alliance providing city-scale testbeds to deploy and test smart city innovations; and she was part of the leadership team which developed BT’s first public WiFi project BT Openzone.

Derek Waddell, The Scotland 5G Centre, said: “This is very sad news. Julie was an inspiring Chair who knew and supported all of the Centre’s staff and provided leadership to the members of our Governing Board.

“Julie had an incredible knowledge of the potential for advanced technology. She was passionate about the benefits and impact 5G will bring across business sectors in Scotland. She was incredibly well respected and I’m sure the news will shock many people. She will be deeply missed”.

“She leaves an incredible legacy and on a personal level I’m so grateful for her guidance, kindness and counsel. We send our deepest condolences to Julie’s family.”