David Edwin Potter (born 1943) is the founder and chairman of the microcomputer systems company Psion PLC., and Psion Teklogix after Psion's acquisition of

Teklogix Teklogix International Inc., or Teklogix, was a tech company founded in 1967 by engineers working at Ferranti-Packard. The company focused on mini computer applications. It designed and built complete systems based upon DEC's PDP-8 computer, DEC's ...

in the year 2000.

Early life

Potter was born in

East London, South Africa East London (; ) is a city on the southeastern coast of South Africa, in the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality, Eastern Cape Provinces of South Africa, Province. The city lies on the Indian Ocean coast, largely between the Buffalo River ( ...

, in 1943 and brought up in

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

. In 1963 he took up a Beit scholarship to read natural sciences at

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

. In 1966 he was awarded a Commonwealth Scholarship to study for a doctorate in mathematical physics at

Imperial College London Imperial College London, also known as Imperial, is a Public university, public research university in London, England. Its history began with Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, who envisioned a Al ...

, where he was subsequently appointed to the staff. As an academic during the 1970s, he taught at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

and at the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university, research university system in the U.S. state of California. Headquartered in Oakland, California, Oakland, the system is co ...

, consulted and wrote a number of academic papers and a book on the use of computers in physics.

Career at Psion

Potter founded Psion in 1980. In its early years, Psion became a leader in software for home microcomputers. In 1984, Psion invented 'The Organizer', the world's first volume hand-held computer for personal use and information. In 1988, Potter led Psion's flotation on the

London Stock Exchange The London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange based in London, England. the total market value of all companies trading on the LSE stood at US$3.42 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Paul's Cath ...

, which saw Psion's scale and value multiply many times. The company expanded further into data communications and mobile corporate services. In 1998, using Psion's experience in small mobile operating systems, Potter led the creation of Symbian Limited in partnership with

Nokia Nokia Corporation is a Finnish multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications industry, telecommunications, technology company, information technology, and consumer electronics corporation, originally established as a pulp mill in 1 ...

Ericsson (), commonly known as Ericsson (), is a Swedish multinational networking and telecommunications company headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden. Ericsson has been a major contributor to the development of the telecommunications industry and is one ...

Motorola Motorola, Inc. () was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois. It was founded by brothers Paul and Joseph Galvin in 1928 and had been named Motorola since 1947. Many of Motorola's products had been ...

and Matsushita to create the operating system standard for mobile wireless devices – now known as

Symbian Symbian is a discontinued mobile operating system (OS) and computing platform designed for smartphones. It was originally developed as a proprietary software OS for personal digital assistants in 1998 by the Symbian Ltd. consortium. Symbian OS ...

. In 1999, Potter stood down as chief executive of the company and assumed the role of chairman. He retired as chairman in September 2009.

Other activities

Potter has been a member of the London Regional Council of the CBI, a board member of the London First Centre and co-chairman of the London Manufacturing Group. From 1999 to 2003 he was a member of The Council for Science and Technology reporting to the Cabinet. Potter served on the 1997 National Committee of Inquiry into Higher Education (The Dearing Committee), and continued his involvement in higher education policy as a board member of the Higher Education Funding Council for England. He has also had extensive involvement with educational establishments as a Visiting Fellow of

Nuffield College, Oxford Nuffield College () is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is a graduate college specialising in the social sciences, particularly economics, politics and sociology. N ...

, Honorary Fellow of

Imperial College Imperial College London, also known as Imperial, is a public research university in London, England. Its history began with Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, who envisioned a cultural district in South Kensington that included museums ...

, London, and Honorary Fellow and Governor of the

London Business School London Business School (LBS) is a business school and a constituent college of the federal University of London. LBS was founded in 1964 and awards post-graduate degrees (Master's degree, Master's degrees in management and finance, Master of B ...

. In 1993, Potter received the

Mountbatten Medal The IET Mountbatten Medal is awarded annually for an outstanding contribution, or contributions over a period, to the promotion of electronics or information technology and their application. The Medal was established by the National Electronics C ...

from the

Institution of Electrical Engineers The Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE) was a British professional organisation of electronics, electrical, manufacturing, and information technology professionals, especially electrical engineers. It began in 1871 as the Society of Tel ...

and has received Honorary Doctorate Degrees from a number of universities including Warwick, Sheffield, Edinburgh and York. Potter has written and lectured widely on technology and the new economy, including the Stockton Lecture at

in 1998, one of the Millennium Lectures at 10 Downing Street in 1999, and the Tacitus Lecture, 2000 at the Guildhall. In 2001, Potter was one of the Labour Party's top 50 donors, giving £90,000 to its head office. In September 2017, Potter was appointed Honorary Chairman of Planet Computers, a crowd-funded start-up producing the

Gemini (PDA) The Gemini PDA is a personal digital assistant designed by Planet Computers in association with Martin Riddiford, who formerly worked on the Psion Series 5 in the 1990s, and crowdfunded via Indiegogo in 2017. The Gemini bucks the trend of mode ...

, a spiritual successor to the Psion Series 5.

Honours

In the 1997 New Year's Honours list, Potter was appointed a

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

for services to the manufacturing industryBrunel
and in 2001 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineers. In 1999, he was chosen as Entrepreneur of the Year in the annual UK PLC Awards. In June 2003, Potter was appointed a non-Executive Director to the

Bank of England The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the Kingdom of England, English Government's banker and debt manager, and still one ...

, stepping down in 2009.

Family

Potter's interests include his family, education, farming, golf, music, bridge, reading and ideas, science and economics, and tennis. With their involvement in education and the developing world, his family created the

David and Elaine Potter Foundation David (; , "beloved one") was a king of ancient Israel and Judah and the third king of the United Monarchy, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament. The Tel Dan stele, an Aramaic-inscribed stone erected by a king of Aram-Damas ...

to support projects in education, research and third world development.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Potter, David E. 1943 births Living people Academics of Imperial College London Academics of London Business School Academics of the University of London Alumni of Imperial College London Alumni of Prince Edward School Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering Labour Party (UK) donors People with non-domiciled status in the United Kingdom