The DDI Team
Professor Kim Graham
Senior Responsible Officer
Kim Graham is Provost of the University of Edinburgh and holds a Personal Chair of Translational Cognitive Neuroscience. Beyond the DDI initiative, Kim's areas of responsibility include delivery of the University’s strategy, planning and budget-setting, academic staff development, and promotion of a positive and inclusive culture.
John Scott
Head of Delivery
John is responsible for coordinating a range of DDI initiatives that help citizens, businesses, and organisations benefit from the data revolution. This involves managing collaborations, overseeing programme operations, ensuring timely delivery, and driving impact through strategic planning and stakeholder engagement.
Dr Gemma Cassells
Head of Strategy (Interim)
Gemma oversees oversees strategic and operational planning, working with partners to plan and deliver initiatives across the City Region. This includes guiding decision-making, monitoring progress, and ensuring initiatives align with DDI’s mission to drive data-driven innovation, regional growth, and inclusive economic impact.
Alison Muckersie
Programme Lead, DDI Skills Gateway
Alison is responsible for the development and delivery of the programme, a multi-partner initiative aimed at building data skills across the region. This includes designing training, coordinating with partners, monitoring outcomes, and ensuring the programme supports workforce development and data-driven innovation.
Dr Mark Graham
Lead Economist
Mark is responsible for developing economic and impact analysis for business cases, funding bids, and programme initiatives. This includes contributes to the design and implementation of monitoring and evaluation frameworks, providing insights to inform strategy, assess outcomes, and support evidence-based decision-making across the programme.
Patrick Kilduff
Economic Development Manager
Patrick supports the growth and impact of the DDI Programme by building partnerships between the University, industry, and public sector organisations. This includes creating opportunities for collaboration, and helping businesses access expertise, talent, and data-driven innovation to support regional economic growth.
Jo Newman
Executive Assistant
Jo is Executive Assistant supports the Head of Delivery and Head of Strategy, managing diaries, travel, and general administrative tasks. The role also helps organise meetings and communications to keep programme activities running smoothly. Jo has worked at the University of Edinburgh since 2006.
Mark Baillie
Communications & PR Manager
Mark is responsible for planning and delivery of communications and engagement, working across a network that covers the DDI innovation hubs, the University of Edinburgh and Heriot-Watt University, and partners. Mark also helps co-ordinate wider communications for the City Region Deal.
Stephanie Peebles
Communications & Engagement Executive
Stephanie supports the development of vital partner networks internally across the innovation hubs, the University of Edinburgh, Heriot-Watt University, DDI Skills Gateway and externally through stakeholder engagement, communications and events.
Hannah Gordon
Head of Reporting
Hannah ensures that all key deliverables are accurately captured and shared with stakeholders. This includes reporting on KPIs, tracking progress, measuring the long-term economic, social, and regional impacts, and also providing insights to support decision-making and evaluating frameworks to ensure transparency and accountability.
David Jamieson
Reporting Lead
David collaborates closely with representatives from the DDI Hubs, to ensure that the DDI Programme’s various internal and external reporting needs are met; in essence, this entails ensuring that the DDI PO has the data that it needs, when it needs it, in order to deliver statistics and insights which, in turn, drive strategic decision-making.
Steph Robertson-Hogg
Business Intelligence Analyst
Steph supports and enhances the use of data to enable better decision-making and record-keeping, developing new metrics and reports across a wide range of programme activities. This includes analysing data, identifying trends, and providing insights that help monitor performance, inform strategy, and support the effective delivery.
Crea Barton
Programme Office Coordinator
Crea provides front-of-house, administrative, and logistical support to the DDI Programme, helping ensure the smooth day-to-day running of programme activities. The role supports stakeholder engagement, communications, and event delivery, while assisting with project and operational tasks across the programme.
Esme Page
Programme Office Coordinator
Esme provides front-of-house, administrative, and logistical support to the DDI Programme, helping ensure the smooth day-to-day running of programme activities. The role supports stakeholder engagement, communications, and event delivery, while assisting with project and operational tasks across the programme.