Gary Donnan. Photo: Hamilton de Oliveira/REA

Gary Donnan will join Eutelsat Communications on Oct. 29 as Chief Innovation Officer (CIO), reporting to Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Rodolphe Belmer. Donnan is tasked with defining Eutelsat’s innovation roadmap, and with identifying and developing innovative initiatives across the Group. He will also focus on forging stronger links between Eutelsat and the external innovation ecosystem to step up the roll-out of emerging technologies throughout the company.

Donnan brings experience in cross-functional and collaborative management. He joins Eutelsat after eleven years at Technicolor, where he conducted large-scale transformation projects and held several key positions in the fields of technology, research, and innovation, gaining expertise in the broadcasting industry. As a member of Technicolor’s Executive Committee, he was successively Executive Vice President (EVP) for research and innovation, then EVP for technology and standards. Prior to joining Technicolor, Gary held similar research and innovation positions at Alcatel, including research and development for the deployment of fiber, cable, radio, and satellite networks in various parts of the world.

Gary holds a degree in computer science and data processing, and a postgraduate degree in distributed and parallel systems from the University of Ulster (United Kingdom).