Lieutenant General Sir Tom Copinger-Symes KCB CBE
Biography
Tom spent his early career with The Rifles on operations in Northern Ireland, Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan, and in operational and strategy posts at the Permanent Joint Headquarters and the Ministry of Defence. For the past 10 years he has focused on how the Army and Defence can make better use of its data and information, whether supporting traditional warfighting or employed as a weapon in its own right. This has included command at brigade (1 ISR Brigade) and divisional levels (6th (UK) Division). In his last post, as Director of Military Digitisation, he was responsible for the Digital Strategy for Defence, inclusing creation of a Digital Backbone, the Digital Foundry and the Defence AI Centre, to enable Defence’s transformation to a data-centric enterprise.
In May 2022 Tom was promoted to Lieutenant General, on appointment as the Deputy Commander Cyber & Specialist Operations Command (formerly know as UK Strategic Command). In August 2023 he assumed the additional responsibilities of Director General Joint Force Development.
Tom is also Colonel Commandant of The Rifles; Honorary Colonel of the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry; is Chair of Army Cresta Tobogganing; and Vice President of Army Cricket and Football. He is also active in growing esports and gaming across Defence, not least for their potential to increase digital and cyber skills, as well as to engage audiences across the UK and more broadly.
Previous roles in government
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Deputy Commander Cyber & Specialist Operations Command