The IBM Global Public Sector Innovation Excellence Award honors exemplary organizations that take their place at the forefront of public sector innovation. They are making not just small improvements, but transformational, game-changing ones that will help change the world. They represent the value of collaboration, the significance of culture and are role models for all leaders. May they inspire us all to continue on and deepen our own innovation journeys.

Richard Williams is Vice President and Group Chief Information officer of AstraZeneca, one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies, responsible for the global information services strategy and operations.  This includes company-wide application development, data management, technology infrastructure, data center operations and telecommunication networks worldwide.

Williams leadership and innovative approach to transforming IS into a business and customer focused organization has led to the development of industry leading capabilities to improve business performance customer connectivity and patient education.  This has resulted in the creation of world-class infrastructure and applications services that support the development of new and innovative medicines and improve patient health.

Williams joined the company in 1992, where he was one of the founding members of Astra/Merck, a new joint venture.  This small entrepreneurial venture quickly became a multi-billion dollar business and one of the fastest growing pharmaceutical companies in the world.  Prior to his current role, he was Vice-President of Commercial Information Systems in the U.S.  There he led the company's Patient/Physician connectivity which included the development of its extensive Internet and web-based capabilities and a new generation of technologies to incorporate customer insights into the R&D and Commercial process.  As a result, AstraZeneca is at the forefront in the industry for leveraging technology to improve customer interaction, clinical trials execution and patient health education.  

Prior to AstraZeneca, Williams began his career with Coopers & Lybrand, an international audit and consulting firm where he led multiple programs advising pharmaceutical and consumer products clients in such areas as IT strategy, reengineering and application development.

He is a member of the IBM Board of Advisors as well as a member of the Research Board
Williams earned a bachelor's degree from Temple University, and an MBA from St. Joseph’s University.