John Fisher was originally trained as an RAF fast jet pilot (1973-1977) before joining the Leisure and Recreation side of local government where he was responsible for commissioning several major projects in Nottingham (1978 – 1985) and Swindon. He was Borough Leisure Officer at Thamesdown Borough Council (1993 –1996). As Director of Community & Leisure Services for the new Swindon Unitary Authority (1996 -2000), John's remit included arts, museum, library, recreation, countryside and community activities. John has extensive experience of creating partnerships between the community, business and the voluntary sector, having attracted £12m of funding for "STEAM", the Museum of the Great Western Railway built in the former GWR Swindon works in 2000.

John joined Citizens Online as Chief Executive in February 2000, after completing an MBA at the University of Bath (1999-2001). He has since developed the organisation into a highly respected influencing and lobbying body, established to focus on the social and cultural impact of the Internet and promote access to the new technologies.

John was a member of the Government’s Digital Inclusion Panel and was adviser to the Government’s Minister at the EU e-Inclusion Summit in Crete. He has advised the British Council in Moscow and is co-author of Digital Equality and two publications for the GLA as well as managing a number of research projects. He was a reference panel member for the National Audit Office study into e-services for older people and he is a regular speaker at national conferences and seminars. He is a judge for the annual ISPA ISP awards, the Microsoft Community Learning Awards and the AOL Innovation in the Community awards. He is also currently an advisor to ICT in Schools and the Social Exclusion Unit, Inclusion through Innovation work. He is also a founder member of the “Drop the E Campaign”.

Citizens Online created the EverybodyOnline project which in partnership with BT is evaluating the importance of ICT in eight of the most disadvantaged and least connected communities in the UK. Other activities include Innovation in the Community Awards with AOL and Unlimited Potential initiatives with Microsoft. At the 2002 local council elections Citizens Online provided voter engagement programmes for six of the e-voting pilots. Citizens Online is also the lead organisation for the pan-industry body, the Alliance for Digital Inclusion.

John’s hobbies include being an armchair expert in all sports, high handicap golfer and restoring old properties. He describes himself as being fascinated by the Internet but absolutely not a techie or an anorak.