John Curran, 1946-2014

John was an Icon in the digital signage industry, but always was behind the scenes. Mr. Curran had more than 40 years’ experience as an international IT executive. He had been the European president of two Fortune 500 Companies; National Semiconductor Corp and Control Data Corp and Group CEO of a FT 100 PLC in the UK; Granada Computer Services. He also had more than 20 years’ experience leading 8 high-tech startup companies in Europe and the US.

John was an influencer in the industry and was always digging deep into the facts that drove the industry. Those insights were responsible for many initiatives that industry technology leaders used to create strategy for the marketplace. We have seen his work show up in presentations at DSE, CETW although he did not take credit publicly. He was a leading expert on location-based Consumer Digital Engagements and provided strategic consulting to technology market leaders such as Intel and HP. He had a proven track record of designing, integrating, evaluating and deploying complex and cost-effective Digital Engagement Solutions and was considered a subject matter expert on Video Analytics and Remote Monitoring and Management. Mr. Curran helped numerous retail giants simplify the complex process of designing, developing and deploying end-to-end Digital Engagement Solutions that were easy to use, scalable and cost effective.

John was beloved in the industry by his colleagues, most of whom were his friends. The long calls and strategy sessions were always engaging and at times entertaining with laughter all around. On some calls his much-loved dogs would be in the background creating havoc while he was talking statistical data to drive a strategic point.
He will be sorely missed by the industry that he helped shape over the last 14 years. There is a gap in the industry and in our hearts.