James Roper is Chairman and Founder of IMRG (Interactive Media in Retail Group), the UK industry association for e-retailing and e-commerce, and was formerly vice president of EMOTA, the European e-commerce industry association. He has worked exclusively on interactive e-retail projects since the mid-1980s and in 1990 directed the original IMR (Interactive Media in Retail) survey that led to the formation of IMRG. James is frequently a keynote speaker and chairman at conferences worldwide that relate to the e-commerce industry and its effect on trade, finance and society.As Chief Executive Officer of IMRG since its formation until May 2013, and thence its Chairman, James is actively involved in the development of international e-commerce industry standards, measurement, knowledge, governance and cooperation. Acknowledged as having a unique and holistic insight into the evolution of the electronic commerce industry, James leads IMRG’s mission to inform, assist and enable the successful adoption of e-commerce by business, government and consumers in Europe and worldwide, by providing access to community, intelligence and usable know-how. Since the mid-1990s he has routinely advised the British Government, Cabinet Office, Treasury and Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. In 2013 James served as a member of the Government’s European E-commerce Taskforce, chaired by Lord Young, and he currently serves on the Government’s advisory Digital High Streets Board.James has also for many years regularly advised the European Commission on e-commerce issues, and served as an industry expert for the European Commission Directorate General for Industry (DG III) on a number of projects related to the European Strategic Program on Research in Information Technology (ESPRIT) and other research and development programmes. James is a member of the Royal Mail Advisory Council, chaired by Moya Greene, Chief Executive Officer.

EMOTA is the trade organisation that represents, at European and international level, the interests of e-commerce retailers and their enablers interacting with customers through various digital sales channels.

IMRWorld is a project focussed on providing a single source of the most up to date global e-commerce information, establishing consistent and cross compatible e-commerce statistics for use by businesses and policy decision makers whilst also identifying and making visible to its stakeholders the best of breed technical, content and business model innovators.