Dr David Penfold was technical editor working on academic journals, until the mid 1980s. He is the author of about 35 articles and four books. He has been Chair of the British Computer Society (BCS) Electronic Publishing Specialist Group and a member the BCS Knowledge Services Board. He was on the Publishing Training Centre Steering Group on Electronic Publishing Occupational Standards, has carried out a large number of reviews and evaluations for the European Commission and in 2004 was a track chair at the Seybold PDF conference in Amsterdam.

David is also an Advanced Member of the Society for Editors and Proofreaders, a member of the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals and Freeman of the Stationers' Company His main area of interest is electronic publishing and information technology management and he has been the academic supervisor for four of the University's Knowledge Transfer Partnerships.