David Douglas Cleevely CBE FREng FIET (born September 1953) is a British entrepreneur and international telecoms expert who has built and advised many companies, principally in Cambridge, UK.

Whilst at Analysys he made a significant contribution to the theory and practice of calculating Universal Service Obligation costs[4] and was involved with a report to the European Commission on VoIP creating the framework for VoIP within the EU[5] and the identification of The Broadband Gap – where the cost of supply would exceed the price consumers were willing to pay which prompted UK Government policy intervention in 2001–2005[6] to force increased broadband infrastructure in the UK.

[8] In 1997 Cleevely co-founded Cambridge Network with Hermann Hauser, Alec Broers, Nigel Brown, Fred Hallsworth and Anthony Ross.

[18] Cleevely was Chairman of LabTech company OpenIOLabs, and became Non-Executive Director[19] when they were acquired by DeepMatter (formerly Cronin Group) in 2017 and stepped down in May 2019.

In 2009 David Cleevely became the Founding Director for the new Centre for Science and Policy[33] and subsequently Chair of the Advisory Council, stepping down from the role in 2018.

In 2015, his contribution to the UK Government-backed report Visions of Cambridge 2065 saw him predict dramatic changes in the city over the coming 50 years, such as having more than 1 million residents, two $100 billion companies and a regional underground system.

[40] In November 2019 he took over from Ian Shott as Chair of the Royal Academy of Engineering Enterprise Committee,[41] and was succeeded by John Lazar in October 2022.

[43] In March 2020 he was appointed Chair of the Royal Academy of Engineering COVID-19 Triage Group[44] and which issued a report in August 2020 setting out how the RAE made a major contribution to addressing the crisis.

Cleevely is a member of the Advisory Council for Creative Destruction Labs (Oxford), a non-profit organisation helping science and technology-based startups from across the globe.

David Cleevely was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2013 New Year Honours for services to technology and innovation.

[53] He is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering (FREng),[1][54] and has held an Industrial Fellowship at the University of Cambridge Computer Laboratory.

[59] and in October 2015 became an Honorary Fellow of Trinity Hall, Cambridge[60] In November 2018 Cleevely won Barclays "Entrepreneurs' Icon of the Year" [61] In December 2022 Cleevely was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Education by the University of Bath "in recognition of his impact on the technological aspects of our industries, his ongoing role in the mentoring and support of the entrepreneurs and engineers who have followed him into starting their own companies, for his development of our national policy and contributions to our national life.