Newspaper systems specialist Digital Technology International has lured Steve Nilan back to the industry as its vice president of marketing. The last decade has seen him in entrepreneurial roles, and as advisor and investor to many high-tech software companies, where he has accumulated considerable digital and SaaS (Software as a Service) expertise.

Before that, he he spent nearly 20 years in the newspaper industry – as marketing vice president for System Integrators Inc (SII), where created the MediaBridge division which pioneered online classifieds at the ‘Chicago Tribune’ and elsewhere in the mid-1990s – and with ppi Media, Logicon, Harris Corporation and Composition Systems Inc (CSI).

Nilan says he was drawn back to the industry because he believed in the important role of newspapers and saw the “once in a lifetime” opportunity to contribute to their transformation and survival.

"I've joined DTI because this is a company that is growing, and can drive the industry transformation with a clear vision and solutions that are as innovative as those of the best entrepreneurial companies,” he says.

He has a BA from Villanova University and an MBA from Iona College.

Nilan is a venture partner with Velocity Venture Capital, which has invested in more than 20 technology companies including Fundability, a SaaS company that he founded and led as chief executive.  During the last ten years he has also served strategic advisory roles with KhiMetrics (acquired by SAP), WebRaiser (acquired by Flextronics) and Atone Software (acquired by First American CoreLogic). He was co-founder of CampusEngine, a venture-backed startup that web-enabled college newspapers to create an online network of more than two million students.