INNOVATION ECONOMICS - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Vice President of U.S. Government Relations at Intel Corporation
- Vice President, U.S. Government Relations
- Vice President, U.S. Government Relations / Intel Corporation
Allen Thompson is a member of ITIF's board.
As the Vice President of U.S. Government Relations at Intel Corporation, Thompson oversees the company's Washington, D.C. office with management responsibility for 12 government affairs and public policy specialists. His primary focus consists of advancing Intel's positions with U.S. federal and state government officials related to a wide range of public policy issues.
Thompson came to Intel from Raytheon Technologies Inc. (RTX), where he led the government relations team for the commercial aerospace and space businesses. During his time at RTX, he led the company's state government relations efforts, supervised the digital advocacy program, and was the lead government relations executive for Otis Elevator and Carrier.
Prior to joining RTX, Thompson worked at Mehlman, Vogel, Castagnetti developing and executing advocacy strategies for Fortune 500 companies. He served as the Deputy Executive Director of the Technology CEO Council, where he advised the CEOs of America's leading IT companies on their public policy agenda.
Prior to that, he served as Vice President of Global Supply Chain Policy at the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA). At RILA, Al represented Wal-Mart, Target, Lowe's, Home Depot, Best Buy, and Costco, leading their advocacy efforts on supply chain issues.
Thompson also worked in the U.S. House of Representatives, serving as a Senior Professional Staff member on the Committee on Homeland Security for Chairman Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS).
Thompson served five years in the U.S. Coast Guard. He is a recipient of numerous military and civilian awards. Thompson has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Government from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy and a Master of Arts in Legislative Affairs from George Washington University.
Job Titles:
- Senior Policy Analyst
- Senior Policy Analyst / Information Technology and Innovation Foundation
- Senior Policy Analyst at the Information Technology
Ashley Johnson is a senior policy analyst at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation. She researches and writes about Internet policy issues such as privacy, security, and platform regulation. She was previously at Software.org: the BSA Foundation and holds a master's degree in security policy from The George Washington University and a bachelor's degree in sociology from Brigham Young University.
Job Titles:
- Director, Antitrust and Innovation Policy
Job Titles:
- Senior Policy Analyst
- Senior Policy Analyst / Center for Data Innovation
- Senior Policy Analyst at ITIF 's Center for Data Innovation
Benjamin Mueller is a senior policy analyst at ITIF's Center for Data Innovation, focusing on AI and technology governance. Prior to joining the Center, he was chief of staff at a financial technology company in London. Dr. Mueller studied Politics, Philosophy and Economics at the University of Oxford, and completed his PhD in International Relations at the London School of Economics.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Associate Vice President for Federal Affairs
- Associate Vice President for Federal Affairs / University of Pennsylvania
Bill Andresen is a member of ITIF's board.
He is currently associate vice president for federal affairs at the University of Pennsylvania.
Prior to joining Penn, Andresen worked at Dutko Worldwide as senior vice president and represented a number of corporate and nonprofit clients. During his time at Dutko, Andresen was cited as one of Washington DC's most effective and influential lobbyists.
During his more than 20-year career on Capitol Hill, Andresen served as chief of staff to Senator Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) from 1992 to 2003, guiding the senator's policy and political agenda. As Senator Lieberman's chief of staff, Andresen was named numerous times as one of the 50 most influential congressional staffers by Roll Call, a Capitol Hill newspaper.
Andresen started his Capitol Hill career as chief of staff to Representative Mel Levine (D-CA). He served Representative Levine in the same capacity when Levine served in the California State Assembly.
In 2004, Andresen served as vice president for federal affairs at the Democratic Leadership Council, where he served as a liaison to Democratic Members of Congress and assisted in the development of that organization's policy and political agendas.
Andresen is married with three children. He has a bachelor's degree in international relations from the University of Southern California. He sits on the board of directors for the Center for Excellence in Education and the Center for Inspired Teaching. He is also president of the Science Coalition, a nonprofit organization composed of 50 research universities dedicated to informing Congress and the administration about the importance of funding basic research and is a senior advisor to Third Way, a progressive nonprofit think tank.
Bill Whyman is a leading expert on the technology sector. He is known for market-tested expertise on the changing technology industry, competition, business model change, and technology policy. Bill brings together a distinctive perspective combining the technology industry (Amazon AWS, McKinsey), financial markets (Evercore, ISI, Legg Mason), and government policy (White House).
Bill was Senior Manager at Amazon Web Services' cloud computing business where he built a 150-person global organization and led six teams that enable governments, education, and non-profits to adopt cloud computing and accelerate their mission. Prior to that he was the investment communities' leading technology strategist, advising the top global investors on technology industry dynamics and company investments. Bill was chosen the top-ranked Institutional Investor independent software analyst. He co-founded his own research startup Precursor, where he created and productized the Change Research methodology. Bill also brings proven policy development and implementation experience. He was Director for Economics at the White House National Security Council and National Economic Council. He also served at the State Department, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, and US Trade Representative.
Bill graduated from Cornell University Phi Beta Kappa, Summa Cum Laude, and was a Truman Scholar. He studied at Oxford University, and received an MPA from Princeton's School of Public and International Affairs. Bill has been on the Board of Advisors at the University of Maryland's School of Public Policy and a visiting lecturer at the School of Business. His research has been published by the Center for Strategic and International Studies and the Royal Institute of International Affairs.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Nonresident Senior Fellow, Metropolitan Policy Program
- Nonresident Senior Fellow, Metropolitan Policy Program / Brookings Institution
Blair Levin is a member of ITIF's board.
He is a nonresident senior fellow with the Metropolitan Policy Program at the Brookings Institution. He is also the policy adviser to New Street Research, a global telecommunications and tech equity research firm. He also serves as an adviser to a variety of nonprofits with a mission of deploying or using broadband technology to advance social progress, as well as both privately held and public companies in the telecom and technology sectors.
Previously, he worked with the Aspen Institute Communications and Society Program, following his departure in 2010 from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), where he oversaw the development of a National Broadband Plan. Levin rejoined the Commission in 2009, after eight years as an analyst at Legg Mason and Stifel Nicolaus. As Barron's magazine noted, Levin "has always been on top of developing trends and policy shifts in media and telecommunications … and has proved visionary in getting out in front of many of today's headline making events."
Levin served as chief of staff to FCC Chairman Reed Hundt from December 1993 to October 1997. During that period, he oversaw, among other matters, the implementation of the 1996 Telecommunications Reform Act, the first spectrum auctions, the development of digital television standards, and the commission's Internet initiative.
Prior to his position with the FCC, Levin was a partner in the North Carolina law firm of Parker, Poe, Adams and Bernstein, where he represented new communications ventures, as well as numerous local governments on public financing issues.
He is a graduate of Yale College and Yale Law School.
He is a nonresident senior fellow with the Metropolitan Policy Program at the Brookings Institution. He is also the policy adviser to New Street Research, a global telecommunications and tech equity research firm. He also serves as an adviser to a variety of nonprofits with a mission of deploying or using broadband technology to advance social progress, as well as both privately held and public companies in the telecom and technology sectors.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Member of ITIF 's Board
Carroll A. Thomas is a member of ITIF's board. She is a recognized expert in partnership development and change management with more than 35 years public/private sector experience. A former small business owner, she served in the U.S. Department of Commerce as acting associate director for innovation and industry services at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and as director of the Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership.
An expert in policy and administration of nationwide public/private partnership focused on small and medium-sized manufacturers, Thomas previously was associate administrator of the Small Business Administration's Small Business Development Centers (SBDC), serving America's 25 million small businesses and budding entrepreneurs across the country. In private industry, her leadership and management experience has included roles with the preeminent electronic retailer QVC and with the National Gallery of Art.
Thomas is a graduate of Drexel University's Nesbitt College of Design and the John Hopkins Carey School of Business MBA program.
Job Titles:
- Founder
- Member of the Board
- President
- President and Founder / Mercator
Christopher G. Caine is a member of ITIF's board.
He is president and founder of Mercator XXI, a professional services firm helping clients engage the global economy. Prior to April 2009, Caine was employed by IBM Corporation for 25 years. For 13 years, he had corporate responsibility for global public policy issues that impacted IBM in his role as vice president, governmental programs.
Caine also served as director, human resources and environmental policy for IBM, responsible for public policy issues such as health-care reform, labor, personnel, health and safety, environment, and energy. Prior to that, he was manager of federal government relations and was regional manager of the company's state government relations programs.
Caine represented IBM Corporation on policy and economic development trends involving government, innovation, global electronic commerce, privacy, and new security challenges before a variety of public fora including the U.S. Congress, 2004 National Intelligence Council Conference convened by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, 2003 World Knowledge Forum in Seoul, Korea, along with many others.
Caine has served on the boards of the Information Technology Industry Council, European-American Business Council, Washington International Business Council, and as a member of U.S. Department of State Advisory Committees on International Economic Policy and International Communication and Information Policy. Caine was appointed by former Virginia Governor Mark Warner to serve on the Virginia Information Technology Investment Board. He serves on the advisory boards of the Global Strategy Institute, Ford's Theater, the Constitution Project, the Institute for Education, the Ambassador Theater, and Brainfood.
Caine has been a guest lecturer at Lafayette College and Georgetown University. In spring 2008, he created the Caine Scholar's Award for Global Leadership, Business and Policy at Lafayette College. It is designed to help develop the next generation of U.S. leaders for the globally integrated economy.
He and his wife Betsy have a daughter and son and live in Bethesda, MD.
Job Titles:
- Co - Chair
- Representative
- Representative ( R - CA )
Congressman Darrell Issa is an honorary co-chair of ITIF.
First elected to Congress in 2000, Representative Issa currently serves on the House Judiciary Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
Representative Issa founded Directed Electronics, the Vista, CA-based industry-leading manufacturer of automobile security and convenience products. He has served as chairman of the Consumer Electronics Association, served as a member of the board of governors of the Electronics Industry Association, and as director of the San Diego Economic Development Association and the Greater San Diego County Chamber of Commerce. In 1994, Representative Issa received the Entrepreneur of the Year Award from Inc. Magazine, Ernst & Young, and The San Diego Union-Tribune.
Representative Issa is perhaps best known as the leader of the successful effort to recall former California Governor Gray Davis in 2003. In 1996, he also co-chaired the campaign to pass the California Civil Rights Initiative that ended racial and gender preferences and quotas in state contracting and college admissions.
Representative Issa enlisted in the Army during his senior year in high school and attended college on an ROTC scholarship. In the Army, he served as a bomb disposal technician, tank platoon commander, computer R&D specialist, and attained the rank of captain. He is a graduate of Siena Heights University in Adrian, MI, and serves as a member of the university Board of Trustees. Darrell and Kathy Issa are longtime residents of Vista, CA. They have one son, William.
Job Titles:
- Managing Director
- Managing Director of Dangordontech LLC
Dan Gordon is Managing Director of dangordontech LLC. Dan has twenty-eight years experience working with technology, as a computer scientist, software developer, manager, analyst, and entrepreneur.
Dan was a Director and senior staff member at the PricewaterhouseCoopers Global Technology Centre, analyzing technology trends and consulting on technology-oriented strategies in the software, e-business, wireless, optical, networking, semiconductor IP, and life sciences arenas. He worked with clients from North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Australia. Dan was a Contributing Writer and Contributing Editor to the Technology Centre's annual Technology Forecast, and a frequent speaker at industry and general business meetings.
Before joining PwC, Dan spent 20 years in Silicon Valley as a software technologist, manager, director, and entrepreneur, including senior technical roles at well-known Silicon Valley firms like Symantec, Intuit, and Oracle. Dan has also been involved in startup companies in the applied Artificial Intelligence and Web applications fields.
Dan has a B.A. (cum laude) from Harvard University and an M.S. from New York University in Computer Science. He is a Professional Member of the IEEE and ACM.
Dan lives in Washington, D.C. with his wife and two children.
Job Titles:
- Vice President at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation
- Vice President, ITIF, and Director, Center for Data Innovation
Daniel Castro is vice president at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) and director of ITIF's Center for Data Innovation.
Castro writes and speaks on a variety of issues related to information technology and internet policy, including privacy, security, intellectual property, Internet governance, e-government, and accessibility for people with disabilities. His work has been quoted and cited in numerous media outlets, including The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, NPR, USA Today, Bloomberg News, and Bloomberg Businessweek. In 2013, Castro was named to FedScoop's list of the "top 25 most influential people under 40 in government and tech." In 2015, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker appointed Castro to the Commerce Data Advisory Council.
Castro previously worked as an IT analyst at the Government Accountability Office (GAO) where he audited IT security and management controls at various government agencies. He contributed to GAO reports on the state of information security at a variety of federal agencies, including the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. In addition, Castro was a visiting scientist at the Software Engineering Institute in Pittsburgh, PA, where he developed virtual training simulations to provide clients with hands-on training of the latest information security tools.
He has a B.S. in foreign service from Georgetown University and an M.S. in information security technology and management from Carnegie Mellon University.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Director, Government Affairs Program
- Director, Government Affairs Program / Natural Resources Defense Council
David Goldston is a member of ITIF's board.
He is director, government affairs program, for the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) in Washington, DC, and is responsible for its governmental strategies, bringing together NRDC's interactions with Congress, the administration, and the public.
He has more than 20 years of experience on Capitol Hill, working mainly on science and environmental policy and served as chief of staff of the House Committee on Science from 2001 to 2006. He has been a visiting lecturer at Princeton and Harvard Universities and a columnist for the journal Nature. In 2008 and 2009, he was project director for the Bipartisan Policy Center report, Improving the Use of Science in Regulatory Policy, and he has served on several panels at the National Academy of Sciences.
Goldston graduated from Cornell University in 1978 with a B.A. in history and completed the course work for a Ph.D. in American history at the University of Pennsylvania.istory at the University of Pennsylvania.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Partner
Job Titles:
- Nonresident Senior Fellow
Rob and Jackie sat down with Denis Redonnet, the EU's chief trade enforcement officer, to discuss the opportunities and challenges for the new U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council and the broader implications for trade policies in the United States, the EU, and in the World Trade Organization.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Worldwide Chair and CEO
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Senior Fellow
Job Titles:
- President
- President of the Board
- Its President and Founder
Job Titles:
- Policy Fellow for E - Government
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Corporate Vice President of U.S. Government Affairs
Job Titles:
- Digital Media Specialist and Policy Analyst
Job Titles:
- Managing Director
- Member of the Board
- Principal
Job Titles:
- Professor Emeritus of Computer Science
Job Titles:
- Chief Development Officer
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Vice President of Government Affairs
Job Titles:
- Chief Executive Officer
- Member of the Board
- President
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Vice President of Government Relations, North America
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Senior Vice President
Job Titles:
- Research Assistant for Broadband Policy
Job Titles:
- Director, Broadband and Spectrum Policy
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Director, Government Affairs & Public Policy
Job Titles:
- Director, Operations and Administration
Job Titles:
- Associate Director for Antitrust and Innovation Policy
Job Titles:
- Executive Assistant
- Operations Manager
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Senior Vice President & Counsel, Government Affairs
Job Titles:
- Associate Director, Trade Policy
Job Titles:
- Post Doctoral Fellow ( ICTs for Transformation ) and Managing Director
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Vice President, Global Policy
Job Titles:
- Senior Government Relations Advisor
Senator Chris Coons represents Delaware in the United States Senate, where he serves on the Senate Committees on Appropriations, Judiciary, Foreign Relations, and Small Business and Entrepreneurship. He is particularly interested in nurturing American innovation and making the United States more competitive in the global market.
In the decade before he was elected to Senate, Senator Coons served in the New Castle County government as New Castle County President and New Castle County Executive. Prior to his work for the county, he was an attorney for W.L. Gore & Associates. Senator Coons earned a B.A. in Chemistry and Political Science from Amherst College before earning a law degree from Yale Law School and a Master's in Ethics from Yale Divinity School. He also studied at the University of Nairobi in Kenya.
Senator Coons lives in Wilmington, Delaware, with his wife Annie and their three children: Michael, Jack, and Maggie.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Vice President of AWS Public Policy, Americas
Job Titles:
- Vice President, Global Innovation Policy
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- Professor of MIS and Telecommunications
Job Titles:
- Representative ( D - WA )
Job Titles:
- Executive Director
- Member of the Board
Job Titles:
- Chief Markets Strategist, Global Investment Strategist