Staff

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Dr. Robert D. Atkinson, President

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Robert Atkinson is the founder and president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, a Washington, DC-based technology policy think tank. He is also author of the State New Economy Index series and the book, The Past And Future Of America’s Economy: Long Waves Of Innovation That Power Cycles Of Growth (Edward Elgar, 2005). He has an extensive background in technology policy, he has conducted ground-breaking research projects on technology and innovation, is a valued adviser to state and national policy makers, and a popular speaker on innovation policy nationally and internationally.

Before coming to ITIF, Dr. Atkinson was Vice President of the Progressive Policy Institute and Director of PPI’s Technology & New Economy Project. While at PPI he wrote numerous research reports on technology and innovation policy, including on issues such as broadband telecommunications, Internet telephony, universal service, e-commerce, e-government, middleman opposition to e-commerce, privacy, copyright, RFID and smart cards, the role of IT in homeland security, the R&D tax credit, offshoring, and growth economics.

Previously Dr. Atkinson served as the first Executive Director of the Rhode Island Economic Policy Council, a public-private partnership including as members the Governor, legislative leaders, and corporate and labor leaders. As head of RIEPC, he was responsible for drafting a comprehensive economic strategic development plan for the state, developing a ten-point economic development plan, and working to successfully implement all ten proposals through the legislative and administrative branches. Prior to that he was Project Director at the former Congressional Office of Technology Assessment. While at OTA, he directed The Technological Reshaping of Metropolitan America, a seminal report examining the impact of the information technology revolution on America’s urban areas.


He is a board member or advisory council member of the State Science and Technology Institute, Internet Education Foundation, NetChoice Coalition, the Pacific Institute for Workforce Innovation, and the University of Oregon Institute for Policy Research and Innovation. He is also chair of the Congressionally-created National Surface Transportation Infrastructure Financing Commission. He also serves on the advisory panel to Americans for Computer Privacy, is an affiliated expert for the New Millennium Research Council, a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Electronic Government and the Journal of Internet Policy, a member of the Reason Foundation’s Mobility Project Advisory Board, and a Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution. Dr. Atkinson was appointed by President Clinton to the Commission on Workers, Communities, and Economic Change in the New Economy. He is also a member of the Task Force on National Security in the Information Age, co-chaired by Markle Foundation president Zoe Baird and former Netscape Communications chairman James Barksdale. In 1999, he was featured in “Who’s Who in America: Finance and Industry.” In 2002, he was awarded the Wharton Infosys Business Transformation Award Silver Medal. In addition, Government Technology Magazine and the Center for Digital Government named him one of the 25 top Doers, Dreamers and Drivers of Information Technology. In 2006, Inc. Magazine listed Atkinson as one of 19 Friends of Small Business in Washington. Ars Technica listed Atkinson as one of 2009’s tech policy People to Watch, while Silcon.com named him one of the top 30 most influential individuals in the worldwide technology and IT industries in 2009.. Dr. Atkinson has testified before a number of committees in Congress and has appeared in various media outlets including CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, NPR, and NBC Nightly News. He received his Ph.D. in City and Regional Planning from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1989.

To contact Rob please contact his assistant Priscilla Jang at (202) 449-1351 or by email at pjang@itif.org
Email: ratkinson@innovationpolicy.org

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Daniel Castro

Daniel D. Castro, Senior Analyst

Daniel Castro is a Senior Analyst with ITIF specializing in issues relating to IT and the digital economy. He has experience in the private, non-profit and government sectors.

Before joining ITIF, Mr. Castro 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 (SEC) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). In addition, Mr. Castro was a Visiting Scientist at the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 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.

Email: dcastro@innovationpolicy.org

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Stephen Ezell

Stephen J. Ezell, Senior Analyst

Stephen Ezell is a Senior Analyst with the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), with a focus on international information technology competitiveness and national innovation policies. Mr. Ezell comes to ITIF from Peer Insight, an innovation research and consulting firm he co-founded in 2003 to study the practice of innovation in service industries. At Peer Insight, Mr. Ezell co-founded the Global Service Innovation Consortium, published eight research papers on service innovation, and researched national service innovation policies being implemented by governments worldwide.

Prior to forming Peer Insight, Mr. Ezell worked in the New Service Development group at the NASDAQ Stock Market, where he spearheaded the creation of the NASDAQ Market Intelligence Desk and the NASDAQ Corporate Services Network, each a service to NASDAQ-listed corporations. Previously, Mr. Ezell founded two successful innovation ventures, the high-tech services firm Brivo Systems and Lynx Capital, a boutique investment bank. Stephen holds a B.S. from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, with an Honors Certificate from Georgetown’s Landegger International Business Diplomacy program.

Email: sezell@itif.org

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David Washington, Senior Fellow

Dr. Washington is a Senior Fellow at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF).

Before joining ITIF, Dr. Washington served as an Associate Director for the White House Office of Public Engagement where he assisted with public-private partnerships, oversaw the children and families and transportation portfolios, in addition to the sports and entertainment industries as it related to philanthropy and pro-social efforts. On the Presidential Transition Team Dr. Washington served as the Special Assistant to the Director of Intergovernmental Affairs & Public Liaison and also served as a senior advisor for the California Obama for America team beginning in February 2007.

Before joining the White House Dr. Washington had a long history in the philanthropy and public service sectors. He served as a Senator Edward M. Kennedy health policy fellow and public policy advisor with The California Endowment before becoming a philanthropy consultant while simultaneously serving as a City Commissioner appointed by Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. As a City Commissioner, he served with four fellow appointees overseeing zoning, planning, and real estate issues.

David is a graduate of Yale University and studied abroad at Oxford University in England. He received his doctoral degree in forensic clinical psychology from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and a Masters in Legal Studies from the University of Nebraska Law School. He completed his clinical psychology internship at Massachusetts General Hospital / Harvard Medical School.

Email: dwash@itif.org

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Richard Bennett, Research Fellow

Richard Bennett is an ITIF Research Fellow specializing in broadband networking and Internet policy. He has a 30 year background in network engineering and standards. He was vice-chair of the IEEE 802.3 task group that devised the original Ethernet hub standard, and has contributed to Wi-Fi standards for fifteen years. He was active in OSI, the instigator of RFC 1001, and the inventor of the Distributed Reservation Protocol for Ultra-Wideband. Along with Bob Metcalfe, he co-founded the Open Token Foundation, the first network industry alliance to operate an interoperability lab. He has worked for leading applied research labs, where portions of his work were underwritten by DARPA. Richard is also the inventor of two issued patents on networking and has several patent applications pending.

Richard frequently speaks at network industry gatherings and policy conferences in the United States and Europe, such as Supernova and eComm. He appeared before the FCC’s en banc hearing at the Harvard Law School as an expert witness network management, and was cited in four submissions. His experience with legislative bodies spans two decades, beginning with expert witness testimony before multiple committees of the California Legislature in the ’90s and continuing to recent testimony before Congress on Internet privacy. He has served on boards and commissions in California overseeing various parts of state government. Richard has published articles in the tech press, major newspapers, tech blogs such as CircleID and IEEE Spectrum Online, and has appeared on radio and television.

Richard’s written work on wireless networks and the Internet’s structure and regulation forms a central part of the broadband policy debate, framing often emotional issues on a dispassionate and technically sound basis.

Email: richard@bennett.com

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Scott Andes

Scott M. Andes, Research Analyst

Scott Andes is a Research Analyst at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation. Before joining ITIF, he served as Special Assistant to U.S. Senator Charles Schumer. He has also worked on several statewide and national political campaigns. As a student, he interned at the Progressive Policy Institute in the department of Defense and International Studies where he researched the impact of State Department policies on U.S. ‘Soft Power’ throughout the Greater Middle East. Mr. Andes graduated with a B.S. in Government from the London School of Economics.

Email: sandes@itif.org

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Vinny Catalano

Vinny Catalano, Non-resident Senior Fellow

Vinny Catalano is a Non-resident Senior Fellow at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation and President and Global Investment Strategist with Blue Marble Research and author of “Sectors and Styles.” A global macro economic and capital markets expert, Vinny appears regularly in the media (CNBC, Bloomberg Radio, National Public Radio, Canada’s C- TV and BNN TV, New Delhi TV) and is frequently quoted in various professional publications (Wall Street Journal, Barrons, Financial Times, Reuters, Fortune, thestreet.com, MarketWatch, Globe and Mail, Business Week). He also produces and conducts numerous events with various CFA Societies and other groups throughout the US, including the highly popular “Market Forecast Series” as well as topical and educational programs. Vinny is a past president of the New York Society of Security Analysts. He attended New York University and Juilliard School of Music and holds a CFA charterholder designation from the CFA Institute.

Email: vcatalano@innovationpolicy.org

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