Research Associate
Leading Edge Forum

Dr Michael Nelson, based in the US, is a Research Associate for the Leading Edge Forum.  His most recent published research is entitled Conceal or Reveal? Transparency Strategies for Business Advantage.  Prior to joining the Leading Edge Forum, Michael was Visiting Professor of Internet Studies in Georgetown University's Communication, Culture, and Technology (CCT) Program, a unique, trans-disciplinary masters program for students and researchers interested in how information technology is shaping society and vice versa.  Whilst at Georgetown, he conducted research and teaching courses on The Future of the Internet, innovation, technology forecasting, and e-government, as well as consulting and speaking on Internet technology and policy.

Before joining the Georgetown faculty, Michael spent almost ten years as Director of Internet Technology and Strategy at IBM, where he managed a team helping define and implement IBM's Next Generation Internet strategy.  Prior to that, Michael was Director for Technology Policy at the FCC, where he helped craft policies to spur the growth of the Internet.  Before joining the FCC in January 1997, Michael was Special Assistant for Information Technology at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy where he worked with Vice President Al Gore on telecommunications policy, encryption and online privacy, electronic commerce, and information policy.

Michael has a PhD from MIT, a BS from Caltech, and was recently named a Fellow by the American Association for the Advancement of Science for his contributions to science and technology in the field of information, computing and communication.

Recent Press, Radio, TV and Video performances

Strata Summit 'The Business of Data' (YouTube video, September 2011):  Transparency and Strategic Leaking

BBC World Service Radio Interview (August 2011):  Chips With Everything.  In this radio interview, Mike Nelson provides commentary around a potential ‘internet of things’ in the future, where we’ll assume it’s much like electricity is today, built into the environment around us and we’ll assume we always have the ability to connect devices to other devices

AOL Government (July 2011):  Industry Issues Road Map To Accelerate Government Cloud Adoption

TechAmerica Foundation (July 2011):  Mike Nelson serves as Academic Co-chair and makes recommendations for TechAmerica Foundation's report on Deployment of the Cloud (CLOUD²)

Computerworld (June 2011):  Cloud tipped to transform global markets

Computerworld (June 2011):  WikiLeaks a boon for US government:  Former Obama campaign adviser

iTnews (May 2011):  ‘People piece’ next in internet evolution

PBS Newshour (February 2011):  How Did Egypt's Government Halt Internet Access

The Diane Riehm Show (February 2011):  Wikileaks, the Internet and Democracy