Dinner with R. David Edelman

Monday, January 29, 2018

6:45 PM – 8:15 PM

Sign-up required.

R. David Edelman, former Technology Adviser to the President during the Obama Administration, has spent a decade as one of the government’s foremost voices on how technology is changing our economy, national security, and daily lives. An expert on some of the most pressing challenges facing the world today, his insights have helped shape national and international policy at the highest levels.

In his time at the White House, he led the development of and co-authored over a dozen legislative proposals, national strategies, Executive Orders, and Presidential Reports. During his time as the youngest-ever Director appointed to the National Security Council, he authored the President’s International Strategy for Cyberspace, the government’s principal doctrine on cybersecurity and Internet issues within foreign policy. As chief architect of the President’s ConnectED initiative, Edelman managed the $10 billion effort that brought broadband to over 30 million American students in their classrooms. As part of this effort, he worked with over a dozen Fortune 100 technology CEOs from companies like Apple and Microsoft that pledged over $2 billion in philanthropic commitments to 25 million students in all 50 states—from tablets to wireless broadband to personalized learning software.

Edelman’s insights and analysis have appeared in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, WIRED, Forbes, and Fortune. He was awarded the State Department’s Superior Honor Award for his work on intelligence matters, and was twice the recipient of the Meritorious Honor Award for his United Nations negotiations and development of the nation’s cyber diplomacy strategy. He was previously named one of Forbes’ “30 Under 30” leaders in Law & Policy, and later chosen as a “30 Under 30 All-Star Alumni”—one of only three in the magazine’s history—for his ongoing contributions to national policy.

In 2017, Edelman joined MIT’s Internet Policy Research Initiative as Director of the Project on Technology, Economy, & National Security, an interdisciplinary team of researchers, students, and policymakers addressing the challenges created by technological disruption—from the international concern of cyberattacks to the economic and regulatory consequences of artificial intelligence and autonomous vehicles.