Steven R Bratt: Resume, Curriculum Vitae

Steve Bratt portrait

Steve Bratt

Chief Executive Officer
World Wide Web Foundation (Web Foundation)

(print version of resume)

Chief Executive / Emerging Technologies / World Wide Web

25 years of starting, directing and invigorating high-tech enterprises. Strengths:

Leading Technology Ventures with Societal Impact. Launched and now leading the Web Foundation's effort to advance the Web as a tool of entrepreneurship and empowerment for everyone on the planet. Helped start a surveillance technology group within a major, commercial systems integrator (SAIC). Directed the world's principle Web standards body (W3C). Guided creation of a UN arms control organization.

Generating Revenue. Managing with Fiscal Intelligence. Raised $13 million to start the Web Foundation and invest in high-impact initiatives. Re-energized W3C by commissioning new technology work, strengthening customer focus, raising new revenue and spending strategically. Planned and executed $25 million/year budget within a UN organization. Expanded DARPA R&D program from $15 to $40 million/year.

Motivating the Best from Diverse Organizations. Directing Web Foundation operations in the US, Europe, India and Africa. Managed W3C’s staff and offices in 20 countries, serving 400 of the world’s leading technology companies and organizations from 40 countries. Led a UN division with 100 staff from 40 countries. Accomplished in cross-cultural and politically-sensitive environments, where ethics, team-building, clear communication, and flexibility are vital.

Innovating and Evangelizing Across the Technology Sector. Creative adaptation of the Web, mobile, artificial intelligence, exploitation of big data, distributed and cloud-based architectures and other advanced technologies before others embraced them. Delivered tens of interviews and conference keynotes around the world (e.g., CNN, WEF, TED, The Economist) and held discussions with heads of state and CEOs of the world's leading organizations.

Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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Professional Experience

World Wide Web Foundation (10/2008 - present)
Geneva, Switzerland and Boston, Massachusetts

Chief Executive Officer

Dr. Bratt, together with Web inventor Sir Tim Berners-Lee, launched the Web Foundation to drive high-risk, high-impact initiatives to connect and empower all people -- especially those for whom communication could be life-changing.

Selected Accomplishments:

Led development of initial strategy and plan to establish this new, international non-profit.
Secured $5 million grant to launch the Foundation, and an additional $8 million (to date) for projects in the field. Initial donors included the Knight Foundation, Google, Vodafone, Nokia, Rockefeller Foundation, Hewlett Foundation, Omidyar Network, Open Society Foundations, European Commission, World Bank and International Press Institute.
Formed legal entities in the US and Switzerland, and established Boards of Directors, an Advisory Council, a Science Council and a world-class staff working in Africa, Europe and the US.
Started potentially-groundbreaking initiatives: (a) connecting people at the base of the pyramid to the Web by voice using simple mobile phones, (b) training mobile Web entrepreneurs in developing countries, and (c) publishing government data on the Web. Initial testing is underway in Burkina Faso, Ghana, India, Kenya, Mali and Senegal (expanding to new countries).
Created the Web Index, the first measure of the Web's global economic, social and political impact.

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World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) (1/2002 - 6/2009)
Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory , Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Cambridge, Massachusetts

Chief Executive Officer

The World Wide Web Consortium is where the world's leading organizations develop the technologies that make the Web work, including HTML, XML, CSS, VoiceXML, SOAP, RDF, Web accessibility, internationalization and privacy.

Selected Accomplishments:

Led a team of 60 of the world's foremost Web technologists (including 13 direct-report managers), and 20 Offices around the globe (launched while CEO: Brazil, China, India, South Korea, Senegal, South Africa).
Coordinated the W3C standards process, executed by 1,500 experts working in 60 technical groups.
Launched standardization around HTML5, Web services, Web 2.0, semantic Web (linked data), mobile Web, multimodal, video, security, social networking and health care and life sciences.
Improved member relationships with W3C's close to 400 Member organizations, which included: Adobe, Alcatel-Lucent, Apple, AstraZeneca, AT&T, Avaya, Boeing, BT, Canon, Chevron, Cisco, Citigroup, Deutsche Telecom, Disney, Dow Jones, Eli Lilly, EMC, Ericsson, France Telecom, Fujitsu, Google, Hitachi, HP, IBM, ILOG, Intel, Merck, MITRE, Nokia, Novartis, NTT, Nuance, Oracle, Pfizer, RedHat, RIM, Samsung, SAP, Sharp, Siemens, SoftwareAG, Sun, Time Warner/AOL, Toshiba, Verisign, Vodafone, Xerox, Yahoo and other leading companies, universities, non-profits and government agencies.
Increased Membership income and reduced spending to restore health to an organization that fell into substantial deficit following a major economic downturn (2000-2002)
Strengthened liaisons with over 40 national and international standards bodies.
Implemented industry-leading patent policy and created streamlined process to develop innovative technologies.

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Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization - CTBTO (7/1997 - 11/2001)
Vienna, Austria

Coordinator, International Data Centre Division (IDC)

The CTBTO is a UN-affiliated organization, founded in 1997 to build a treaty verification regime to detect and deter global nuclear weapons testing.

Selected Accomplishments:

Appointed as the first Coordinator of the IDC, which includes the Global Communications Infrastructure (GCI). One of two senior US executives on the inaugural executive team.
Guided the IDC and GCI from concept to initial operation in two years.
Led systems design and deployment, strategic program and budget planning ($15 million growing to $25 million per year), information security, and measurement-based quality assurance.
Hired and managed 100+ staff members from 40+ nations.
Implemented what was at the time the most sophisticated geophysical data collection and real-time analysis system in the world. Knowledge-based data fusion and human decision support were applied to detect, locate and identify geophysical phenomena, including possible nuclear explosions. The GCI, the first VSAT satellite telecommunications system to cover the globe, provided Internet-based data collection from the 321 sensors and Web-driven product distribution to 100 national data centers.
Designed and implemented operational and research facilities for the CTBTO’s 250 staff, including high-availability, 24/7, computing, situation and media centers ($11+ million).
Directed five cross-divisional teams to implement state-of-health and knowledge management systems that communicated through open public, secure external and private intranet Web portals.
Installed three major releases of data acquisition and knowledge-based processing software, using technologies such as C++, Java, HTML, XML, PKI, LDAP, Oracle, UNIX and Windows.
Communicated the vision and progress to global dignitaries and experts on a regular basis.

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Office of the Secretary of Defense (3/1996 - 7/1997)
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (5/1993 - 3/1996)
Arlington, Virginia

Principal Program Director / Program Manager

Selected Accomplishments:

Directed a research and development program to improve US and global capabilities for verification of nuclear weapons test ban treaties that grew from $15 million to $40 million per-year.
Integrated advanced concepts for realtime sensor surveillance and intelligent data processing. Technologies included global telecommunications, knowledge-based data fusion, artificial intelligence, data visualization, the Web, seismology, hydroacoustics, infrasonics, nuclear physics, meteorology and satellite imagery.
Led team of over 100 contracted scientific and engineering professionals to develop an integrated system for collection, fusion and analysis of multi-sensor data to monitor nuclear weapons testing. The system was successfully demonstrated during international experiments starting in 1995.
Supported the US delegation to the CTBT negotiations in Geneva. The US Ambassador to the negotiations stated that one of Dr. Bratt's briefings to the international delegations did more to advance agreement on the treaty verification regime than any prior event.

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Science Applications International Corporation - SAIC
Center for Seismic Studies / Center for Monitoring Research, Arlington, Virginia (6/1989 - 5/1993)
Geophysical Systems, San Diego, California (2/1985 - 6/1989)

Assistant Vice-President, Director of Systems and Support, Geophysicist

Selected Accomplishments:

First employee in a division that grew to become the largest geophysical contractor supporting US nuclear treaty verification programs.
Led 10, growing to 20, scientific and IT professionals to design, implement, operate and improve advanced geophysical, realtime processing systems.
Principal designer and leader for the Intelligent Monitoring System, which integrated automated, realtime, artificial intelligence systems and interactive analysis and decision support.
Led installation and operation of a prototype International Data Center which performed successfully during a major, worldwide monitoring experiment in 1991.
Prototyped advanced concepts for pre-Web client-server-based data mining and browsing tools.
Directed international training, staffing, procurement, monitoring operations and customer support.
Presented successful, strategic funding proposals and reports to high-level US and global officials.

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Education

Massachusetts Institute of Technology: Ph.D., Geophysics (1985)
Thesis: "Thermal Tectonics of Planetary Lithospheres: Mid-Ocean Ridges and Lunar Impact Basins" (local copy)
Pennsylvania State University: BS., Geological Sciences (1979)

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Executive Programs

Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts (2000), Kennedy School of Government, Executive Management Program
Federal Executive Institute, Charlottesville, Virginia (1996), Leadership in a Democratic Society

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Other International and Interagency Experience

Advisory Committee Representative, World Wide Web Consortium (2010 - present)
National Science Foundation ITR Review Panel (2004)
US Delegation, Conference on Disarmament, Geneva (1993 - 1996)
Scientific Advisor, Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Negotiations, Geneva (1994 - 1996)
Head or Member, US Delegations for bi-lateral talks (1993 - 1997)
DoD Liaison, National Academy of Sciences (1993 - 1997)
Member and Participant, US inter-agency committees and task forces (1993 - 1997)

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Honors

Guest Professor, Beihang University, Beijing, China (2007 – 2012)
Exceptional Civilian Service, US Department of Defense (1997)
Outstanding Performance, Office of the Secretary of Defense (1993, 1994, 1995, 1996)
Recognized Paper Award: Conference on Innovative Applications of Artificial Intelligence (1991)

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