Chief Executive / Emerging Technologies / World Wide
Web
Dynamic, innovative leader with 23 years of proven success in launching
and strengthening complex, international, high-tech organizations in
non-profit and for-profit enterprises.
- Directing Ventures of Global Importance.
Currently, CEO of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). Previously, guided
creation of a UN arms control organization, an unparalleled global treaty
monitoring system, and a surveillance technology group within a major
systems integrator.
- Effectively Managing Non-Profit Finances.
Re-energized W3C by driving new Web technology areas, strengthening
customer focus, reducing expenses by 25%, and increasing fee-paying
membership by 30%. 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.
Led W3C’s staff and offices in 20 countries, serving 430 of the
world’s leading IT companies and organizations across 40 countries. Led
a UN organization with 100 staff from 40 countries. Accomplished leader
in cross-cultural and politically-sensitive environments, where
consensus-building, and clear and decisive action, are vital.
- Applying Emerging Technologies. Strategically
leveraged the Web, service-oriented architectures, expert systems, mobile
and other advanced technologies, before most leaders embraced
them.
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World Wide Web
Consortium (W3C) (1/2002 - present)
Computer Science and Artificial
Intelligence Laboratory
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
Chief Executive
Officer
Founded in 1994 by Web inventor Tim Berners-Lee, the World Wide Web
Consortium is the global center for Web standards, including all of the
technologies that make the Web work: HTML, XML, Web Services, Web 2.0 and
many others. . Dr. Bratt’s focus on responsible management and growth in
new technology areas strengthened the health and importance of the Consortium
following a period of challenges.
Executive Responsibilities:
- Strategic and budget planning, and overall Consortium operations.
- Leading a team of 70 of the world's
foremost Web technologists (including 13 management personnel), and
21 Offices around the
globe (newest: China, India, South Africa, Brazil).
- Coordinating the W3C standards process, executed by 1,500 experts
working in 60 technical
groups.
- Relations with W3C's 430 Member
organizations, including the world’s top technology companies:
Among W3C’s Members: Adobe,
Alcatel-Lucent, Apple, AstraZeneca, AT&T, Avaya, Boeing, BT, Canon,
Chevron, Cisco, Citigroup, Deutsche Telecom, Disney, Dow Jones, EDS, Eli Lilly, EMC, Ericsson,
France Telecom, Fujitsu, Google, Hitachi, HP, IBM, ILOG, Intel, Lockheed
Martin, Merck, MITRE, Nokia, Nortel, 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.
- Liaisons with over liaisons with over 40
national and international standards bodies.
- Chairing and program planning for large conferences, oversight of legal
matters and interface with W3C’s Advisory Committee, Advisory Board and
Steering Committee.
Selected Accomplishments:
- Increased Membership by 30% and reduced spending by 25% to bring health
to an organization that fell into substantial deficit following the
downturn in the technology sector.
- Improved relations with customers (Members) and other standards
organizations.
- Implemented industry-leading patent policy.
- Launched Incubator Activity to encourage development of innovative,
often high-risk technologies.
- Oversaw the evolution of the standards that make today’s Web work,
including HTML, XML, CSS, VoiceXML, RDF, OWL, Web accessibility,
internationalization, privacy and other areas.
- Started leading-edge work on emerging standards in SOA/Web services,
Web 2.0, semantic Web (Web 3.0), mobile Web, ubiquitous Web, video,
security, and health care and life sciences.
- Currently working with our Team to developed concepts for new revenue
streams through fostering social networks, selling services and drawing
upon DNS revenue.
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Thinkabit, LLC (1/2003 - present)
Winchester, Massachusetts, USA
President and General Manager
Thinkabit provides consulting services (several days per year, and without
conflict with position as CEO of the W3C) in areas that include: Strategic
planning; leadership; organizational development; consensus building;
patents; scientific and technical review; and application of advanced
technologies to improve process and productivity. Key technology areas: World
Wide Web, arms control, sensor networks.
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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 and
operate a global treaty verification regime to detect and deter global
nuclear weapons testing. The IDC collected 10 Gbytes per day of digital data
from hundreds of geophysical sensors dispersed across all continents.
Knowledge-based data fusion and human decision support were applied to
detect, locate and identify geophysical phenomena, including possible nuclear
explosions. The Global Communications Infrastructure (GCI), the first VSAT
satellite telecommunications system to cover the globe, provided
Internet-based data collection from the 321 sensors and SOA and Web-driven
product distribution to 100 national data centers.
Executive Responsibilities:
- Appointed as the first Coordinator of the new CTBT International Data
Centre, including the Global Communications Infrastructure.
- One of two senior US executives in charge of starting the new
Organization, and of communicating the vision and progress to US and
global dignitaries.
- 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.
- 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.
Selected Accomplishments:
- Implemented, what was at the time, the most sophisticated geophysical
data collection and real-time analysis system in the world.
- Guided the IDC and GCI from concept to initial operation within two
years.
- Hired and managed 100+ staff members from 40+ nations.
- Designed and implemented operational and research facilities for the
CTBTO’s 250 staff. Included in the facility were high-availability,
24/7, computing, situation and media centers ($11+ million).
- Installed three major releases of data acquisition and knowledge-based
processing software, using technologies such as C++, Java, Oracle, HTML,
XML, PKI, LDAP, Unix and Windows.
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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, USA
Principal Program Director / Program Manager
Executive Responsibilities:
- Directed a $15 million, growing to $40 million, per-year research and
development program to improve US and global capabilities for
verification of nuclear weapons test ban treaties.
- Integrated advanced concepts for realtime sensor surveillance and
intelligent data processing. Specific technologies incorporated included
global telecommunications, knowledge-based data fusion, artificial
intelligence, data visualization, the Web, seismology, hydroacoustics,
infrasonics, nuclear physics, meteorology and satellite imagery.
- In 1996, moved to the office of the Assistant to the Secretary of
Defense for Nuclear, Chemical and Biological Matters to support the
Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty negotiations in Geneva.
- Served on numerous bi- and multi-lateral scientific and arms control
delegations.
Selected Accomplishments:
- 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.
- Extended monitoring concepts to address other important national
security problems, including Interneted surveillance of underground
facilities, damage assessment and battlefield assets.
- The US Ambassador responsible for the CTBT negotiations stated that a
briefing given by Dr. Bratt to the international delegations in Geneva
did more to advance agreement on the proposed treaty verification regime
than any prior event.
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Science
Applications International Corporation - SAIC (6/1989 - 5/1993)
Center for Monitoring Research,
Arlington, Virginia, USA
Assistant Vice-President and Director of Systems and
Support
Responsibilities and Accomplishments:
- Led 10, growing to 20, scientific and IT professionals to design,
implement, operate and improve advanced geophysical, realtime processing
systems.
- 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.
- Developed new business areas for the division.
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Science Applications International
Corporation - SAIC (2/1985 - 6/1989)
San Diego, California, USA
Geophysicist and Task Leader
Responsibilities and Accomplishments:
- First employee in a division that grew to become the largest
geophysical consulting organization supporting US nuclear treaty
verification programs.
- Principal designer and task leader for the Intelligent Monitoring
System, which integrated automated, realtime, artificial intelligence
systems and interactive analysis and decision support.
- Directed teams of 2 to 5 scientists and software engineers.
- Led and conducted research and software development in areas including
network capability monitoring; source properties and propagation; and
tectonic stability and hazards assessment.
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- 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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- Chief Executive Officer, World Wide Web Consortium
(2002 - present)
- National Science Foundation ITR
Review Panel (2004)
- Coordinator, CTBT International Data Center,
Vienna (1997-2001)
- 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 interagency committees and task forces (1993
- 1997)
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- Appointed 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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Dr. Bratt has authored more than 80 refereed publications, technical
reports, published conference abstracts, and papers tabled within
international organizations (see longer list).
He is frequently invited to give talks and chair meetings. Selected
publications include:
- Bratt, S.R. (2005) "Toward a Web of Data and Programs", Proceedings
of the IEEE Symposium on Global Data Interoperability–-Challenges
and Technologies, May 2005, pp. 124 - 128 (paper, invited
talk).
- Bratt, S.R. (2005) "Developing The Foundational Standards for Web
Services", Gartner Conference, Los Angeles, California, USA (invited
talk).
- Bratt, S.R. (2004) "Developing Core Web Services Standards at the W3C",
Gartner Conference, Orlando, Florida, USA (invited
talk).
- Bratt, S.R. (2004) "Weaving a Web for the Next Generation of Science",
Geological Society of America, Denver, Colorado, USA (invited
talk).
- Bratt, S.R. (2001) "Arms Control in the Information Age: World-Wide
Data Acquisition, Analysis, Storage and Access in Near-Realtime",
Proceedings of the IEEE Symposium on Mass Storage Systems: Mass
Storage and the Web, April 2001.
- Bratt, S.R. (1992) "GSETT-2: An International Experiment in Rapid
Exchange and Interpretation of Seismic Data from a Global Network",
EOS Trans. Amer. Geophys. Un., 73, pp. 513, 520.
- Bratt, S.R., H.J. Swanger, R.J. Stead, F. Ryall, and T.C. Bache (1990),
"Results from the Intelligent Monitoring System", Bull. Seis. Soc.
Am., 80, pp. 1852 - 1873.
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- Place of birth: New York, NY.
- Citizenship: USA.
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March 2008