Resume / Curriculum Vitae
Chief Executive / Emerging Technologies / World Wide Web
25 years of success in launching, leading and strengthening complex, international, high-tech organizations in non-profit and for-profit enterprises. Themes:
- Directing Ventures of Global Importance. Currently, launching the new Web Foundation, as its first CEO, to advance the Web to empower people to make positive changes in their lives. Previously, led the world's leading Web standards organization; and guided creation of a UN arms control organization and an unparalleled global treaty monitoring system, and a surveillance technology group within a major systems integrator.
- Effectively Managing Non-Profit Finances. Now establishing efficient Web Foundation operations in Switzerland, the United States, and eventually other countries. In the past, re-energized W3C by driving new Web technology areas, strengthening customer focus, reducing expenses, and increasing income. 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 410 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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Professional Experience
World Wide Web Foundation (Web Foundation) (10/2008 -
present)
Geneva, Switzerland and Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Chief Executive Officer
Dr. Bratt worked with the inventor of the Web, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, to launch the Web Foundation in November 2009. Dr. Bratt is responsible for the growth and effective management of the new Foundation, and for furthering the Foundation's funding and leadership of high-impact initiatives to advance One Web that is free and open, and which empowers every person on the planet.
Executive Responsibilities:
- Strategic planning, and building a strong organization culture for successful operations.
- Budget planning, fundraising, grant-making, financial management.
- Program development, encouraging and measuring the effectiveness of funded work, and conveying in a transparent manner the impact of the work to the Board and the public.
- Process development, legal matters.
Selected Accomplishments:
- Secured a $5 million/5 year grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation to seed the launch of the Web Foundation.
- Developed a team, operational infrastructure and first projects to take the Foundation to a successful launch in November 2009.
- Initiated the Foundation's first projects, including securing funding.
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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, 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 is 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 60 of the world's foremost Web technologists (including 13 management personnel), and 20 Offices around the globe (newest: China, India, Senegal, South Africa, Brazil).
- Coordinating the W3C standards process, executed by 1,500 experts working in 60 technical groups.
- Relations with W3C's close to 400 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, 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.
- 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 income and reduced spending to bring health to an organization that fell into substantial deficit following major economic downturns (2000-2002 and 2008-2009)
- 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, social networking and health care and life sciences.
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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 Web Foundation) 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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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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International and Interagency Experience
- 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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Honors
- 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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Selected Publications
Dr. Bratt has authored more than 100 refereed publications, technical reports, published conference abstracts, and papers tabled within international organizations. He is frequently invited to give talks and chair meetings. (see a somewhat-outdated list)
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Additional Information
- Place of birth: New York, NY.
- Citizenship: USA.
- Chief Running Officer, Winchester Highlanders Road Running Club
- Keyboardist of SIX -- "Winchester's Premier Party Band"tm
- Assistant Manager, Boston Blast Football Club, U17 Boys team (Massachusetts State Soccer champions, 2007, 2008)
- Wikipedia profile
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February 2010