In Profile: John Villasenor, Director of Digital Technologies Initiative

John Villasenor is director for the Luskin Center’s new Digital Technoligies Initiative.

Dr. Villasenor is a professor of electrical engineering and public policy at UCLA and a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington DC. His work focuses on the nature and growing impact of digital information. He writes frequently on the intersection of digital technology with public policy and the law as a contributor to Forbes and The Atlantic, and is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on the Intellectual Property System. 

Here are a few of his most recent articles from Forbes and The Atlantic:

• Could The Government Get A Search Warrant For Your Thoughts in The Atlantic
• Can Google Fly It’s Internet Balloons Wherever It Wants? in Forbes
• Why The NSA Leaks Will Lead To More Economic Espionage Between American Companies? in Forbes
• Five Reasons Why The Media’s Love Of U.S. Government Leaks is Problematic in Forbes
• Looking For The Next Big Thing In Smartphones? Think Digital Inclusion In Developing Countries in Forbes

Professor Villasenor’s research addresses the technology and policy challenges associated with trends such as the move to cloud computing, the globalization of technology product design and manufacturing, advances in digital communications and electronics, and the increasing complexity of today’s networks and systems.  Prior to joining UCLA in 1992, he was with the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, where he developed methods for imaging the earth from space. He received the B.S. degree in 1985 from the University of Virginia, his M.S. in 1986 from Stanford University, and Ph.D. in 1989 from Stanford, all in electrical engineering.