About the Author (DRAFT)

I usually describe myself as “a systems engineer, social entrepreneur, and policy wonk.” I build networks that connect people to get things done.  I sometimes say that my ultimate ambition is to be Systems Engineer & Stage Manager for a global, online town meeting.  My wife recently parried with “IT guy for the political revolution.”

I've spent 45 years in and around the telecommunications arena (more, if you count growing up in and around a small, family-owned, electronics firm).

I went to school at MIT, and I was lucky enough to arrive in 1971 – just two years after the ARPANET went live, and just before Ray Tomlinson sent the first ARPANET email and memorialized the @ sign forever. (Ray and I later worked together at BBN. Ray died just a few days ago, way too young). He was one of the greats and an all round good guy. We miss you, Ray.) During my four years at school, the ARPANET started to become a primary vehicle for academic communication and collaboration. I had a front row seat to the first email, electronic publishing, virtual teams & communities, electronic commerce (RFPs and Proposals exchanged via email), and early Internet governance. I caught the bug that’s driven my life.

Ever since, I’ve been an observer of the Internet’s growth, evolution, and adoption - with a particular interest in how the Internet changes the capacity and behavior of organizations and communities (physical, professional, and otherwise). I've been fortunate to both observe and contribute to Internet adoption in a broad range of settings, including academia, small and large corporations, government (at all levels), communities, non-profits, and households.

Over the course of my career, I've alternated between the entrepreneurial world, government systems contractors, and the non-profit arena. During & after school, I spent a few years working as an engineering consultant - including a short period working for Ray Kurzweil on the speech synthesizer for his reading machine - talk about fortunate timing). During those days, I also a small company that sold email services to small businesses. (in later years, that business evolved into a web design and hosting business. These days, those computers keep humming away, providing pro-bono list and web hosting to a gaggle of local community groups.)

I then joined Sanders associates, where I designed command & control systems, intelligence systems, and large training systems. And from there, I went on to spen seven years at Bolt Beranek and Newman (BBN) – the company that built the ARPANET - helping to build pieces of what became the Internet. Since then, I’ve worked on military command & control networks, training systems – massively multiplayer roleplaying games for folks who come under real fire, networked mapping systems, and most recently “intelligent transportation systems” (air traffic control for busses and trains).

As the Internet grew, people started talking about “electronic democracy” and “electronic town meetings.” At BBN, I watched the evolution of Internet governance – the loose, global, collaboration that built and manages what has become our society’s nervous system. I became convinced that Internet governance looks a lot like a 24 by 7 global town meeting – a model for broader electronic democracy.

In 1992, I left BBN to start a non-profit, the Center for Civic Networking – to put this idea to the test – by performing early demonstration projects in “Internet town meetings.” (I sometimes describe my life’s ambition as being the systems engineer and stage manager for a global town meeting.) Over 12 years, we focused on pilot projects that pushed the Internet into new areas, serving the public. We led public engagement projects in community planning, and broadening participation in federal rulemakings. We deployed Internet workstations into the Cambridge Public Library - the first deployment of high-speed Internet connectivity in a library setting, and an alpha site for early cable modem service. We worked with economic development agencies to market rural microenterprises over the net (our "Public Webmarket" project, funded by the USDA, was one of the very first web-based marketplaces). We worked with municipalities in the days leading up to and following passage of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 - as they wrestled with major changes in cable franchising and right-of-may management. We helped plan municipal broadband projects. In the process, I got to write two books – one on planning Library Internet Services (published by the American Library Association), the other a handbook on telecommunications planning for local governments.

PoliticalRevolution.net is my latest project.  In pursuing it, I find myself inspired by Ben Franklin – our great writer, publisher, rabble rowser and organizer; Peter Drucker who studied the modern corporation from the inside, and made a career of writing about it; and more recently, Bill McKibben, who’s gone from Journalism, to writing about Climate Change, to building a movement and an Internet organizing hub at 350.org.

Beyond the workplace, I live in Newton MA with my wife, 2 step-sons (another son and daughter are out in the world, along with an ex-stepdaughter), and 2 cats. I've served on various local government committees and on the board of my church (UU Church of Medford, MA). Along the way, I helped start the MIT Enterprise Forum. Occasionally, I manage to do something other than work (right now - volunteering for the Sanders campaign).