Speakers

Mr. Stephen Welby

Stephen Welby serves as the Deputy Director for National Security in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. Mr. Welby leads an OSTP team focused on advancing the President's agenda by strengthening our nations long-term global competitiveness and reducing risk through the assessment, development, deployment, and governance of current and emerging technologies. In this role, he leads efforts to develop long-term national science and technology (S&T) strategies, shape new investments in foundational technologies, modernize national security systems, ensure supply chain security, cultivate an agile innovation base, enhance export and investment controls, manage emergent risks and build the world's best STEM workforce.

Prior to joining OSTP, Mr. Welby was the Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

In 2015 Stephen was nominated by President Obama and confirmed by the US Senate as the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering. In this role, he served as the Chief Technology Officer for the U.S. Department of Defense, leading one of the largest and most complex research, development, and engineering organizations in the world. Mr. Welby had previously served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Systems Engineering, and was responsible for establishing and executing engineering policy and oversight across the Department.

Stephen has more than three decades of government and industrial experience in technology and product development, including senior leadership positions at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

Stephen holds a bachelor of science degree in chemical engineering from The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, a master's degree in business administration from the Texas A&M University, and master's degrees in computer science and applied mathematics from The Johns Hopkins University.