Elysium Digital's Star Technology Expert Witness Joins the White House as Deputy U.S. CTO

Press Release

In the News

Expert Testimony

May 11, 2015

Elysium Digital is proud of today's announcement that Ed Felten has become the new Deputy United States Chief Technology Officer.

In this position, which is part of the White House's Office of Science and Technology Policy, Ed will advise President Obama, U.S. Chief Technology Officer Megan Smith, and others in the Executive Office on issues of public policy in security, privacy, innovation, and intelligence.

Few (if any) people in the technology world would be a better match for this position. As a longtime Professor of Computer Science and Public Affairs at Princeton University, and the founding Director of the University's Center for Information Technology Policy, Ed has mentored a generation of experts in computer security and privacy—including Elysium Digital's founders. Ed has been a passionate, widely-respected critic of the security and privacy issues in electronic voting machines, DRM systems, and intelligence-gathering programs. As the first Chief Technologist of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, Ed contributed his technical expertise in the Commission's rise to becoming the primary regulatory agency of the U.S. technology industry today.

Ed's association with Elysium predates the company's inception and has continued to the present day. Ed served as Elysium's first computer science expert witness in the DOJ v. Microsoft antitrust matter and has since then served as a witness in more than fifteen matters with the firm, covering a range of technical issues from software patents to copyright and copy protection, trade secret misappropriation, and technology asset valuation. Ed also maintains an active slate of testimony roles in matters of public interest; his declaration in support of the plaintiffs in ACLU v. Clapper was cited last week by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in finding the NSA's phone surveillance program illegal.

Ed will be suspending his academic and testimony activities during the period he works in the White House, which is expected to last through 2016. We look forward to continuing our collaboration with Ed once he returns to life as a private citizen. Everyone at Elysium Digital wishes Ed and Laura an uncomplicated move to Washington, D.C., and a highly successful White House tenure during this pivotal time for the role of technology in the lives of U.S. citizens.