Cyber security expert Melissa Hathaway joins CIGI as distinguished fellow

WATERLOO, CANADA: The Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) announced the recent appointment of Internet governance and cyber security expert Melissa Hathaway as Distinguished Fellow.

At CIGI, Hathaway will contribute to CIGI's Global Security program and research on Internet governance. The Organized Chaos: Reimagining the Internet project aims to play a constructive role in creating strategies for states committed to multi-stakeholder models of Internet governance.

The project is laying the analytical groundwork for future Internet governance discussions, most notably the upcoming decennial review of the World Summit on the Information Society, by considering the kind of Internet the world wants in 2020.

Prior to her appointment, Hathaway authored the CIGI commentary, "Change the Conversation, Change the Venue and Change Our Future," which argues that the Internet's economic importance, and the massive financial risk posed by cyber security threats, warrant making the issue a G20 agenda item.

"I am excited to join CIGI and contribute my time and expertise to such an important initiative. The Internet is at the very core of every aspect of life. There is nothing more important than ensuring that we engage in an international discussion about the priorities required to strengthen the services and infrastructures that are dependent upon the Internet," said Melissa Hathaway, CIGI Distinguished Fellow.

"There are many entangled economic, technical, regulatory, and policy issues that are part of every negotiation and discussion about the Internet and its future. I look forward to working with the CIGI team to bring more clarity to the international discussion and encourage governments to take actions and reduce risks."

"Melissa Hathaway brings a wealth of practical experience at the highest levels of the US government, including the time she served at the White House working for two US presidents, that will prove invaluable to CIGI's ongoing programs in internet governance," says Fen Osler Hampson, director of CIGI's Global Security Research Program.

"She has played a key role in both the public and private sectors on cyber security issues and has a depth and level of understanding that is unparalleled. We are very excited to welcome her to CIGI."

Hathaway has worked as a cyber security advisor to U.S. Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, and is the former acting senior director for cyberspace at the National Security Council and former advisor to the Director of National Intelligence. She is now president of Hathaway Global Strategies, where she brings a multi-disciplinary and multi- institutional perspective to strategic consulting and strategy formulation for public and private sector clients.

She is also a senior advisor to Project Minerva, a joint cyber security project by the Department of Defense, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Harvard University, where it is based at the Belfer Center. Hathaway has a B.A. degree from The American University in Washington, D.C., and is a graduate of the US Armed Forces Staff College, with a special certificate in Information Operations.