J. Pierre de Vries

J. Pierre de Vries is a Senior Adjunct Fellow and Co-Director of the Spectrum Policy Initiative at the Silicon Flatirons Center for Law, Technology, and Entrepreneurship at the University of Colorado, Boulder. He researches the intersection between technology, commerce and government policy. His current work focuses on ways to maximize the value of radio operation, e.g. by clarifying the rights and responsibilities of wireless systems, and decentralizing spectrum management decisions.

De Vries was a Research Fellow at the Economic Policy Research Center of the University of Washington (Seattle) from 2007 to 2010, and served as a technology advisor on spectrum matters to Harris Wiltshire & Grannis LLP in Washington DC. He was a Senior Fellow of the Annenberg Center for Communication, University of Southern California, Los Angeles from 2006 to 2007.

Prior to this Dr de Vries worked at Microsoft Corp. in Redmond, WA where he served variously as Chief of Incubation, Senior Director of Advanced Technology and Policy, and Director of User Experience Design. His work there included creating the company’s first integrated user experience design team, developing the Trustworthy Computing Framework, managing incubation projects in the office of the CTO, supervising the start-up of the European Microsoft Innovation Centre, and leading the company’s work on unlicensed spectrum policy. Previously, De Vries worked for Korda & Co, a London-based seed capital company and technology consultancy, where he advised corporations on the business impact of new technologies, evaluated venture capital investments, negotiated investments and relationships, and served on start-up boards.

He holds a B.Sc. (Honours) from Stellenbosch University in South Africa, and a D.Phil. in theoretical physics from the University of Oxford. He is named on six U.S. patents.