R. David Edelman is an American policymaker, author and academic who currently directs the Project on Technology, the Economy, and National Security (TENS) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Previously, he served as Special Assistant to President Barack Obama on issues of the digital economy and national security. In that role, he led policy development around technology, artificial intelligence and related issues for the National Economic Council. He also served in the Office of Science & Technology Policy, and as the first Director for International Cyber Policy on the National Security Council.
R. David Edelman was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, later moving with his family to California, where he attended the Branson School. His parents, Steve and Sharon Edelman, are television hosts and producers.
Edelman received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Yale University. While there, he served on the Yale College Council, co-directed the Yale Ex!t Players improvisational comedy group , and founded the Yale-in-Washington program. He went on to earn his M.Phil and D.Phil in International Relations from Oxford University as a Clarendon Scholar. His dissertation, entitled âÂÂCyberattacks in International Relations,â examined which forces might restrain state use of computer network attacks.
After leaving Oxford, Edelman returned to the U.S. to accept a role in the State Department as a Foreign Affairs Analyst for Northeast Asia. He later moved to the State DepartmentâÂÂs Office of Cyber Affairs, where his focus shifted to American diplomacy around internet issues, and the international legal aspects of cyberspace. In that role, he became the United Statesâ primary negotiator at the United Nations for internet matters.
In December, 2010 Edelman joined President ObamaâÂÂs National Security Council staff as the first Director for International Cyber Policy, where he was called âÂÂchief cyber diplomatâ for his work in the space. At that time, he was the youngest-ever Director appointed to the NSC.
On the NSC, Edelman was the primary author of the United States International Strategy for Cyberspace, and oversaw the 2013 addition of cybersecurity issues to the topics discussed on the Moscow-Washington hotline â colloquially, the âÂÂred phoneâÂÂ. He also coordinated the addition of cyber issues to the US-India dialogue in 2011, following nearly a decade of silence on the subject between those nations.
In 2012 Edelman became Senior Advisor for Internet, Innovation, and Privacy at the White HouseâÂÂs Office of Science & Technology Policy. There, he pursued several initiatives, including the creation of President ObamaâÂÂs ConnectED program to provide K-12 classrooms with $10 billion in technology upgrades through public-private partnership. He also led the White House task force on High-Tech Patent Issues; the AdministrationâÂÂs effort to lift restrictions on cellphone unlocking; and the 2013 White House report, âÂÂBig Data: Seizing Opportunities, Preserving ValuesâÂÂ.
In 2014 he was promoted to Special Assistant to the President for Economic & Technology Policy. In that role he managed the United States National Economic Council team responsible for a range of issues including innovation and technology trade, competition and antitrust, broadband/telecom, consumer cybersecurity, data privacy, and intellectual property. He was involved in the AdministrationâÂÂs policies on autonomous/connected vehicles; the EU-US Privacy Shield trade agreement; and 5G spectrum policy.
In March 2017, Edelman joined the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Internet Policy Research Initiative to direct its Project on Technology, the Economy, and National Security (TENS). At MIT, he holds appointments at the Computer Science & Artificial Intelligence Lab (CSAIL) and Center for International Studies (CIS), researching the governance of artificial intelligence, the geopolitics of technology, and the national security dimensions of computing.
In 2024, Oxford University Press published his book, Rethinking Cyber Warfare: The International Relations of Digital Disruption.
In February 2017, Edelman was appointed to the Board of Trustees of the Newseum, now the Freedom Forum. In 2024 he was named President of the Washington, D.C.âÂÂbased Institute For Education, co-chairing its Future of AI Roundtables with EU Ambassadors Stavros Lambrinidis and Jovita Neliupà ¡ienÃÂ.