Stan Byers was a fellow in New America’s Cybersecurity Initiative. Byer’s interests include mapping the converging investment and social implications of economic growth, rapidly advancing technologies, and cybersecurity threats in emerging markets. He is an expert on sustainable investment and risk in complex markets, including Africa, Latin America, and Central Asia. He previously served as the lead for economics and development for Afghanistan and Pakistan at the White House National Security Council and was a leader of Ernst & Young’s Cyber Economics team, analyzing the geopolitical and economics aspects of cybersecurity. Other work has focused on global trends in the extractives industry, energy infrastructure investment, and fair-trade practices.
Byers has been an entrepreneur-in-residence with Singularity University Ventures and is currently a participant in the TED residency program. He is a board member of the Fund for Peace and is the lead for AI and emerging markets with the AI Initiative and Future Society at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. He earned a B.S. in ecology from Purdue University and an MPP from the Harvard Kennedy School with a focus on economics and development. He speaks Portuguese and is working on Spanish and French.