Rick Switzer

Director Strategy and Policy — The Office of the Special Envoy for Technology US Department of State

Rick is a thought-leader with a proven track record of impacting domestic and international trade and technology policy. He has more than 25 years of experience in global competition focused on science and technology policy and strategic trade in both the private and public sectors. He is currently a strategic advisor to several technology firms, leading policy non-profits, and industry groups. In his last government position, he served as the Director of Policy and Strategy for the Special Envoy Office for Critical and Emerging Technology (S/TECH) at the U.S. Department of State. Prior to joining S/TECH, Rick was a Senior Fellow at the Special Competitive Studies Project (SCSP), a nonprofit founded by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt. Rick was also the State Department Chair visiting professor at the National Intelligence University teaching graduate courses on China’s economy and innovation system. He served as a member of the Secretary of State’s Policy Planning Council and from 2018 to 2019, and he was a Senior State Department Advisor to the Department of Defense working with the Air Force and the Army. Preceding that he was the Environment, Science, Technology and Health Counselor at Embassy Beijing, the largest science section in the world. He has worked with technology start-ups and was the co-founder of an early media hardware firm called What’s On Networks.