Ed Black is currently CEO Emeritus and Chairman of the Board following his service to the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA) as President & CEO from 1995 through 2019. He has helped make CCIA into a leading and even more highly respected trade association as he led the association’s efforts on a wide range of policy matters relevant to CCIA and its member companies including international trade, competition, intellectual property, e-commerce, privacy, security, open standards, federal procurement and telecommunications. He remains committed to making sure that democratic principles and the broad public interest are protected as our open and free society struggles to adjust to the dynamic disruption of technology.
Mr. Black previously served for nearly a decade as CCIA’s Vice-President and General Counsel. He is past Chairman of the State Department’s Advisory Committee on International Communications & Information Policy, past President of the Washington International Trade Association & Foundation. He serves on the advisory board for the American Antitrust Institute, and has served as a member of various bar and technology policy organizations, including past Chairman of the American Intellectual Property Law Association’s Subcommittee on Export Controls, and the Advisory Board for BNA’s Electronic Information Policy and Law Report.
Prior to joining CCIA he served in Congress as Legislative Director and Administrative Assistant for Reps. Stokes and LaFalce respectively, and had direct political campaign management experience at the mayoral, congressional district and presidential levels. In the Executive Branch he served as a senior congressional liaison in the immediate office of several Secretaries of State and Commerce [Kissinger, Vance, Kreps, Klutznik, Baldridge]. Mr. Black subsequently practiced law in the private sector, where he represented high-tech companies and associations.
Mr. Black frequently testified before Congress and is a frequent commentator for both national and industry media. He is regularly quoted in publications including the Washington Post, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, San Jose Mercury News, Los Angeles Times and Business Week, and has frequently appeared on television programs such as MSNBC, CNN, Fox, ABC News, The News Hour, and Nightly Business Report and was listed on the Washingtonian’s 2009 and 2011 Tech Titans list. Mr. Black received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Muhlenberg College and his Juris Doctor degree from the American University Washington College of Law, where he won honors in the area of international law.