David Simpson has influenced U.S. National Defense and Homeland Security policy for over thirty years. He currently
leads a consulting practice, specializing in national defense, public safety, telecommunications, and other emerging technologies. He is a Professor at Virginia Tech, with teaching and research roles for Pamplin College of Business.
He previously served as Chief of the Federal Communications Commission’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau from 2013 to 2017. As Bureau Chief, he oversaw public safety, emergency management, communication resiliency, cybersecurity, and disaster preparedness activities for over 30,000 commercial companies.
Rear Admiral Simpson served in the U.S. Navy for over thirty years. As a Flag Officer he was the Director of Naval Networks, Vice Director of the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) and Director of Communications and Information Services in Iraq. He had Space, Combat Systems, and Information Technology assignments in multiple countries around the world.
He served as a senior delegate to the ITU World Radio Telecommunications Conference and to the World Conference on International Telecom (WCIT).
Rear Admiral Simpson is a graduate of the United States Naval Academy and earned a master’s degree in space systems technology from the Naval Postgraduate School.
Professor Simpson is an active author and commentator. Published work includes:
“Cloud Resiliency Project” (contributor) Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (2024) “Misinformation/Disinformation Threat Roles for Telecom” MWC 23 SecCon Keynote (2023) “5G is Smart, Now Let’s Make it Secure” Brookings Institute (2022)
“Supply Chain Matters When it Comes to Next Gen 9-1-1” The Hill (2021)
“Billions for broadband but not a penny for cybersecurity” The Seattle Times (2021) “Maintaining 5G Security” Interview Info-Security Professional Magazine (2021) “Initiative Finds Common Ground on Spectrum Sharing” Defense Magazine (2020) “5G Factsheet for Policy Makers” Harvard’s Belfer Center (2020)
“Why 5G requires new approaches to Cybersecurity” Brookings Institute (2019) “Civil Ballistic Missile Warning Needs Federal Leadership” The Hill (2018) “Public Safety Needs a Pitcher and a Catcher” The Hill (2018)
“FCC Cybersecurity Risk Reduction Whitepaper” FCC (2017)