Barbara Wanner has more than 25 years of professional experience dealing with ICT policy, international trade, and foreign policy issues in both the public and private sectors.

She currently serves as Vice President for ICT Policy at the US Council for International Business (USCIB). In that capacity, she works with corporate members and government officials on a wide range of information, communications, and technology (ICT) issues, including initiatives to regulate trans-border data flows, enhance cybersecurity and privacy of personal data, and promote sound Internet governance. Ms. Wanner works through USCIB’s international affiliations and directly with the U.S. government to provide a U.S. business perspective into international negotiations on those issues. She represents USCIB members’ interests in several international forums, including the UN, APEC and the OECD.

Prior to joining USCIB, she served as Director, Global Services Summit at the Coalition of Service Industries (CSI), where she staffed CSI’s ICT Working Group, promoted CSI members’ interests in the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations, and advocated before the US Congress on legislation to grant Russia Permanent Normal Trade Relations.

From 2005 to 2011, Ms. Wanner was Senior Projects Coordinator for the U.S. Asia Pacific Council (USAPC), a program of the East-West Center. In this capacity, she was the lead liaison with the U.S. Congress, which entailed representing the Center’s interests before relevant appropriations and authorization committees as well as developing and implementing an outreach strategy aimed at showcasing East-West Center (EWC) products and research relevant to lawmakers’ interests. She wrote and published USAPC’s Washington Report, a bimonthly publication that provided an “inside-the-Beltway” perspective on developments in U.S.-Asia Pacific relations, and facilitated the participation of prominent U.S. policy experts in Asian regional forums, such as APEC and the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC).

Before her East-West Center tour, Ms. Wanner was Deputy Director of the International Electronics Manufacturers and Consumers of America (IEMCA). And for nearly 15 years, Ms. Wanner served as Senior Political Analyst for the Japan Economic Institute (JEI). At JEI, she wrote extensively and provided media commentary about Japanese politics, U.S.-Japan security relations, corporate issues faced by U.S. subsidiaries of Japanese companies, and developments in Congress and the U.S. executive branch relevant to U.S.-Japan relations. Other assignments included: a tour at Matsushita Electric Corporation of America as Government Relations Manager; Research Associate and Congressional Analyst at two Washington, D.C. consulting firms; and Staff Assistant to former Rep. Paul Findley (R., Illinois).

Ms. Wanner has a M.A. in Political Science from Columbia University and a B.A. in International Relations from Bucknell University. She also received a Certificate in International Business from Georgetown University.