David Gross

Ambassador David Gross is a member of ITIF’s board.

He is currently a partner at Wiley Rein LLP.

Ambassador Gross is one of the world’s foremost experts on international telecommunications, having addressed the United Nations (UN) General Assembly and led more U.S. delegations to major international telecommunication conferences than anyone in modern history.

Drawing on his more than 25 years of experience as a global policymaker and corporate executive, he assists U.S. companies seeking to enter or expand international businesses, as well as non-U.S. companies and organizations seeking to invest in, monitor, and understand the U.S. market.

Ambassador Gross advises foreign companies on non-U.S. countries and opportunities and informs clients regarding the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Organization for Economic Cooperation Development, Asia Pacific Economic Cooperative (APEC), as well as other international bodies.

Ambassador Gross was U.S. coordinator for international communications and information policy at the U.S. Department of State (2001–2009) and had overall responsibility for the formulation and advocacy of international communications policy for the United States. He was appointed by President George W. Bush and confirmed unanimously by the U.S. Senate for the rank of ambassador. Ambassador Gross chaired the U.S. delegations to ITU Plenipotentiary Conferences (2002, 2006), ITU World Telecommunication Development Conferences (2002, 2006), and ITU World Telecommunication Standardization Assemblies (2004, 2008). He led U.S. delegations to three APEC ministerial meetings in Shanghai, Lima, and Bangkok; was the head U.S. government negotiator and head of delegation for the multilateral preparatory conferences for both phases of the UN's “Heads of State” World Summit on the Information Society and co-led the U.S. delegation to the formal Summits in Geneva (2003) and Tunis (2005); served as a member of the UN’s Information and Communications Technologies Task Force (2001–2006); and conducted bilateral discussions at senior levels with representatives of more than 70 countries and provided commercial and policy advocacy on behalf of U.S. companies in markets around the world.

Previously, Ambassador Gross was Washington counsel for AirTouch Communications (acquired by Vodafone in 1999), then the world's largest wireless telecommunications company (1994–2000). He was in private law practice from 1979 to 1993.