James Thurston
Vice President, Global Strategy and Development, G3ict
James Thurston is an international technology policy leader. As G3ict’s Vice President for Global Strategy and Development, he leads the design and implementation of new worldwide advocacy strategies and programs to scale up G3ict’s global impact. He has experience applying both technology and public policy to important social and economic challenges. He has led efforts ranging from using technology to promote the inclusion and human rights of people with disabilities around the world to using technology to increase the economic competitiveness of aging industrial centers in the United States. He has broad policy and management experience in both the private and public sectors and at the federal, state, and international levels of government. Prior to joining G3ict, Mr. Thurston was Director of International Accessibility Policy at Microsoft, where he developed and executed a worldwide strategy to expand the company’s outreach on disability and technology issues to governments and NGOs around the world. He has also served as a standards leader for an international technology industry association, an economic and technology advisor to a U.S. senator and vice presidential candidate, and a senior manager for a national technology and economic development initiative of the U.S. government. Mr. Thurston holds both a Master of Public Administration and an M.A. in East European Studies from the University of Washington, as well as a B.A. in International Affairs from the University of Maine.
Related blogs of James Thurston
03 December 2022
Technology, and more specifically how governments buy and use technology, is key to bridging a significant and persistent “disability divide” across Europe and worldwide. Governments in all countries and at all levels are enormous consumers of technology. When governments procure technology that is ... Read More
30 October 2020
For more than three years, G3ict has been working to define what it means for a city to be both smart and inclusive and to support them with resources and guidance. We have benefited from strong partnerships with companies like Microsoft and AT&T and with leading civil society organizations like... Read More
04 June 2020
Courts around the world are becoming smarter by deploying technology. Today, G3ict is launching a new Inclusive Courts Checklist to help courts also become more accessible and inclusive for persons with disabilities. This digital transformation of courts and justice systems is extensive. Courts ar... Read More
30 January 2020
Today, G3ict is making public the results of an important access to justice survey we conducted recently. We partnered with the International Association of Court Administrators (IACA) to survey its membership, court system executives and managers from across 29 countries around the world. The resul... Read More
18 November 2019
This week, G3ict and our Smart Cities for All global initiative are again taking part in the annual Smart City Expo and World Congress in Barcelona. New this year, we are actively partnering with the Microsoft corporation to offer cities the opportunity to experience our Digital Inclusion Maturity M... Read More
30 April 2018
We live in an increasingly digital and urban world. Unfortunately, it is not yet an increasingly inclusive world for persons with disabilities and older persons. We want to fix that. The Global Initiative for Inclusive ICTs (G3ict) and World Enabled have partnered with Access Israel to fix that. Yes... Read More
24 April 2017
Laura Ruby, Director of Worldwide Accessibility Policy & Standards at the Microsoft Corporation, believes that one of the smartest things cities can do to ensure the digital inclusion of persons with disabilities and older persons is to make sure they are buying only accessible information and c... Read More
18 April 2017
The global trend toward smart cities is exciting. Smart Cities programs, technologies, and solutions are creating innovative approaches to providing municipal services and engaging with citizens. But G3ict and World Enabled launched our joint Smart Cities for All initiative because when it comes to ... Read More
10 October 2016
James Thurston discusses survey findings and next steps of the joint G3ict, World ENABLED and Microsoft initiative on accessible technology in smart cities. By 2025, there will be at least 88 smart cities in the world – up from 21 in 2013 [1]. The majority of these smart cities will be in Asia and t... Read More
19 January 2016
James Thurston anticipates seven ICT Accessibility policy trends for 2016. As 2016 begins, looking back at last year’s global accessibility policy advancements is interesting. But looking forward and anticipating accessibility policy trends and themes in the new year is essential for all of us conc... Read More