David Alan Grier

David Alan Grier is a writer, author and speaker on issues of technology, society, & organizations. He is the author of numerous, award-winning books on computing and society, including When Computers Were Human, the story of how we organized computation before we had machines to do for it.

He is Fellow of the IEEE, the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers. He received this award for his contributions to crowdsourcing. Since 2007, written a regular colun on computing and society for Computer magazine. He has served in a variety of leadership roles in the IEEE, including Manager of Computing Society magazines, Vice President of Publications for the Computer Society and President of the Computer Society of the IEEE.

He writes a monthly column for the Chinese Computing Federation (published in Mardarin).

He is a principal in the consulting firm Djaghe, LLC.

He has been employed by the George Washington University in a variety of professorial and administrative roles. He is currently an associate professor in the Center for International Science & Technology Policy of the Elliott School of International Affairs.

He is not the famous comedian David Alan Grier, though seems to be a distant cousin.

He can be reached through this

Podcast How We Manage Stuff

Technology. Organizations. Globalization. People.

It’s funny. It’s cute. It’s insightful. It has an eight year old entrepreneur and an office manager from Bangalore. A black CEO from Silicon Valley and an intern who believes she will conquer the world. An Irish Consultant on Big Data and a Chinese project on Machine Learning.

How We Manage Stuff is a weekly scripted podcast dealing with the trials and tribulations of living in an age that is both technical and global. It has a cast that is located in Hollywood, New York City, Berlin, India, Silicon Valley and one of the many ships at sea but they tell a story that touches you where you live and work.

A Bustle, A Corset, & The London Necropolis Express
We know the story. Three women. A London Office. A missing colleague. And a pandemic. Three women wake one morning to discover that a colleague has vanished in the night. Gone. Poof. Not a bit of a tr …
Add Subtract Unite Divide
She could have been somebody. A real contender. If there hadn’t been a global economic depression. If the world hadn’t been engaged in a world war. And if she hadn’t been a woman. Through Fate or Goo …
Preview: Add Subtract
New Drama. New Story. And it’s about arithmetic. And work relief. And Organizations. And Power. And National Security. Plus it’s a Love Story. A short preview of what is going to come. Told a …
Embisivle Arrival
A suitcase on the sidewalk. A weary traveller looking for an answer. A stage manager, looking for dessert. Introducing Kota Fudauchi to the audio drama Embisivle Friend. Cast: Kota Fudauchi – Himsel …
Embisivle Friend: A Place for Innovation
A school. A slightly unusual school. (Business curriculum. Silicon Valley.) A principal, slightly stressed. A teacher. (ditto) Broken plumbing. A friend with a yellow car. A successful corporat …

Books

When Computers Where Human

Princeton University Press, 2005

The story of how we organized computation before we had electronic computers.

Too Soon to Tell

John Wiley, 2009

Essays about the founding generation of computer industry and the world that they created.

The Company We Keep

IEEE Computer Society Press, 2012.

Essays about the current generation of workers in the technology industry

technical author knows

What Every Technical Author Needs to Know

IEEE Co mputer Society Press 2012

A book about how to write and prepare manuscripts for scholarly journals with a special focus in the needs of the IEEE Computer Society. (Jointly authored with Evan Butterfield.)

Crowdsourcing for Dummies

John Wiley, 2013.

A book about crowdsourcing and how you can employ it in your business.

Blogs, Essays

Errant Hashtag is a bi-monthly column that looks at the challenges of technology professionals that appears monthly in Computer magazine.

How We Manage Stuff is an audio drama that brings life to the problems of organization, and technology, and people It is available through iTunes as well as all the usual podcast sources.

C. S. David is a monthly column published in the Communications of the Chinese Computing Federation. It deals with professionalism, training, and international issues in computer and software engineering. It is published in Mandarin.

Market-based Values is a quarterly column for Consumer Electronics Magazine that considers the nature of engineering for the consumer electronics market and explores the kind of technical and managerial qualities that are needed for consumer engineers.

Classes and Teaching

David Alan Grier teaches a variety of classes that generally deal with the social and persoanal impact of technology. Some are taught through the George Washington University. Some are available on line. All may be adapted to specific audiences.

Policy for Information Technology
This course considers how the information and computing industries deal with governments and how how governments work with these industries. It deals with American issues, European issues, Chinese and Indian Issues and international issues.

It prepares students for two kinds of jobs, jobs in private organizations that have to work governments and government jobs that interact with the technology industries. Graduates of this class work in the U. S. Government, the EU government in Brussels, and for private firms in China, as well as other private organizations.

The course is taught every fall. Anyone may follow the course lectures on line or listen to old lectures at the course website. (taught for George Washington Univ. and other audiences)

The History of the Internet and the Future of Work

Two fundamental issues of our time examined using original documents in the formal of a Great Ideas Socratic Method Course.

Communication for Technology Professionals

A course on how to develop and communicate technical ideas for software and technical professionals. It places special emphasis on preparing papers for IEEE Transactions and Magazines.