Saturday, February 25, 2023

I could name a couple of deal killers, if given the job, but nobody fully fiting the actual MIT job requirements.

Start here, https://www.media.mit.edu/about/job-opportunities/senior-advisor-and-head-of-programs-for-cbdc-mit-digital-currency/

 Nice job opening for the right man person. This quote:

Senior Advisor and Head of Programs for CBDC, MIT Digital Currency -

Job Description

Position Overview:

The MIT Digital Currency Initiative (DCI) works to advance the foundational security, scalability, and privacy of decentralized networks and to mature the digital currency ecosystem through research, development, and education. The DCI serves as a neutral and trusted hub for decision makers in technology, policy, and business to investigate the risks and opportunities, and rigorously evaluate the tradeoffs, of various digital currency design choices.

The DCI began researching Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) in 2015 and has become a leading research group studying centralized digital currency technologies. MIT DCI has already built strategic engagements with government agencies and major technology companies (including current collaborations with the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston (FRBB), the Bank of England, the Bank of Canada, Google, and PayPal).

OpenCBDC, MIT DCI’s jointly released codebase with the FRBB, is quickly becoming a global resource for individuals, companies, and governmental institutions pursuing improvements to our underlying payments infrastructure and wider financial system. As the creator and lead maintainers of the first, and most extensive, neutral, open-source CBDC code repository in the world, MIT DCI is well-positioned to guide the world into an exciting digital future and intends to act as a responsible steward of this vital resource for the public good.

About the role:

The current climate represents a unique opportunity to shape the future of money by. [sic] Not since the foundation of the internet have such societally important technology decisions been on the table.

The DCI is seeking a Senior Advisor and Head of Programs to lead the DCI’s CBDC research agenda. Working alongside the Director, this person will have the vision and experience to make a lasting impact in the centralized digital currency space and to grow (ideally double) the program’s current multi-million dollar research budget.

In addition to managing a world-class CBDC research team of 25+ researchers, advisors, collaborators, and staff, the Head of Programs will be a leader in the DCI organization, helping define the DCI strategy and operations and representing the MIT DCI in global public fora, especially to global stakeholders and decision makers in government and the private sector. This role will also help make connections between and develop MIT and the Media Lab’s position in digital assets and Web3 broadly.

Our ideal candidate will expand DCI’s footprint in the CBDC space, sourcing new projects and working with product managers and engineers to uncover new interesting and challenging technical questions to solve that will enhance policy makers' understanding of the risks and opportunities associated with launching a CBDC.

Responsibilities

Principal Duties and Responsibilities (Essential Functions**):

Strategy (25%)

  • Work iteratively to co-develop a 5-10 year strategy with the DCI Director
  • Align aspirations and expectations of research objectives with DCI’s overall strategy
  • Identify resource needs and create plans to meet them
  • Evaluate DCI’s progress on a quarterly and annual basis towards its goals  
  • Ensure plans are updated and expertly communicated internally, helping to build an open and inclusive team culture
  • Play a lead role in all the branding, design, digital, editorial, messaging, and public relations efforts of the DCI

[...]

Crabgrass suggests two who, if willing to leave Congress, might freshen the scope and range of aims and outlooks of MIT's thinking:

Tom Emmer

Ted Cruz

A joint appointment. 

For which online evidence exists, here, here, here. Cato Institute. NASDAQ.

Perhaps not.

____________UPDATE_________

An earlier Crabgrass post notes that MN Fed boss Neel Kashkari, a former Republican candidate for Governor or California, is not a CBDC fan. Hence,  arguably, his name could be included with Emmer and Cruz.