Robert Holleyman

As President and CEO of BSA | The Software Alliance from 1990 until April 2013, Robert Holleyman long served as the chief advocate for the global software industry. Before leaving BSA to start his own venture, Cloud4Growth, Holleyman led the most successful anti-piracy program in the history of any industry, driving down software piracy rates in markets around the world.

Named one of the 50 most influential people in the intellectual property world, he was instrumental in putting into place the global policy framework that today protects software under copyright law. A widely respected champion for open markets, Holleyman also was appointed by President Barack Obama to serve on the President’s Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations, the principal advisory committee for the US government on trade matters.

Holleyman was a leader in industry efforts to establish the legal framework necessary for cloud-computing technologies to flourish. He was an early proponent for policies that promote deployment of security technologies to build public trust and confidence in cyberspace. And he created a highly regarded series of forums for industry executives and policymakers to exchange points of view and forge agreements on the best ways to spur technology advances and promote economic growth.

Before heading BSA, Holleyman was a counselor and legislative adviser in the United States Senate, an attorney in private practice, and a judicial clerk in US District Court. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, a J.D. from Louisiana State University, and has completed the Stanford Executive Program at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Posts by Robert Holleyman

BSA Unveils New Global Brand

Oct 11, 2012 in Industry

When BSA was founded 24 years ago, the benefits of software innovation were heavily concentrated in the places people worked. Now BSA member companies are making education and health care more effective, entertainment more interactive, communication richer, and the world around us more navigable. As the industry’s leading advocate, BSA is rapidly evolving, too. Earlier … Read More >>

Europe’s New Cloud Computing Strategy

Sep 27, 2012 in Cloud Computing

Europe’s Commissioner for the Digital Agenda, Neelie Kroes, has released a long-awaited Communication entitled, “Unleashing the Potential of Cloud Computing in Europe.” The paper outlines a series of actions designed to drive European businesses and the public sector into the cloud. The goal is to create 2.5 million new European jobs and boost GDP in … Read More >>

TPP: The First Regional Trade Agreement of the Cloud Era

Sep 10, 2012 in Cloud Computing

Trade officials from the United States and eight other Pacific Rim countries are meeting this week in Leesburg, Va., for the 14th negotiating round of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), an agreement noteworthy for many reasons, not least of which is the fact that it constitutes the first one of its kind in the cloud computing … Read More >>

US IP Strategy, 2.0 — Protecting Innovation in the Cloud

Aug 14, 2012 in Intellectual Property

When Congress created the Office of the Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator (IPEC) in 2008, cloud computing was unfamiliar to most people outside of the IT industry. Today, it is one of the fastest-growing segments of the information economy. In the interim, recognizing the potential to capitalize on efficiencies of scale and capture maximum benefit from … Read More >>

The Right Mix of Policies to Promote Cloud Computing

Jul 25, 2012 in Cloud Computing

With cloud computing, the opportunity is clear. Public IT cloud revenue will grow to more than $70 billion by 2015. Even more significant, innovation enabled by the cloud will generate more than a trillion dollars in revenue over the next few years according to one estimate, and will create millions of jobs around the world. … Read More >>