. Atkinson worked as a program director at the
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) from 1989 to 1990. In 2006, Atkinson left PPI and founded the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, which
Ars Technica has described as "one of the leading, and most prolific, tech policy think tanks." In 2009, he advised the
Obama-
Biden transition's NIST agency review and Technology, Innovation, and Government Reform teams, and in 2011 the Obama administration appointed him to the National Innovation and Competitiveness Strategy Advisory Board. Atkinson also serves as a nonresident senior fellow at the
Brookings Institution. == Awards and honors ==