Michael Spiller is Vice President of Information Technology and Chief Information officer at The Heritage Foundation.
As the think tank’s chief “tech guy,” Spiller manages two teams of technology professionals. The first team manages internal systems that include tech support, training, network management, Internet outreach and database applications. The second team is responsible for the total integration of Heritage’s online and offline channels to provide continuity for its audience.
Under Spiller’s direction, Heritage’s Information Systems Department completed an ambitious project in 2005: Cataloging all 3,000 research papers Heritage has produced since 1977 and making them available on the think tank’s main Web site, heritage.org. This online archive allows researchers – college students, Cabinet secretaries, journalists – to trace Heritage’s arguments over the years or simply learn what Heritage said at key points in history, such as the 1980 Iranian hostage crisis or debate over the 1996 Welfare Reform Act.
Spiller also is responsible for the strategic planning and implementation of information technology to further market Heritage’s ideas of to Capitol Hill, policy organizations, news media, and Heritage supporters. He also provides the company's vision and leadership for the new world of digital convergence –a place where video, audio and text can be accessed easily from a PC, a laptop or even a handheld personal digital assistant. His other duties include managing technology to effectively advance Heritage’s research and policy studies and manage all online business activities.
Spiller has more than 15 years of information technology experience in developing technology strategies across multiple industries. Throughout his career, he has assisted a number of organizations in identifying and analyzing new business opportunities where the key component was leveraging technology to create business value.
He was previously Heritage’s Director of Information Systems before becoming a Vice President in 2000. Before joining Heritage in 1998, Spiller served as manager of the Grassroots Action Information Network for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the largest trade association representing business. While there, he enhanced the grassroots database system, which communicated the chamber’s overall message to its key activists, and helped develop its first Web site. Before that, Spiller worked in the mortgage business where he supported information technology groups and designed database software applications.
Spiller received his master’s degree in information technology and telecommunication for business from Johns Hopkins University, and his bachelor’s degree in management information systems from the University of South Florida. He currently is an Adjunct Professor at George Mason University’s School of Management, teaching courses on business to business marketing and competitive intelligence using technology, as well as guest lecturing on Internet marketing.
Michael and his wife, Vanessa, live in Northern Virginia with their two children.