Niel Harper is deeply committed to ensuring that individuals and organizations consistently benefit from safety, privacy, security, reliability, and data ethics when using online platforms. He has spent the last 20 years leading on Digital Trust initiatives at global organizations such as Aspen Institute, Canonical, CIBC, Deloitte Consulting, Doodle, European Commission, Hugo, INTERPOL, United Nations, and the World Economic Forum, among others. Niel specialises in corporate governance, cybersecurity, privacy & data protection, enterprise risk management, digital transformation, and Internet governance & policy.
Niel’s professional contributions have been recognized with the Security Magazine Top Cybersecurity Leaders Award (2025), ISC2 Global Achievement Award (2024), ISJ Caribbean Security & Resilience Award (2021), and the ISACA Technology for Humanity Award (2021). He was featured in the 2024 Lacework Modern CISO Board Book which highlighted “extraordinary board-ready global security leaders.” Recognized by the World Economic Forum as a Young Global Leader (2014) and by the Internet Society as a Next Generation Leader (2011). He previously served on the UK Cyber Security Council’s Professional Standards Working Group, United Nations Information Security Special Interest Group (UNISSIG), ISACA Foundation, and the World Economic Forum’s and Digital Trust Initiative. Niel currently serves in corporate advisory positions at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and ISACA. Niel holds/has held fellowships to the British Computer Society, Royal Society of Arts, OECD Technology Foresight Forum, American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN), and CIFAL.
He has earned a Master of Laws (LLM) in Internet Law & Policy from the University of Strathclyde specialising in cybercrime, privacy, and security; Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Leicester; CERT Certificate in Cyber-Risk Oversight from Carnegie Mellon University; Executive Certificate in Cybersecurity Strategy & Leadership from Florida International University; and has completed executive programs at University of Oxford, Stanford University, Nanyang Technological University, and Boston University. Niel has obtained key industry certifications such as CISA, CRISC, CDPSE, and CISSP.
Niel has been featured in global media publications such as Captive Insurance Times, Computer Weekly, CSO Online, IBM Security Intelligence, Infosecurity Magazine, KPMG Business Banking, New York Times, Security Magazine, Tech Monitor, and the World Economic Forum Davos Agenda.
He is married and has 4 children (3 girls and a boy).
Niel Harper 