Drawing on more than 25 years experience with communications and computers, Michael L. Smith has assisted GlobalSecurity.org in setting up its website, developing its initial architecture and layout, and deploying content. He continues to provide support on new initiatives.   He has a web consulting firm, g c i 275 Studio [ http://www.gci275.com/studio/ ] that specializes in online information resources and< Spanish/English content.

Currently working at the Organization of American States [ http://www.oas.org ], Smith is a communications specialist for the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD) , finding ways to apply the Internet, networks and other technology to international cooperation. He also researches, writes and edits publications and documents, as well as supervises its website [ http://www.cicad.oas.org ]. He recently obtained his Master of Science in Information Technology from the [ http://www.umuc.edu ] University of Maryland University College (Adelphi, MD).

Smith has owned a computer since 1982. Smith became actively involved with the Internet in 1994, setting up a mailing list and gopher for the International Potato Center [ http://www.cipotato.org/ ] as a tool for disseminating agriculture research in the developing world. He worked with the Federation of American Scientists as a consultant (1998-2000) and also was a project director for FAS in 1992-93.

He lived in Peru for 18 years where he was a freelance correspondent, writer and researcher. He held a writing grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation's [ http://www.macfound.org/ ] Program on Peace and International Cooperation. He also had research grants from Canada's International Development Research Centre [ http://www.idrc.ca ]. He has published books on Peru's Shining Path guerrillas and the impact of drug trafficking on developing countries. He has written for the Washington Post, Newsweek, the Toronto Globe and Mail and other dailies, magazines and newsletters.