Dr Harold Elletson is an international communications and public affairs consultant. He is also the Director of The New Security Foundation, which conducts research into the implications of the new security environment for civil society. The New Security Foundation provides an international forum for dialogue between the public and private sectors and offers analytical insight and information about new security conditions. The Foundation hosts the Security and Defence Learning track at OEB, as well as organising other conferences and seminars. A particular area of expertise is tourism security and the connection between culture and security.

He is a founding director of the Africa Forum on Business, Investment and Security, a member of the steering committee of OEB, a member of the Organising Committee of eLearning Africa and a consultant to ICWE GmbH. He is also the editor of The eLearning Africa Report, which is published every year and contains a survey of ICT in education in Africa, a comprehensive country report outlining progress in ICT4E in every African country and a funding guide.

Dr Elletson was previously Director of the NATO Forum on Business and Security, which he created with support from the NATO Science Programme.

A former Member of the United Kingdom Parliament (from 1992-1997), he served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland in the early stages of the peace process and was also a member of the Select Committee on Environmental affairs. He served as a member of the Lancashire Education Authority (the Education Committee of Lancashire County Council) before being elected to Parliament where he represented the interests of schools and colleges in his constituency in discussions with Ministers and on the floor of the House of Commons. He is a Fellow of the Armed Forces Parliamentary Scheme and of the Industry and Parliament Trust.

As a communications and public affairs specialist, he has advised many leading companies on aspects of their business in challenging markets, including BP in Azerbaijan and Alstom in Siberia. He has written widely on political and historical subjects and his first book, The General Against the Kremlin, was published by Little Brown. His journalism has been published in a variety of newspapers and magazines. Dr Elletson holds a PhD in Social Sciences from the University of Bradford.