Scott Edington

Scott Edington is the Global Head of Research & Development at Visa

Scott Edington joined Visa, Inc. in August 2010, and has responsibility for the Open Innovation and R&D agenda under the auspices of Visa’s Chief Technology Officer.

Visa’s Open Innovation and Research group is responsible for scanning the external marketplace for new technology trends, threats and opportunities which could have real applicability to Visa. The group creates a pipeline of prototypes to quickly evaluate technology or business opportunities. Visa believes strongly in Open Innovation and frequently partners with academia, research organizations, technology incubators, and the start-up community.

Prior to joining Visa, Inc., Edington was a technology executive at Booz Allen Hamilton where he ran the firm’s Technology Injection (emerging technologies) practice. In this capacity he was responsible for all of Booz Allen’s technology injection, strategic prototyping, and knowledge management and information sharing efforts. In addition, Edington was responsible for managing all of the firm’s external technology relationships with educational institutions, National labs, the vendor community and various technology incubators.

Edington’s programs and initiatives have been featured in such publications as Harvard Business Review, Business 2.0, ComputerWorld, PC World, Fortune, and the Washington Post. In 2008, under his direction Booz Allen created Hello.BAH.com the firm’s first Enterprise 2.0 platform. The platform was later recognized by Industry culminating in the awarding of the 2009 Open Enterprise Innovation and the 2010 CIO 100 awards.

Edington has also served as adjunct faculty at Georgetown University and as a member of both the Virginia Research and Technology Commission (VRTAC) and the Northern Virginia Technology Council (NVTC). He holds degrees from the University of Virginia and Johns Hopkins University. Edington is currently based in Visa Inc.'s global headquarters in San Francisco.