Robert Tse works at the intersection of agriculture technology, broadband and innovation.  Using his strategic vision, he integrates policies, resources and initiatives at all levels of government and creates public private collaboration.   He is focused on improving the economic well-being and quality of life of the rural, food and agriculture sector. He recently led development of a report on rural STEM education and broadband. A public-sector innovator, he created the county fairgrounds public safety broadband concept, AgTech Hackathons, and the Fresno Ag Tech Showcase.

Robert Tse is Senior Policy Advisor, in the Assistant Administrator’s Office of Telecommunications, Rural Utilities Service, Rural Development, USDA.  Previously he was State Broadband Coordinator for USDA CA Rural Development.

He served as Deputy Director for International Trade in the Governor’s Office of Economic Development and as Deputy Secretary for the California Department of Food and Agriculture under Governor Schwarzenegger.  He is a 17-year veteran of the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service.

He has received two USDA Secretary Honor Awards and was the first recipient of the Champion of Technology Award from the California State Fair in 2014.  In 2015, he received the APEX Alumni Award from the Department of Agricultural Economics at Purdue University. He is an advisor to the California Broadband Council Long Term Goals Task Force, California Economic Summit – Elevate Rural, San Joaquin Valley Partnership Board, California Ag Tech & Economic Development Roundtable. 

Robert Tse holds a JD, Boston College Law School; MS Agricultural Economics, Purdue University; and BA American History, Brown University.