Sascha Meinrath is the Palmer Chair in Telecommunications at Penn State and director of X-Lab, an innovative think tank focusing on the intersection of vanguard technologies and public policy. Professor Meinrath is a renowned technology policy expert and is internationally recognized for his work over the past two decades as a community internet pioneer, social entrepreneur, and angel investor.
Prior to founding X-Lab, Meinrath was vice president of the New America Foundation, where he founded the Open Technology Institute in 2008 and built it into one of the largest public interest tech policy organizations in Washington, D.C. He also founded the Commotion Wireless Project, which works around the globe to strengthen communities by providing tools to build their own local communications infrastructures, and co-founded Measurement Lab, a global online platform for researchers to deploy Internet measurement tools that empower the public and key decision-makers with useful information about broadband connectivity.
Professor Meinrath was elected as an Ashoka Fellow for Social Entrepreneurship in 2012, and has been named to the Time Magazine “Tech 40” as one of the most influential figures in technology, to the “Top 100” in Newsweek's Digital Power Index, and is a recipient of the Public Knowledge IP3 Award for excellence in public interest advocacy. He is widely published in both academic and media outlets, including Critical Studies in Media Communications, International Journal of Communications, Journal of Communications Law and Policy, Journal of Internet Law, Journal for Community Informatics, IEEE Internet Computing Magazine, IEEE Spectrum, Foreign Policy, The Hill, Time Magazine, Politico, Slate, The Guardian and many others.
Mr. Meinrath has been a vocal public intellectual and a leading voice calling for accountability over the governmental spying programs, and is at the forefront of D.C. policy debates over how Congress and the White House should rein in the cybersecurity-industrial complex. He serves as a board member for the American Indian Policy Institute, Brave New Software Foundation; Defending Rights and Dissent Foundation; Acorn Active Media Foundation; and Fourth Amendment Advisory Committee. He is also a member of the advisory councils for the Calyx Institute and Whistleblower Aid.
Meinrath’s research focuses on broadband connectivity, distributed communications, Digital Feudalism, Digital Craftsmanship, telecommunications and spectrum policy, cybersecurity and privacy, and the impacts of disruptive technology. His work is a testament to his lifelong commitment to promoting social and economic justice -- values he embraced while attending a rough inner-city public schools in New Haven, Connecticut. He and his partner split their time between State College, Pennsylvania, and Washington, D.C.
