Palmer Chair of Telecommunications and Director of X-Lab
Penn State University
University Park, Pennsylvania, United States
Sascha Meinrath is the Palmer Chair in Telecommunications at Penn State University 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 quarter century as a community internet pioneer, social entrepreneur, and angel investor.
Prior to creating the 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 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.
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 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; and the co-founder and coordinator of the Civil Liberties Coalition, whose member organizations span the political spectrum and represent over 10 million Americans.
Fireide Chat: Cybersecurity's New Frontier As New Communities are Connected
Tuesday, May 19, 2026
11:30 AM - 11:55 AM ET