Photo of Andrew Rasiej (3WU0)
Andrew Rasiej is the Founder of Personal Democracy Forum, an annual conference and community website about the intersection of politics and technology. He is also the co-founder of techPresident, an award winning group blog that covers how the 2008 presidential candidates are using the web, and how content generated by voters is affecting the campaign. He has served as an advisor on the use of Information Technology for campaign and policy purposes since 1999. (3WTO)
In the aftermath of the September 11th tragedy, Mr. Rasiej helped organize hundreds of local technology professionals to provide relief and recovery to small businesses and schools in lower Manhattan. From this experience, he proposed the creation of a National Tech Corps that would act similarly to the National Guard and provide emergency technical, communication, and database support in the event of a natural disaster or terrorist strike. This idea, now called NetGuard, was integrated into the Homeland Security Act and is currently being built by the US Department of Homeland Security. Mr. Rasiej also maintains the position of senior technology adviser for the Sunlight Foundation, a Washington D.C. based organization that focuses on using technology to facilitate citizen engagement and oversight. (3WTP)
Mr. Rasiej is the founder of MOUSE (Making Opportunities for Upgrading Schools and Education), an educational non–profit organization started in 1997 focused on providing technology support to public schools. Mr. Rasiej is the former chairman, CEO, and co–founder of the Digital Club Network (DCN) which created the internet's largest live music archive, which is now part of eMusic. In 1996, Mr. Rasiej co-founded the world's best known annual digital music conference, "Plug In," which was attended by executives from major record labels and technology companies. Mr. Rasiej is a member of the Board of Directors of Pop!Tech, a three–day summit that explores the cutting-edge ideas, emerging technologies and new forces of change that are shaping our collective future. He is also a graduate of the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art and past recipient of the prestigious David Rockefeller Fellowship. (3WTQ)