Kenneth Wasch is the president of the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA), the principal trade association of the software and digital content industries. The Washington, D.C.-based organization represents more than 700 leading companies that sell digital intellectual property. SIIA provides global services in government relations, business development, corporate education and intellectual property protection to the leading companies that are setting the pace for the digital age.
Wasch’s involvement in SIIA is based on both personal and professional interests. His long-standing interest in computers and software, coupled with the industry’s need for a central trade association, led him to establish the Software Publishers Association (SPA) in 1984 with an initial group of 25 software firms. Wasch has led the association from its infancy to its merger with the Information Industry Association in January 1999, resulting in the formation of SIIA.
Prior to founding SPA, Wasch spent eight years as a senior attorney for the U.S. Department of Energy, where he was involved with petroleum price regulation. He received his undergraduate degree in Economics and International Relations from Lehigh University, and his law degree from SUNY Buffalo, New York.
Wasch was awarded the Computer Law Leadership Award for significant contributions to the international legal and regulatory systems relating to the computer industry.
He and his wife Lesley, an intellectual property attorney, and their two teenage sons, live in Annapolis, Maryland.