Mario Brandenburg (born 3 October 1983) is a German computer scientist and politician of the

Free Democratic Party Free Democratic Party is the name of several political parties around the world. It usually designates a party ideologically based on liberalism. Current parties with that name include: *Free Democratic Party (Germany), a liberal political party in ...

(FDP) who has been serving as a member of the

Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet") is the German federal parliament. It is the only federal representative body that is directly elected by the German people. It is comparable to the United States House of Representatives or the House of Commons ...

from the state of

Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; german: link=no, Rheinland-Pfalz ; lb, Rheinland-Pfalz ; pfl, Rhoilond-Palz) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the ...

since 2017. In addition to his parliamentary work, Brandenburg has been serving as

Parliamentary State Secretary A Parliamentary State Secretary (') is a member of the Bundestag given a portfolio to assist a Minister with running a government ministry. The position is roughly analogous to deputy ministers. In 2021, there are 36 parliamentary state secretarie ...

to Federal Minister of Education and Research

Bettina Stark-Watzinger Bettina Stark-Watzinger ( Stark, born 12 May 1968) is a German economist and politician of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) who has been serving as Minister of Education and Research in Chancellor Olaf Scholz's cabinet since 2021. She has been ...

since June 2022. In this capacity, he was also the Commissioner for Translational Research.

Early life and career

Brandenburg studied business informatics at the University of Applied Sciences in

Ludwigshafen Ludwigshafen, officially Ludwigshafen am Rhein (; meaning " Ludwig's Port upon Rhine"), is a city in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, on the river Rhine, opposite Mannheim. With Mannheim, Heidelberg, and the surrounding region, it form ...

and graduated with a master's degree (M.Sc.). Since then he has been employed at the software company

SAP Sap is a fluid transported in xylem cells (vessel elements or tracheids) or phloem sieve tube elements of a plant. These cells transport water and nutrients throughout the plant. Sap is distinct from latex, resin, or cell sap; it is a separa ...

, where he first worked in software development, then in consulting and finally in international product sales.

Political career

Brandenburg has been a member of the FDP since 2010. Brandenburg first became a member of the Bundestag in the

2017 German federal election Federal elections were held in Germany on 24 September 2017 to elect the members of the 19th Bundestag. At stake were at least 598 seats in the Bundestag, as well as 111 overhang and leveling seats determined thereafter. The Christian Democr ...

. In parliament, he joined the Committee on Education, Research and Technology Assessment (2017–2022) and also the Committee on Digital Affairs (2017–2021). He served as his parliamentary group's spokesperson on technology policy. In the negotiations to form a so-called

traffic light coalition In German politics, a traffic light coalition (german: Ampelkoalition) is a coalition government of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), the Free Democratic Party (FDP) and Alliance 90/The Greens. It is named after the parties' tra ...

of the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties For ...

(SPD), the

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation ...

and the FDP following the 2021 German elections, Brandenburg was part of his party's delegation in the working group on digital innovation and infrastructure, co-chaired by Jens Zimmermann,

Malte Spitz Malte Spitz (born 14 April 1984) is a German people, German Alliance '90/The Greens, Green Party politician and Executive Committee member. He works on media and privacy issues. A candidate for the Bundestag in the September 2013 national electi ...

and

Andreas Pinkwart Andreas Pinkwart (born 1960) is a German politician and academic who served as State Minister for Economic Affairs, Digitization, Innovation and Energy in the governments of Ministers-President Armin Laschet and Hendrik Wüst of North Rhine-West ...

Other activities

Fraunhofer Society The Fraunhofer Society (german: Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der angewandten Forschung e.V., lit=Fraunhofer Society for the Advancement of Applied Research) is a German research organization with 76institutes spread throughout Germany ...

, Ex-Officio Member of the Senate (since 2022) * German Foundation for Peace Research (DSF), Ex-Officio Member of the Board (since 2022) * Federal Agency for Disruptive Innovation (SPRIN-D), Member of the Supervisory Board (since 2022)Supervisory Board
Federal Agency for Disruptive Innovation (SPRIN-D).

References

External links

* 1983 births Living people Members of the Bundestag for Rhineland-Palatinate Members of the Bundestag 2021–2025 Members of the Bundestag 2017–2021 Members of the Bundestag for the Free Democratic Party (Germany) {{Germany-FDP-politician-stub