URI Cybersecurity Symposium

Dr. Victor Fay-Wolfe, Professor of Computer Science and Statistics at URI, came to The Rhode show to talk about the URI Cybersecurity Symposium.

President Obama has called it “one of the most serious economic and national security threats our nation faces”.  Keeping the nation’s computer infrastructure safe and secure from outside attacks is a critical issue and it will be the subject of a Symposium next month at the University of Rhode Island. 

The University was asked by Congressman Jim Langevin to host this symposium as part of an effort to raise awareness of the need to counter cyber threats and improve the safety of cyber networks in Rhode Island and around the globe.  The Congressman has been a leader in the effort to highlight the importance of this issue and the University of Rhode Island has been actively involved in working to help secure the information infrastructures used by government, private companies, nonprofits and academia.

The symposium will take place on Wednesday, May 2 ^nd at the Center for Biotechnology and Life Sciences Building at URI.  It’s free and open to the public and you can get all the details by visiting our website at www.cybersecurity2012.uri.edu .  The day starts at 10:00 a.m. with opening remarks from Congressman Langevin, URI’s President David M. Dooley and Dr. Peter Alphonso, Vice President of Research and Economic Development at URI.  

The keynote address will be from Lieutenant General Michael T. Flynn, Assistant Director of National Intelligence, Partner Engagement, Office of the Director of National Intelligence.  He is a 1981 graduate of the university and has been slated for reassignment as the next director of the Defense Intelligence Agency.  I’ll be introducing a panel on Federal Initiatives and workforce issues and there will be an afternoon session on Partnerships in Cybersecurity: Government, Industry and Public Institutions Working Together. There will be plenty of question and answer opportunities throughout the day.  URI doctoral candidates will discuss their research during the panel discussions and graduate and undergraduate students will present cybersecurity posters.

The University of Rhode Island is one of the few academic institutions which provide research, teaching, training, services, and consulting in such areas as digital data discovery, recovery and analysis.   Dr. Victor Fay-Wolfe directs the University’s Digital Forensics Center.  URI offers several undergraduate, graduate and professional degree and certificate options.  All of these programs are helping to create a workforce of computer science graduates trained in computer forensics and that’s a key part of the making sure our country is well positioned to handle cybersecurity challenges.