President Barack Obama arriving on Air Force One at San Francisco International Airport Thursday in advance of the White House Summit on Cybersecurity and Consumer Protection at Stanford on Friday. (Image credit: Aaron Kehoe)
On the eve of the White House Summit on Cybersecurity and Consumer Protection, Stanford hosted two events related to privacy technologies and future research and education. The discussions addressed current and future challenges.
On Thursday afternoon, dozens of chief information officers of big retailers, Stanford faculty and industry officials gathered to discuss new privacy technologies. Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the workshop focused on ways to best address business leaders’ challenges in implementing technologies in real-world conditions.
Amy Zegart, co-director of the Center for International Security and Cooperation and a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, opened the NIST workshop and Michael Daniel, special assistant to President Obama and cybersecurity coordinator at the White House, gave the keynote address.
Herb Lin, senior research scholar for cyber policy and security at Stanford and a research scholar at the Hoover Institution, led a panel on research methods for consumer privacy.
On Thursday evening, the discussion turned to the future. Stanford hosted John P. Holdren, assistant to the president for science and technology, as the featured guest at a panel discussion with academic and industry leaders about the direction of cybersecurity research and education.
Holdren, who co-chairs the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, shared the stage with John Mitchell, vice provost for teaching and learning at Stanford, and Larry Kramer, president of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, which is a principal sponsor of the Stanford Cybersecurity Initiative. Kramer is the former dean of Stanford Law School.
Patricia Falcone, with the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, moderated the panel discussion, which highlighted the role of research in creating safer technologies for the future and the need to develop a workforce capable of working in this complex environment.
Other panelists were Parisa Tabriz of Google and Cynthia Dwork of Microsoft, senior computer scientists at their respective companies. A recording of Thursday night’s event can be accessed by visiting the Stanford School of Engineering website.
On Friday, President Barack Obama will deliver the keynote address at the White House Summit on Cybersecurity and Consumer Protection – a daylong, invitation-only event that will feature senior business, government and academic officials. Friday’s summit will be webcast in its entirety. Visit the Stanford University homepage for a link to the webcast.
