What does the Pacific Northwest offer in innovation and collaboration on global cybersecurity policy? Enough for the D.C.-based Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars to partner with the Jackson School Cybersecurity Initiative and bring its Congressional Cybersecurity Lab to UW and Seattle for the first time.
On August 9 and 10, 12 U.S. congressional legislators and policy advisors responsible for advising their respective elected officials on cybersecurity issues met with Boeing on aviation security; Microsoft on digital cybercrime, Internet of Things (IoT), and their Digital Geneva Convention work; Amazon on IoT Security and artificial intelligence; and UW professors from the Jackson School, iSchool, Law School and Computer Science & Engineering on cybersecurity research and curricula.
The team also had conversations with Pacific Northwest National Labs and Pacific North West Economic Region leadership about pressing regional cybersecurity issues. All of the organizations and companies who met with the congressional delegation were drawn from the Jackson School’s Cybersecurity Initiative Working Group.
Bridging cybersecurity education and research for policymaking
On August 10, over breakfast at UW Club, State of Washington Chief of Information Security Officer Agnes Kirk opened the session by briefing the congressional team on opportunities and challenges the state faces in data security and the need to partner and educate the next generation of cybersecurity specialists.
Other presentations on cybersecurity from UW included:
- Kirk Bailey, UW’s Chief Information Security Officer
- Jessica Beyer and Sara Curran, Cybersecurity Initiative Co-Leads, Jackson School of International Studies
- Ryan Calo, School of Law and the Tech Policy Lab
- Tadayoshi (Yoshi) Kohno, Computer Science & Engineering, the Tech Policy Lab, and the Security & Privacy Research Lab
- Annie Searle, Information School
Ten Jackson School International Policy Institute Cybersecurity Fellows attended the events.
Divisional Dean of Social Sciences George Lovell, Jackson School Director Reşat Kasaba and Jackson School Professor Sara Curran also gave remarks on the efforts and importance bridging the gap between the academy and policymaking.
Meg King, Director of the Digital Futures Project at the Wilson Center, presented Director Kasaba with a commemorative gift in recognition of his leadership in promoting the partnership on cybersecurity.
As a bi-partisan initiative, the congressional team included representatives from Alabama, Illinois, Kansas, Maryland, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and from West Point Military Academy, The Senate Committee on Commerce, Sciences and Transportation, and The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
