A joint project between North Carolina Central University, Duke University and the technology non-profit MCNC has been awarded a $66,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to develop and deliver a cybersecurity workshop to regional Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) this summer.
The inaugural CyberRISK (Regional Information Security Knowledge-sharing) workshop will be held July 11-12, 2019, at the J.B. Duke Hotel on Duke’s campus. The workshop will bring together 15 participating institutions from a 250-mile radius of Durham (including colleges and universities from North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia). Institutions will bring two attendees to participate in either the executive or technology-focused track. In addition to attendees, the tracks include representatives from national organizations, such as Internet 2, EDUCAUSE and REN-ISAC.
With a focus on the policy and technology aspects of improving cybersecurity, chief information officers s and information technology professionals will network with peers and national organizations to hone strategies and improve cybersecurity response.
The event was developed with three main goals: 1) to share easy-to-deploy cyber defense tools and techniques with participants; 2) to facilitate interactive forums for participants and national groups, and 3) to provide networking and sharing opportunities for participants to discuss cybersecurity with peers and industry leaders.
“The CyberRISK workshop expands on existing collaborations and provides attendees opportunities to dialog with national organizations in an intimate setting,” said Leah Kraus, CIO of NC Central. “The workshop is designed for the participants to learn about services, and for these national organizations to learn about the needs of HBCUs and MSIs. We hope that this will be a model for regional and even national workshops of this nature.”
The event may serve as a model for similar workshops to be developed in other regions of the country. The project, "Regional Cybersecurity/Cyberinfrastructure Workshop Targeting Minority Serving Institutions: Low-Cost/High-Impact Cyberdefense and Cyberinfrastructure Resources," is under the direction of Tracy Futhey (Duke), Jean Davis (MCNC) and Leah Kraus, (N.C. Central University) (NSF ORC-1929893 PI: Tracy Futhey).
