Summit on Education in Secure Software

October 18 - 19, 2010 - Summit
September 7, 2010, 12:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. EST - Teleconference

State Plaza Hotel
2117 E Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20037

Register for Summit

The National Science Foundation Directorates of Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) and Education and Human Resources (EHR) are jointly sponsoring the Summit on Education in Secure Software.

Goal

The focus of this summit will be on educating students and others on secure programming. Summit objectives are threefold:

• To engage approximately 60 cyber security stakeholders from 3 groups (academia, government and industry, and certification and training) in a comprehensive dialogue about the current state of education in secure software;
• To use this dialogue to collaboratively develop creative approaches to teach secure programming, and to enhance the quality of existing education in this area; and
• To outline a comprehensive agenda for education in secure programming.

Invitation

Organized by The George Washington University and the University of California at Davis, the Summit will begin with a teleconference on Tuesday, September 7, 2010, 12:00PM - 2:00PM EST, and will continue with a two (2) day event on October 18 and 19, 2010 at the State Plaza Hotel in Washington, DC. Your expertise makes you an ideal participant for this Summit, and we cordially invite you to attend.

Teleconference

The teleconference will provide an opportunity for dialogue among small groups (academia, government and industry, certification and training) on the following 3 topics:

• Basic concepts that must be defined to continue this dialogue
• Key issues that must be addressed from the perspective of your group
• Critical questions that must be answered by the other groups

Summary of Teleconference Agenda

12:00PM-12:20PM- Opening discussion
12:20PM-1:30PM - Small group discussions of 3 topics above
1:30PM-1:45PM   - Plenary discussion of challenges not covered by 3 topics above
1:45PM-2:00PM   - Next steps, staging the October meeting

Post Teleconference/Prior to the Summit

• Participants are asked to review and comment on the recorded sessions and topics of the teleconference that will be made available on Ning, a social networking website.
  
  
• Participants are asked to write a brief response to one or more of the questions for inquiry below and interact with other participants using Ning.

Specific topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

• What should be the goals of a comprehensive agenda for software security education?
• What knowledge, skills, and experience do employers want people they hire to have?
• What material from trusted computing should all computer science students (majors and non-majors) know?
• How should secure program development and analysis be taught? How has it been taught in the past (or how is it being taught now)? What were your experiences?
• What resources are needed to carry out this education?
• How can these resources be made available? What model(s) should be used?

Participants are encouraged to post a brief commentary on one or more of these questions to the conference's Ning social networking website, and via email to the conference organizers. Responses received by October 1 may be used in conference planning, and the steering committee will share an overview of the submitted ideas during the Summit. You may register prior to submission.

Register here

• Participants will engage through a combination of facilitated small working group sessions and plenary discussions.
  
  
• A working agenda for the meeting is included with your invitation and will be updated through the Summit website.

The Summit is designed to discuss these and other questions pertinent to professionals in academia, industry, and government. Its goal is to develop a set of plans for improving the quality of education in secure programming, and information on what is necessary to realize those plans.

Following the Summit

• A summary report, including action items, will be disseminated among participants and the wider community.
  
  
• Continued dialogue among summit participants will be supported through an electronic networking infrastructure.

Through these activities, we hope to gather, synthesize, and disseminate insights and plans to enhance the education of students in secure coding, including what implementing those plans will require. In this way, we hope to lay a firm basis for improving the basics of secure software education.

Honorarium

We can offer you a $1,000 honorarium for your participation in the Summit on Education in Secure Software. If you want to receive this, please complete and return the participant payment agreement form included in your invitation.

Travel and Lodging Information

Find travel and lodging information.

For Further Information on the Summit

For additional information or if you have questions regarding the Summit, contact Dr. Diana Burley at dburley@gwu.edu or 703-726-3761.

For further information about Summit travel and logistics, contact Summit staff via email.

Steering Committee

Dr. Diana Burley, Chair, The George Washington University
Dr. Matt Bishop, Vice-chair, University of California, Davis

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