Researchers will release the 2016 Emerging Threats Report and discuss challenges facing national security, fair economic practices, and consumer safety and privacy in an increasingly connected world. The event gives researchers and stakeholders from different spheres an opportunity to come together and prepare for challenges in securing cyberspace, critical data, and cyber-connected devices.

Featuring Morning Keynote & Imlay Lecture by Tom Noonan, founding partner of technology investment firm TechOperators LLC, and Afternoon Keynote by Dr. Phyllis Schneck, Deputy Under Secretary for Cybersecurity and Communications for the National Protection and Programs Directorate. The event also includes panel discussions and "birds of a feather" breakout sessions. Includes breakfast and lunch.

Itinerary:
8:30 a.m. - Registration and Breakfast
9:00 a.m. - Welcome
9:30 a.m. - Tom Noonan, Morning Keynote / Imlay Lecture
10:30 a.m. - Break
10:45 a.m. - Panel Discussion
11:45 a.m. - Lunch
12:30 p.m. - Dr. Phyllis A. Schneck, Afternoon Keynote
1:30 p.m. - Announcements
1:45 p.m. - Break
2:00 p.m. - Birds of Feather Breakout Sessions
3:00 p.m. - Student Posters
4:30 p.m. - Closing

RSVP here

3:30 - 4:30 p.m. Reception

4:30 - 5:30 p.m. Lecture - "Auditability and Verification of Elections"

Abstract

Democracy requires that elections have credible results---otherwise the winner lacks a political mandate and the supporters of losing candidates react with anything from protests to revolution.

Yet (U.S.) elections have become larger and increasingly complex, and politics seem more polarized.  Software-based voting systems inspire little trust.  Voting systems purchased with funds allocated after the 2000 U.S. presidential election fiasco are rapidly becoming obsolete.

How can good definitions, statistics, and cryptography help?

Rivest will present the notion of software independence, describe several methods for effective auditing of paper ballots, and give an overview of "end-to-end" cryptographic voting systems that allow voters to confirm that their votes were counted exactly as intended, without violating voter privacy or enabling vote-selling. We close with a (pessimistic) assessment of the prospects for "voting over the Internet."

About Ron Rivest

Professor Rivest is an Institute Professor at MIT, a member of its Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, a member of MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL), a member of that lab's Theory of Computation Group and a leader of its Cryptography and Information Security Group.

He received a B.A. in Mathematics from Yale University in 1969, and a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Stanford University in 1974. His research interests include cryptography, computer and network security, algorithms, and voting system security.

Rivest is a co-inventor of the RSA public-key cryptosystem, has extensive experience in cryptographic design and cryptanalysis.  He is also a founder of RSA Data Security and of Verisign.  Together with Adi Shamir and Len Adleman, he has received the 2002 ACM Turing Award and the 2009 NEC C&C Award.

He is also well-known as a co-author of the text, "Introduction to Algorithms" (with Cormen, Leiseron, and Stein).

He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and the National Academy of Sciences, and is a Fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery, the International Association for Cryptographic Research, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.  He is on the Advisory Board for the Electronic Privacy Information Center and on the board of Verified Voting.

We invite you to help us connect computing to the world, via:

• Business & economics. How will computing affect the way people work?
• Wellbeing & autonomy. How will computing affect the way people live?
• Arts & entertainment. How will computing affect the way people play?
• Tomorrow’s computing leaders. We know computing will shape the world, but who will shape computing?

This event will demonstrate that, if the challenge is to determine how computing will continue to permeate more deeply into the fabric of human existence, then the natural question is: What does Georgia Tech think?

Our speakers include:

• Phil Alvelda, program manager, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
• Emily Bazelon, journalist, The New York Times Magazine
• Melissa Gregg, principal engineer, Intel
  
• David Harvey, former VP of product strategy, athenahealth
• Chris Klaus, CEO, Kaneva
• James Kurose, assistant director, National Science Foundation Directorate for Computer & Information Science & Engineering
• Frank Lantz, director, NYU Game Center
• Ed Lazowska, professor of computer science, University of Washington
• Andy Ozment, assistant secretary for cybersecurity & communications, U.S. Department of Homeland Security
• Anouk Wipprecht, wearable technology fashion designer
• Avis Yates-Rivers, president & CEO of Technology Concepts Group International; member, National Center for Women & Information Technology Board of Directors

Georgia Tech Provost Rafael Bras will open the symposium on Thursday, Oct. 22, at 2:30 p.m. in the Klaus Advanced Computing Building on the Georgia Tech campus. The event is free and open to the public.

• Sunbird full agenda at cc.gatech.edu/sunbird.
• RSVP online at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/Sunbird.
• Watch online at cc.gatech.edu/event-webcast (webcast will begin immediately prior to event).
  
• For more information on the College of Computing’s 25^th Anniversary, please visit http://gtcomputing25-50.gatech.edu.