I was very pleased when the organizers of SOURCE Boston notified me that my proposal for a panel presentation had been accepted. The topic of my panel is Higher Education's ability to conduct relevant research and to effectively teach information security.

Looking at the rest of the speaker lineup, I am getting really excited to go!

For ages, society has relied on institutes of higher education to conduct state-of-the art research, and to teach the highest level of knowledge and skills to its students. However, in the present, that expectation, that may no longer be a realistic expectation. 

Some information security practitioners believe that the field changes so rapidly that even those who live and breathe its fabric daily have a hard time keeping up with current affairs, and that academia is falling behind and that it is at risk of becoming irrelevant and/or obsolete. Others believe that an excessive focus on developing skills that can be applied immediately is irrelevant, and that higher education should instead focus on developing and fostering knowledge and inquisitiveness. 

This panel brings together people who both have extensive experience in the field, as well as clear opinions as to what the information security field should expect from higher education. Represented on the panel are people who are in a variety of roles: CISO, Security practitioner, Application specialist, and Academia.

If YOU have any questions that you would like the panel to discuss, please submit them below.