Conference to explore information security and privacy topics

IT Forum program coverBusiness, academic and government leaders will address information security and privacy topics in business, industry, healthcare, government and education during the 11th Western Michigan IT Forum on Nov. 7 at Western Michigan University’s Fetzer Center. The event begins at 8 a.m.; breakfast and registration are available beginning at 7:15 a.m.

Hosted by the WMU Department of Business Information Systems at the Haworth College of Business, conference keynote speakers and sessions will address this year’s theme, Information Security, Privacy and Trust. The event features the immediate past chief security officer for the state of Michigan, Daniel Lohrmann, who now serves as chief security officer for Security Mentor, Inc.

Lohrmann is an internationally recognized cybersecurity leader, technologist and author. During his distinguished career, Lohrmann has served global organizations in the public and private sectors in a variety of executive leadership capacities, receiving numerous national awards including: CSO of the Year, Public Official of the Year and Computerworld Premier 100 IT Leader.

Following Lohrmann’s opening presentation, Peter Romness, business development manager for Cybersecurity, Cisco Systems Inc., will discuss cybersecurity in the public sector. Romness has been helping government clients achieve their missions for more than 30 years at companies such as Cisco, Hewlett-Packard, AT&T and Panasonic. He is now focused on helping protect government networks from cybersecurity threats. 

The group will also celebrate ten years of telecommunications and information management education at WMU during a luncheon program, which includes a special presentation by WMU’s chief technology officer, Tom Wolf.

Additional sessions include:

  • Paper presentations on information security, privacy, policies and practices.
  • Industry session: Best Practices in Information Security.
  • Plenary session: Information Security, Privacy and Trust.

For more information and to register, visit westernmichiganITforum.com or call the conference hotline, (269) 387-5411.