On April 27, IES Associate Director Dr. Akasemi Newsome moderated an event, "Brussels to the Bay: Transatlantic responses to Cybersecurity Challenges." EU Envoy Gerard de Graaf opened the event and Dr. Newsome engaged a panel of top experts in conversation on cybersecurity threats, challenges and policy responses in the EU and US. Panelists included: Lorena Boix Alonso - Director Digital Society, Trust and Cybersecurity at DG Connect, European Commission; Liesyl Franz - Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Cyberspace Security in the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Cyberspace and Digital Policy and Julie Brill - Corporate Vice President for Global Privacy and Regulatory Affairs, and Chief Privacy Officer, Microsoft.
Over 50 people attended to hear insights from Lorena Box Alonso on the role of the European Commission in developing new cybersecurity legislation including a Cybersecurity Resilience Act, focused on cybersecurity of connected objects; the Network and Information 2 Directive (NIS2); and an EU Cyber Solidarity Act. Liesyl Franz commented on how the new Biden Administration's National Cybersecurity Strategy has been informed by several public affairs concerns including issues of human rights violations. Julie Brill gave examples of how Microsoft collaborated with the US government and with EU institutions specifically to address issues of bias, the enforcement of ethics and the promotion of privacy.