Campus News

GII to host workshop on advancing informatics in government, industry

The University of Georgia is hosting a half-day workshop, “Advancing Informatics in Government and Industry,” Dec. 1 at the Georgia Center for Continuing Education, to promote discussion of how academia, industry and government can work together to address critical challenges in cybersecurity, data analytics and data science.

The workshop is sponsored by the Georgia Informatics Institutes, an interdisciplinary, campus-wide institute that promotes the growth of research and academic programs in the area of informatics and analytics. The GII comprises the Institute of Bioinformatics, the Health Informatics Institute and the Institute for Cyber-Security and Privacy.

The workshop will feature panel discussions by industry, academic and government experts on two important topics in this rapidly evolving field: talent needs and workforce development, and technical challenges and research opportunities in the next five to 10 years.

Keynote speaker for the event is Ron Pontius, deputy to the commanding general, U.S. Army Cyber Command, Fort Gordon, Georgia. As senior advisor, Pontius oversees strategic support planning and resourcing strategy to enable the Army to achieve the right mix of cyber capabilities for the future.

Industry participants include Boehringer Ingelheim, Deloitte, Southern Company, GE Power, Siemens, Glaxo-Smith Kline and AGCO. Government participants include Bobby Laurine, vice chancellor and CIO of the University System of Georgia, and Robins Air Force Base.

UGA faculty participating as panelists and moderators include Nick Berente, associate professor, management information systems department, Terry College of Business; Dorothy Carter, assistant professor, geography department, Franklin College of Arts and Sciences; Timothy M. Chester, UGA vice president for information technology; Dale Green, associate professor, health policy and management department, College of Public Health; Larry Hornak, professor and associate dean for research, College of Engineering; Kang Li, professor, computer science department, Franklin College, and director, Institute for Cybersecurity and Privacy; Ben Manning, instructor, School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, College of Engineering; Deepak Mishra, associate professor, geography department, Franklin College; Shannon Quinn, assistant professor, computer science and cellular biology departments, Franklin College; Lakshmish Ramaswamy, professor, computer science department, Franklin College, and associate director of GII;  Dawn Robinson, professor, sociology department, Franklin College; and WenZhan Song, Georgia Power Mickey A. Brown Professor, School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, College of Engineering, and director, Center for Cyber-Physical Systems.

There is no fee to attend the workshop, but registration is required at http://bit.ly/2zH5Ptu.