OU-Tulsa hosts leaders in technology panel on cybersecurity

Community and technology leaders from across Oklahoma came together at OU-Tulsa Feb. 28 to discuss cybersecurity in the state and the importance of focusing on advanced and applied technology-based education to meet the demand to fill jobs in northeast Oklahoma.

As part of the OU-Tulsa Presidential Research Series, the panel included experts from both “red team” (an industry term meaning technological personnel who focus on finding vulnerabilities in security and breaking through defenses) and “blue team” (those who defend against attacks and respond to them) perspectives.

Conor Godfrey, director of cybersecurity with Tulsa Innovation Labs led the panel as moderator and walked the panelists through a series of questions to define the big picture around cybersecurity, as well as what’s needed in education today to best serve their respective organizations in the future. The panel members included: 

• Dr. Jim Sluss, OU-Tulsa Interim President and former Director of the OU Polytechnic Institute 
• Dr. Mark Raymond, Director of OU Cyber Governance and Policy Center and the Wick Cary Associate Professor of International Relations
• Brian Overman, Assistant Vice President of IT Security Operations at American Fidelity
• Kris Wall, Chief Information Security Officer and penetration tester with Critical Fault, a physical and cybersecurity company in Edmond
• Shawn Whitcomb, Chief Security Officer for Cherokee Nation

The OU-Tulsa Presidential Research Series is a quarterly lecture series focusing on research and innovation. The 2023 Presidential Research Series will include topics related to the OU Polytechnic Institute, the new school coming to OU-Tulsa to provide bachelor’s completion and graduate degree programs that will initially focus on cybersecurity, data science, software development, medical informatics and advanced mobility/manufacturing. The first degree offered through the OU Polytechnic Institute will be a Bachelor’s Degree Completion Program in cybersecurity launching in August 2024, pending approval by the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education later this summer.

To watch the entire panel discussion, click here. Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1JpQt3CkD0

To learn more about the OU Polytechnic Institute, click here. Link: https://www.ou.edu/tulsa/polytechnic