Pamplin faculty members Janine Hiller and Linda Oldham discussed privacy, security, and data analytics curriculum (or education) at the CISO Executive Summit in Washington, D.C., in November.

In her presentation, Hiller, a professor of business law, focused on the “complexity around the regulatory and ethical aspects of privacy and how they intersect with data and cybersecurity that challenge today’s privacy conceptions, including health analytics, mobile devices, and the ubiquitous collection and storage of data.”  She led the audience in a discussion framed by the following questions, “What are the evolving security and regulatory concerns around data and predictive analytics? How are privacy and cybersecurity management frameworks converging? What do major court and administrative cases foreshadow?

Oldham, executive director of Pamplin’s Center for Business Intelligence and Analytics, led a featured session, “Developing VT-Shaped Talent and Doing Good with Good Data,” that was sponsored by Hewlett Packard Enterprise.  Her presentation described a capstone project that her business analytics students are conducting with Tom Ewing, innovation analyst at Hewlett Packard Enterprise, and Rafael Diaz, CIO, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Oldham explained Virginia Tech’s initiative to develop “VT-Shaped” students by offering not only deep technical knowledge, but opportunities for students to gain experiential and informal communal learning in addition to communication and team skills through working on multidisciplinary teams on capstone projects.

Oldham is supervising a team of business analytics students who are analyzing HUD data and developing a tool that will lead to better allocation of financial resources to areas with the most success.  Virginia Tech President Tim Sands wants to prepare students who can tackle complex problems and opportunities of the future. “To do that, students need to be adaptable, resilient, and culturally competent, seeing the world through the lens of empathy and our university’s motto, Ut Prosim (That I May Serve),” Oldham said.