CNAS Launches The NextWare Sessions to Provide a Method for Improved Cybersecurity Collaboration

The Center for a New American Security (CNAS) today launched The NextWare Sessions, an occasional series addressing particular technology and security challenges. The first NextWare sessions will develop creative concepts to guide practical action on how cross-disciplinary collaboration can improve cybersecurity.

The project is led by Ben FitzGerald, Senior Fellow and Director of the Technology and National Security Program, and will draw on the leadership of CNAS CEO Michèle Flournoy, CNAS President Richard Fontaine, and a select group of experts from a range of disciplines based in Washington, D.C. and Silicon Valley. The NextWare Sessions project is supported by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation’s Cyber Initiative.

One of the most critical and fast-changing issues of our time, cybersecurity is a field of specializations within technology, policy, business, military, legal, and other domains. While members of these disparate groups often interact in informal ways, the scale and transgressive nature of today’s cyber threats demand more deliberate, collaborative, and actionable solutions.

Recognizing the importance of cybersecurity, the White House recently hosted a cybersecurity summit in Silicon Valley and announced the creation of the Cyber Threat Intelligence Integration Center (CTIIC) to enhance the flow of information between the government and the private sector. However, government action can only go so far. There is still a need to address barriers to collaboration, such as a lack of a consensus on key issues, access to effective methods for collaboration, and understanding about the need to collaborate in the first place.

The NextWare Sessions will convene a select group of expert stakeholders from key fields to engage in facilitated workshops to address these barriers and identify collaborative methods to address endemic cybersecurity challenges. The project will conclude with the alpha release of a toolkit designed to enable broad-based cybersecurity collaboration to yield more complete solutions. Released under a Creative Commons license, the NextWare Toolkit will benefit from continuous input and improvement beyond the foundations laid by CNAS. 

You can follow developments at the CNAS NextWare webpage. To participate in discussion on Twitter, use #NextWare. 
 
To speak with the Project Director, Ben FitzGerald, please contact Neal Urwitz at [email protected] or call 202-457-9409.