From September 18-22, 2017, 37 students from 13 countries in the Western Hemisphere completed the in-person phase of the Cybersecurity Policy in the Americas: Challenges for Policy-Strategic Analysis, a new Perry Center course on challenges and policy solutions for the cyber domain. Cybersecurity Policy in the Americas is designed to provide students with a holistic understanding of the persistent threats in cyberspace and to promote cooperation among governmental and non-governmental actors in crafting effective cybersecurity polices. Students represented a variety of professions with responsibility for cybersecurity policy, including officials in defense and security ministries, members of nongovernmental organizations and political parties, university faculty, and military and police personnel.

Before arriving in Washington, students completed an intensive four-week distance-learning phase during which they mastered concepts and literature related to cybersecurity and developed connections with fellow students and professors. Under the instruction of Dr. Boris Saavedra, students then spent their week at the Perry Center interacting with current and former cybersecurity officials in the US government, private industry experts who work the cutting edge of these technologies, and faculty from the National Defense University’s College of Information and Cyberspace.