On April 23rd at 4 in room 2116, the second floor conference room of the Hornbake Building, Dr. Shari Lawrence Pfleeger of RAND will present a talk entitled: I'll Buy That! Cyber Security in the Internet Marketplace.

The talk will discuss how interviews with chief security officers in the "Internet supply chain" (that is, companies that provide Internet services or encourage people to use the Internet) reveal dramatically different attitudes about corporate cyber security and the best ways to make decisions about cyber security investments. The research suggests that a company's market discipline-customer intimacy, product leadership, or operational excellence explain these differences.

Dr. Pfleeger is a senior researcher at the RAND Corporation, where she works on policy and decision-making issues. Previously, Dr. Pfleeger worked in a range of corporate and academic settings. Her books include "Software Engineering: Theory and Practice" (with Joanne Atlee, 2005, Prentice Hall), "Security in Computing" (with Charles P. Pfleeger, 2007, Prentice Hall), "Solid Software" (2001, with Les Hatton and Charles Howell, Prentice Hall), and "Software Metrics: A Rigorous and Practical Approach" (with Norman Fenton, 1996, Boyd and Fraser Publishers). Dr. Pfleeger is associate editor for IEEE Security and Privacy magazine.

On Monday, April 21, Dr. Ben Shneiderman, Professor of Computer Science, will be discussing "Ensuring Personal Privacy in the Age of Homeland Security." The final Policy Seminar Series talk of this academic year will take place in Room 1207 at the School of Public Policy (Van Munching Building, First Floor) from 12:15-1:30.

This talk will focus on how information and surveillance technologies that monitor public places, commercial transactions, and private behavior have become ubiquitous. These technologies are attractive to homeland security officials who promote their use to anticipate terrorist and other threats. Current data mining techniques, however, appear inadequate to the tasks they are supposed to perform and may violate privacy norms. This talk examines technical methods including independent oversight that can protect privacy in the gathering and mining of information by security agencies. It discusses the relationship between privacy concerns and the ways officials frame, conceptualize, and justify the goals of homeland security.

Dr. Shneiderman is the author of more than 200 technical papers and several books, including "Leonardo's Laptop: Human Needs and the New Computing Technologies," which won the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers' 2003 award for distinguished literary contribution. He is a professor in the Department of Computer Science, founding director (1983-2000) of the Human-Computer Interaction Laboratory, and member of the Institute for Advanced Computer Studies and the Institute for Systems Research, all at the University of Maryland at College Park.

Dr. Ashok Agrawala, Professor of Computer Science, will be the next speaker in the Policy Seminar Series. Dr. Agrawala is Director of the Maryland Information and Network Dynamics Laboratory (MIND Lab) at the University of Maryland. The talk will take place on March 31 from 12:15-1:30 in the second floor conference room in the Hornbake Building.

In his talk entitled "The Future of Information: Its Changing Role in Society," Dr. Agrawala will discuss technology-driven changes in the fundamental nature of information and the changing role of information in social activities. Drawing from his work at the MIND Lab, Dr. Agrawala will focus the social implications of advances in information technology in contexts such as higher education, business, and politics. He will describe the work of the MIND Lab in relation to the changes in the fundamental nature of information.

Dr. Ashok Agrawala holds positions in the Department of Computer Science, the University of Maryland Institute for Advanced Computer Studies (UMIACS), and the Department of Electrical Engineering. He is the author of many books and technical papers. He is internationally recognized for his research in the areas of transient analysis of queues, distributed algorithms, and hard real-time systems design, much of which has been applied in industry.

On Monday, February 25, the first Policy Seminar Series of 2008 will be held in from 12:15 to 1:30 in Room 1207 on the first floor of Van Munching Hall, the School of Public Policy Building. The speaker will be Dr. Jennifer Golbeck, Assistant Professor in the College of Information Studies and Assistant Director of the Center for Information Policy and E-Government at the University of Maryland, College Park.

In a campaign season where online fundraising and organizing have become very prominent, issues of online social networking and trust have become extremely important to understanding the political process. Dr. Golbeck's talk will focus on these issues of online trust:

"As the amount of information on the Web has grown, it has become difficult for people to access what they need; this problem is compounded as data is often distributed across many sites, and requires a large effort to aggregate and sort. The anonymous nature of the Web also raises a problem with respect to the trustworthiness of data. At the same time, one of the largest trends on the web is the dramatic growth of social networks, and I argue that these are directly useful for facilitating information access.

In this talk, I will present a two-pronged approach to using trust for helping work with information. First, I will address user behavior in social networks, and how to derive trust from that. Then, I will show several applications where trust is used to aggregate, sort, and filter information on the web."

Dr. Jennifer Golbeck's research interests are generally artificial intelligence and human computer interaction, specifically addressing social networks, trust, and web science, with a theme of leveraging social information to build intelligent interfaces and improve information access. In 2006, she was selected as one of IEEE Intelligent Systems' Top Ten to Watch, a list of their top young AI researchers.

February 20, 2008 is the official grand opening date for the remodeled second floor of the Hornbake Building. This floor houses the Center for Information Policy and Electronic Government (CIPEG), the Human-Computer Interaction Lab (HCIL), and the Center for the Advanced Study of Communities and Information (CASCI).

The festivities will begin at 2 p.m. with talks, demonstrations, and posters about the innovative and interesting research at CIPEG and the other facilities. Featured CIPEG projects will include those devoted to emergency response technologies, e-government and public libraries, ethics and information education, online social networks, intellectual property issues of design, and e-government user populations.

The official grand opening ceremony will be held at 4 p.m. The research activities will continue afterward. There will be food and fun souvenirs to celebrate the day.

All are welcome. Please join us for this very special occasion!

At the November 19th Policy Seminar, Dr. William M. "Bill" Nolte will be giving a talk on "Information Sharing and Open Source Information in National Security." The current system for collecting, analyzing, and sharing national security information is hampered by barriers and lack of communication across agencies. The implementation of concepts and practices in information sharing and open source information offer ways to significantly improve the system.

Dr. Nolte is a Research Professor at the School of Public policy at the University of Maryland. He is the former director of education and training in the office of the Director of National Intelligence and chancellor of the National Intelligence University. He is a former Deputy Assistant Director of Central Intelligence, Central Intelligence Agency and was Director of Training, Chief of Legislative Affairs and Senior Intelligence Advisor at the National Security Agency. He also served as Deputy National Intelligence Officer for the Near East and South Asia. He has taught at several Washington area universities, is on the board of CIA's Studies in Intelligence, and directed the Intelligence Fellows Program.

Topic: Information Sharing and Open Source Information in National Security
Speaker: Dr. William Nolte
Time: November 19, 2007 12:15-1:30 PM
Location: Second Floor Conference Room, Hornbake Building, University of Maryland

Karen Evans, Administrator of E-Government and Information Technology, Office of Management and Budget of the United States Federal government will be speaking at the College of Information Studies on December 4 at 3 p.m.

Ms. Evans will be discussing the impacts of e-government on the provision of information and on government information and technology management, as well as the future of e-government development. This event is sponsored by the Center for Information Policy and Electronic Government (CIPEG) and the College of Information Studies.

Her talk and the following discussion will be in Room 0115 of the Hornbake Building. Refreshments will be served after the talk and discussion.

At OMB, Karen Evans oversees the implementation of Information Technology throughout the Federal government including advising the Director on the performance of the approximately $65 billion dollars spent yearly on federal IT investments. Ms. Evans oversees the development of enterprise architectures within and across agencies, directs the activities of the Chief Information Officer (CIO) Council, and oversees the usage of the E-Government Fund to support interagency partnerships and innovation. Ms. Evans also has responsibilities in the areas of capital planning and investment control, information security, privacy, accessibility for persons with disabilities, and access to, dissemination of, and preservation of government information.

November 14th from 1 to 2 p.m., CIPEG will host an informal reception for John Carlo Bertot, Professor and Associate Director of the Information Institute at Florida State University. Coffee and light snacks will be served. All are welcome to attend this opportunity to meet with a leading researcher in information policy and in the Internet in libraries.

At the October 15, 2007 Policy Seminar, Paul T. Jaeger will be giving a talk on 'E-government: Social Impacts and Research Opportunities.' Through use of the Internet and other ICTs, e-government has been implemented by federal, state, and local in the United States and many other countries around the world. However, research has not kept pace with the rapid development of e-government, leaving many important areas unexplored or underexplored. This seminar will discuss the development of e-government, research that has been conducted in e-government, and the significant opportunities for further research as e-government matures.

Paul T. Jaeger, PhD, JD, is an Assistant Professor of the College of Information Studies and Director of the Center for Information Policy and Electronic Government (CIPEG).

This seminar will be from 12:15 to 1:30 on Monday, October 15, in the Dean's Conference Room, Room number 2101F, on the second floor of Van Munching Hall, the School of Public Policy Building. For information about the Policy Seminar Series and Dr. Jaeger.

Topic: E-government: Social Impacts and Research Opportunities
Speaker: Dr. Paul T. Jaeger
Time: October 15, 2007 12:15-1:30 PM
Location: 2101F Van Munching Hall, Hornbake Building, University of Maryland

The first CIEPG monthly seminar will be September 17th in the second floor conference room in the Hornbake Building. Dr. John D. Steinbruner, Professor of Public Policy at the School of Public Policy at the University of Maryland and Director of the Center for International and Security Studies at Maryland (CISSM), will be the speaker on September 17th. Dr. Steinbruner's work focuses on issues of international security and related problems of international policy. The topic of the seminar will be Transparency as a Security Method.

Topic: Transparency as a Security Method
Speaker: Dr. John D. Steinbruner
Time: September 17, 2007 12:15-1:30 PM
Location: Second Floor Conference Room, Hornbake Building, University of Maryland

During the 2007/2008 academic year, the Center for Information Policy and Electronic Government together with the School of Public Policy of the University of Maryland will present a monthly series of seminars to explore the intersections between information studies and public policy.

The seminars, which seek to promote collaboration between students and researchers in these two complimentary fields of research, will take place 12:15-1:30 on the third Monday of every month during the 2007/2008 academic year, alternating venues between the School of Public Policy and the College of Information Studies.

The first seminar will be September 17th in the second floor conference room in the Hornbake Building. More information and the topics of future seminars will be announced soon.

Welcome to the Center for Information Policy and Electronic Government (CIPEG).

We are a multidisciplinary research and educational center that focuses on the intersections between public policy and law, ethics, and trust as they affect the uses of information in society by individuals, organizations, and governments.

Our research at CIPEG spans six key areas - Information Policy, Electronic Government, Information Ethics, Social Networks, Emergency Response and Recovery, and Equal Access to Information. After being the Center for Information Policy (CIP) for 9 years, the Center is being relaunched to expand its focus to account for the significant changes that have occurred in the online delivery of information and services.

Along with a strong portfolio of research projects and publications, CIPEG faculty and staff oversee two educational programs - the CLIS in the Federal Government Program, which offers courses to provide government employees with a detailed understanding of crucial information policy issues, and the E-government Masters Concentration at the College of Information Studies, which is a unique course of study of government information in the age of the Internet.