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Skyfire Consulting, a public safety UAS consulting group, announced the appointment of Michael Briant as Chief Security Officer (CSO) and Michael Rogers as Director of Public Safety. Both will team up and bring their experience to the Skyfire Academy, as they lead a robust training programs in the industry. 

The U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has launched a crowdsourcing challenge to spur new methods to ensure that important public safety data sets can be de-identified to protect individual privacy. The Differential Privacy Temporal Map Challenge includes a series of contests that will award a total of up to $276,000 for differential privacy solutions for complex data sets that include information on both time and location. 

Charles Burns, head of global security and engagement at Uber, opened day two of ISC West with a keynote titled, “How Uber is Scaling Enterprise Risk Management at the Speed of Global Transportation.”

Brigham Young University (BYU) announced the formation of the new BYU Security Department, which will function separately from and alongside the BYU Police Department. The BYU Security Department will oversee on-campus security for buildings, such as the Museum of Art and the Harold B. Lee Library, as well as campus properties, such as the Motion Picture Studio and West Campus (former Provo High School). The department will also have responsibility for campus parking.

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) joined with public and private-sector partners to conduct an interagency Tabletop Exercise (TTX) called “National Harbor 2020 – Recovery Phase Exercise,” September 29 – 30, to test the processes and plans required by regional government and business partners following a notional catastrophic incident at National Harbor outside of Washington, D.C.

ISC West began this week with a keynote from Michael MacKenzie, general manager of IoT connectivity & control services at Amazon Webservices IoT.

On September 1 and 2, DHS Policy’s Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention program (TVTP) hosted the 5th Digital Forum on Terrorism Prevention for approximately 60 mostly Atlanta-based civil society leaders. This year’s Forum gave these leaders an opportunity to learn directly from technology and marketing experts on how to combat terrorist use of the internet. Community leaders attended multiple sessions over the two-day Forum, including: “The Threat—Narratives & Recruitment in the Online Space;” “Responses to Terrorism;” “Research, Trends & Data;” “Tech Talk & Toolkit;” and “Online to Offline Interventions & Referrals.”

How does Uber's Global Security team ensure top-notch safety and security programs that enable global ride-hailing?

EMA will open applications on Wednesday, September 30, 2020 for two hazard mitigation grant programs totaling $660 million. The two grant programs, the Flood Mitigation Assistance grant and the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities grant, or BRIC, will provide funds to states, local communities, tribes and territories for eligible mitigation activities. These programs allow for funding to be used on projects that will reduce future disaster losses and strengthen our nation’s ability to build a culture of preparedness.

The Physical Security industry is at an inflection point. Digital transformation and Security Convergence have accelerated, hastened by the persistent pandemic. Physical Security, HR and IT departments have been forced to work together quickly in designing back-to-work strategies, realizing that separate silos of operations just won’t cut it any longer.