Oxford University’s Centre for Technology and Global Affairs and Oxford Analytica are jointly organizing a three-day Cybersecurity Executive Education Programme.
Course Theme
Cyber threats are widely discussed but rarely forseen. Opportunities are recognized yet often unrealized. Technological change is outpacing the design of policy responses. Despite growing experience with cyber incidents, there is limited understanding of how the related technologies affect the affairs of states, businesses, and institutions.
The Executive Education Programme on "Cybersecurity: Frontiers of Strategy and Policy" will equip participants with the conceptual frameworks and practical insights to understand and address cybersecurity challenges within the context of a complex global macro environment.
Participants will benefit from the combined knowledge of the Centre and Oxford Analytica and will have the opportunity to learn from renowned experts with extensive backgrounds in computer science and social science research as well as strategy and policymaking.
Who Should Attend
This course is especially designed for decisionmakers and influencers with responsibility for, or a deep interest in, the making of public policy and business strategy. It aims to foster serious discussion among senior practitioners from a wide range of industries.
What You Will Learn
- A basic technical understanding of the origins, structure, and workings of cyberspace
- A broad understanding of the benefits and opportunities of cyberspace for national security, international influence, and social welfare
- A strong grasp of the nature, sources, and categories of cyber threats to national and international security
- Comprehensive knowledge of the variety of policy and organizational responses to threats to financial and governmental systems
- A broad understanding of the strategic, conceptual, doctrinal, and legal challenges associated with these responses
- Specialized knowledge of specific strategic and policy problems - such as deterrence mechanisms, conflict escalation and termination, and threats to financial and governmental systems
The three-day course will discuss in detail pressing cybersecurity challenges, ranging from interstate cyber conflict and espionage to criminal data theft and data integrity attacks. It will also identify and discuss possible solutions to these challenges.
The seminars and discussions will review innovative uses of information technology to identify, clarify, and model how changing configurations in cyberspace influence the structures and processes of political, social, and economic systems across various national jurisdictions. You will have the opportunity to learn from renowned experts with extensive backgrounds in computer science and social science research as well as strategy and policymaking.
The event will incorporate a practical simulation exercise designed to develop participants’ experiential insights. The exercise will apply classroom understandings to the management of a major practical event – such as an international cyber crisis or a breakdown in state information systems – requiring a coordinated response across the public and private sectors under conditions of uncertainty.
The aim of the exercise is to develop practical lessons and recommendations for action under the simulated pressure of a crisis. The simulation exercise was developed by Oxford-based faculty and tested at numerous academic institutions beyond Oxford, including the Harvard Kennedy School, Stanford University, Columbia University, and the U.S. Naval War College.
The course represents the continuation of the Centre's "International Training Sessions on the Modern Information Society," which began in 2015 under the aegis of the Centre's Cyber Studies Programme. Participants who complete the course will receive a Certificate from Oxford University.
Course Fee
Participants will be charged a tuition fee to attend the course. The fee covers the three-day programme, three nights of accommodation in Oxford, as well as all meals and social events.
