Overview

April 22

The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 provides significant funding to state and local governments (SLG), some of which can be allocated to IT modernization and cybersecurity. As public sector agencies continue to encounter more sophisticated and targeted cyber threats, this funding provides an opportunity to strategically address gaps in security and plan for the long term.

On April 22 at 10:00 a.m. PT/1:00 p.m. ET, Government Technology will speak with Amazon Web Services (AWS) cybersecurity subject matter expert Chuck Grindle and IronNet founder GEN Keith Alexander (Ret.), former director of the National Security Agency, chief of the Central Security Service, and commander of the United States Cyber Command. They will discuss how and where cybercriminals identify vulnerabilities and how agencies can use this funding and the cloud to thoughtfully evaluate their applications and technology and to put the right defenses in place.

Join us to hear about:

Opportunities for system modernization and cybersecurity in American Rescue Plan Act funding
How legacy applications in state and local governments create opportunities for cybercriminals
The unexpected places your vulnerabilities can be found
Research that reveals local governments’ top challenges in moving to the cloud quickly and the most important roles cloud technology can offer in cyber incident response strategies

Speakers

GEN Keith Alexander (Ret.)

Founder, Chairman & Co-CEO of IronNet Cybersecurity

GEN Keith Alexander (Ret.) is one of the foremost authorities on cybersecurity in the world. A four-star Army general, GEN Alexander was previously the highest-ranked military official of USCYBERCOM, NSA/CSS, where he led these DoD agencies during the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq when attempted cyber attacks against the U.S. were on the rise. In recognition of cyber's increasing importance, President Barack Obama and Defense Secretary Robert Gates appointed GEN Alexander as the first commander of USCYBERCOM, a newly created military institution charged with defending the nation’s security in cyberspace against sophisticated cyber threats to businesses and government operations in an increasingly interconnected world. A leader with vision and a pragmatic approach to tackling the ever-changing cyber threat landscape, GEN Alexander built IronNet to bring this knowledge and experience to the private sector and fill in a critical gap between cyber threats and available security technology. IronNet provides best-in-class cyber defense based on complex behavioral modeling, big-data analytics and advanced computing capability. GEN Alexander holds a B.S. from the U.S. Military Academy, an M.S. in Business Administration from Boston University and M.S. degrees in Systems Technology, Physics and National Security Strategy.

Chuck Grindle, Ph.D.

Executive Government Advisor, Amazon Web Services (AWS)

Chuck Grindle, Ph.D. (Colonel, retired, U.S. Army) is an Information Scientist who joined AWS in March of 2020 as an Executive Government Advisor and has since transitioned to lead the AWS Digital Government Vertical. Chuck specializes in information security, policy and strategy. He previously served as Kentucky’s Chief Information Officer. Chuck graduated from Washington and Jefferson College and was commissioned into the Army as a Field Artillery Officer and then transitioned his career to Information Technology. In addition to holding key military positions in IT, he has taught academic courses on a variety of subjects including security issues and cyber operations. He earned his Masters and Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Information Science and holds a second Master’s Degree from the U.S. Army War College in Strategic Studies.

Teri Takai — Moderator

Co-Executive Director, Center for Digital Government

Teri Takai is the Co-Executive Director of the Center for Digital Government, a national research and advisory institute on information technology policies and best practices in state and local government. She worked for Ford Motor Company for 30 years in global application development and information technology strategic planning. From Ford, she moved to EDS in support of General Motors. A long-time interest in public service led her to the government sector, first as CIO of the State of Michigan, then as CIO of the State of California, and subsequently the CIO of the U.S. Department of Defense, the first woman appointed to this role. She then served as the CIO for Meridian Health Plan. She is a member of several industry advisory boards. Teri has won numerous awards including Governing Magazine’s Public Official of the Year, CIO Magazine’s CIO Hall of Fame, Government Technology Magazine’s Top 25 Doers, Dreamers & Drivers, the Women in Defense Excellence in Leadership Award, and the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service.

Webinar

Ease SLG cybersecurity concerns with the cloud and new funding