Security and Its Role in Achieving Sustainability

Speaker: Patrick McDaniel, Professor, Computer Sciences, UW–Madison

It is undeniable that we are at a pivotal point in human existence. Humans as a species have grown in population and infrastructure to the point where our collective actions are impacting nearly every living thing and natural process on earth. So, what can we do to achieve a sustainable lifestyle on earth? McDaniel believes that sustainability can only be achieved when framed as a (physical and cyber) security and game theory problem. Put simply, without verifiable enforcement sustainability in the large will fail.

In this talk McDaniel will explore the economics of green initiatives and attempt to frame our collective efforts at reaching a sustainable future as one of systems under threat. Our call to action is to create a new subfield of security that addresses these threats and develops countermeasures. He will explore:

• What a sub-field of security might look like
• What the goals of that field would look like
• What new challenges it presents
• What technologies will likely be useful
• How game theory will play a role

Lastly, McDaniel will revisit how future technologies can be integrated into sound policy.