2011 Convergence Education

Each year I am always asked about convergence educational sessions at the ASIS International Annual Seminars and Exhibits event, as well as other educational events.

Q:Are there any educational sessions that I should consider attending for convergence education?

A:There are two aspects of convergence: organization and technical. There are educational sessions for both aspects listed below, not just for the ASIS annual event, but also for upcoming ASIS workshops and other convergence educational workshops.

[Editor's note: See the March 2010 issue's article on technology and organizational convergence, "The State of Converged Security Operations", to help determine which aspects of convergence are of the greatest value to your current role and future career path.]

Technology and Organizational Convergence

Technology convergence is the result of the more general information technology convergence, and is the impact of computer and network technology being incorporated in security devices and systems. Organizational convergence involves eliminating organizational silos that keep security functions walled off from the rest of the organization in critical ways, and in particular between IT security and physical security.

ASIS 57th Annual Seminar & Exhibits Convergence Sessions

This year marks the highest number of ASIS annual seminar sessions ever that touch on convergence topics: 80 sessions in total, including many sessions on IT security topics that will be of interest to IT personnel. A significant factor is the contribution to this year's sessions by (ISC)2 - the International Information Systems Security Certification Consortium, Inc. There are more than a half-dozen sessions on all aspects of social media impacts on security, both as a tool and as a risk factor. There is a software applications security track.

This number of convergence related sessions exceeds the space allotted for this column's single page. That's why the full convergence session listing is provided in the online version of this column [Paul, insert link here]. Each session time slot holds many convergence-related sessions, so I recommend that you partner up with friends and colleagues to ensure sufficient coverage for your sessions of interest.

I have placed the sessions into one or more of these convergence catgegories:

• Technology - The incorporation of computers and networking into electronic physical security systems, including "voice/data/video on the same cable"
• Organizational - Eliminating organizational silos that keep security functions walled off from the rest of the organization
• IT Security Topic - An IT security topic such as wireless network security, application security, information systems regulatory compliance, IT security risk assessment, and so on