Confirmed speakers for Technology in Wartime
Ronald Arkin
Ronald C. Arkin holds the rank of Regents' Professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology and is the Director of the Mobile Robot Laboratory. During 1997-98, Professor Arkin served as STINT visiting Professor at the Centre for Autonomous Systems at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Stockholm, Sweden. From June-September 2005, Prof. Arkin held a Sabbatical Chair at the Sony Intelligence Dynamics Laboratory in Tokyo, Japan and then served as a member of the Robotics and Artificial Intelligence Group at LAAS/CNRS in Toulouse, France from October 2005-August 2006. Dr. Arkin's research interests include behavior-based reactive control and action-oriented perception for mobile robots and unmanned aerial vehicles, hybrid deliberative/reactive software architectures, robot survivability, multiagent robotic systems, biorobotics, human-robot interaction, robot ethics, and learning in autonomous systems. He has over 130 technical publications in these areas. Prof. Arkin has written a textbook entitled Behavior-Based Robotics published by MIT Press in May 1998 and has co-edited (with G. Bekey) a book entitled Robot Colonies published in 1997. Funding sources have included the National Science Foundation, DARPA, U.S. Army, Savannah River Technology Center, Honda R&D, C.S. Draper Laboratory, SAIC, NAVAIR, and the Office of Naval Research. Dr. Prof. Arkin was elected to serve two consecutive 3 year terms on the Administrative Committee of the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society in both 1999 and 2002, serves as the co-chair of the IEEE RAS Technical Committee on Robot Ethics, and also served on the National Science Foundation's Robotics Council from 2001-2002. In 2001, he received the Outstanding Senior Faculty Research Award from the College of Computing at Georgia Tech. He was elected a Fellow of the IEEE in 2003, and is a member of AAAI and ACM.
Peter Asaro
Peter Asaro is a postdoctoral fellow at the Center for Cultural Analysis at Rutgers University. He earned his PhD in the History, Philosophy and Sociology of Science at the University of Illinois, where he also earned his Master of Computer Science degree. He has worked at the National Center for Supercomputer Applications (NCSA), the Beckman Institue for Advanced Science and Technology, and Iguana Robotics, Inc. in the areas of virtual reality, artificial intelligence, machine learning, robot vision, and neuromorphic robotics. His dissertation was on the relationships between brain modeling, the development of early computers, and cybernetic and cognitive theories of mind in the period from the 1940s to the 1960s. Much of this work focused on the Biological Computer Laboratory at the University of Ilinois, 1958-1972, and the cyberneticians W. Ross Ashby and Heinz von Foerster who worked there. Since completing his PhD, Asaro has been a postdoc at the Austrian Academy of Sciences, where he made documentary films of scientific practices of ESA space scientists. He also held a postdoc in Digital Humanities at Umea University in Sweden. In addition to continuing his work on the history of cybernetics and brain modeling, he has begun a new project on the ethical design of autonomous systems and the nature of responsibility in distributed socio-technical systems, focusing particularly on the use of robots for police and military applications.
Patrick Ball
Patrick Ball is CTO and Director of Human Rights Programs at Benetech. He is a leading innovator in applying scientific measurement to human rights. He has spent more than 20 years designing databases and conducting quantitative analysis for truth commissions, non-governmental organizations, tribunals and United Nations missions El Salvador, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Haiti, South Africa, Kosovo, Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka, and Perú. From 1993-2003, he worked at the American Association for the Advancement of Science in the Science and Human Rights Program. His most recent work is an estimate of the total deaths in Peru, 1980-2000, conducted on behalf of the Peruvian Truth and Reconciliation Commission. In April 2006, the Electronic Frontier Foundation presented him with their Pioneer Award. In August 2002, the Social Statistics Section of the American Statistical Association gave him a Special Achievement Award. In June 2004, the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) gave Patrick the Eugene Lawler Award for Humanitarian Contributions within Computer Science and Informatics. Patrick is currently involved in HRDAG projects in Sierra Leone, Chad, Sri Lanka, East Timor, Colombia, and others.
Moira Carroll-Mayer
Moira Carroll-Mayer is conducting doctoral research into the ethical implications of autonomous weaponry at the Centre for Computing and Social Responsibility at De Montfort University in Leicester. She is also a lecturer in the Law of Forensic Computing at De Montfort University. Moira holds an LLM from the Queen’s University Belfast in Computers and Law and an MA in Politics and Government from London Metropolitan University. She holds a BA degree in English Literature from the University of Ulster and an LLB from the University of Westminster.
Cindy Cohn
Cindy Cohn is the Legal Director for the Electronic Frontier Foundation as well as its General Counsel. She is responsible for overseeing the EFF's overall legal strategy and supervising EFF's 9 staff attorneys. Ms. Cohn first became involved with the EFF in 1995, when the EFF asked her to serve as the lead attorney in Bernstein v. Dept. of Justice, the successful First Amendment challenge to the U.S. export restrictions on cryptography. Outside the Courts, Ms. Cohn has testified before Congress, been featured in the New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle and elsewhere for her work on cyberspace issue. The National Law Journal named Ms. Cohn one of 100 most influential lawyers in America in 2006 for "rushing to the barricades wherever freedom and civil liberties are at stake online." In 2007 the Journal named her one of the 50 most influential women lawyers in America.
Peter Eckersley is a Staff Technologist for the Electronic Frontier Foundation. He keeps his eyes peeled for technologies that, by accident or design, pose a risk to computer users' freedoms — and then looks for ways to fix them. Peter is currently putting the finishing touches to a PhD on digital copyright policy with the Intellectual Property Research Institute of Australia and the computer science department at the University of Melbourne. His doctoral research focused on the practicality and desirability of using "virtual market" public funding systems to legalize P2P file sharing and similar distribution tools while still paying authors and artists for their work.
Lauren Gelman is the Executive Director of Stanford Law School's Center for Internet and Society (CIS) and Lecturer in Law at the Law School. Prior to joining CIS in 2002 as Associate Director, Ms. Gelman was Corporate Counsel for RealNames Corporation. She also spent six years in Washington, DC as the Public Policy Director for the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), and as the Associate Director of Public Policy for ACM, the largest association of computer scientists in the world. Ms. Gelman received a B.S. in Biology and Society from Cornell University, an M.S. in Science, Technology and Public Policy from George Washington University, and her law degree from Georgetown University. She served on the Transportation Security Administration's (TSA) Secure Flight Working Group at the Department of Homeland Security. Lauren serves as Dean of State of Play Academy (SOPA), a law and technology community located in the virtual world There.com. She currently sits on the Board of Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility and is a member of the California Bar.
Robert Guerra is one of the founding directors of Privaterra - an ongoing project of the SAGE Charitable foundation that works with NGOs to assist them with issues of data privacy, secure communications and information security. He is often invited to speak at events to share the challenges being faced by social justice NGOs in regards to surveillance, censorship and privacy. He is the NCUC representative for Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility (CPSR), acting also as their board secretary. He was actively involved in the the UN World Summit - being an active member of civil society bureau , the internet governance caucus as well as being the NGO advisor to the official Canadian Government delegation. He advises several non-profits and/or their related projects , including Taking IT Global, DiploFoundation's Internet Governance and Policy Capacity Building Programme, The Open Net Initiative and The Internet Corporations for Assigned Names and Numbers's At-Large Advisory Committee (ALAC) and its Security and Stability Advisory Committee - to name a few.
Herb Lin
Dr. Herbert Lin is chief scientist at the Computer Science and Telecommunications Board, National Research Council of the National Academies, where he has been study director of major projects on public policy and information technology. These studies include a 1996 study on national cryptography policy (Cryptography's Role in Securing the Information Society), a 1991 study on the future of computer science (Computing the Future), a 1999 study of Defense Department systems for command, control, communications, computing, and intelligence (Realizing the Potential of C4I: Fundamental Challenges), a 2000 study on workforce issues in high-technology (Building a Workforce for the Information Economy), a 2002 study on protecting kids from Internet pornography and sexual exploitation (Youth, Pornography, and the Internet), a 2004 study on aspects of the FBI's information technology modernization program (A Review of the FBI's Trilogy IT Modernization Program), a 2005 study on electronic voting (Asking the Right Questions About Electronic Voting), and a 2005 study on computational biology (Catalyzing Inquiry at the Interface of Computing and Biology). Prior to his NRC service, he was a professional staff member and staff scientist for the House Armed Services Committee (1986-1990), where his portfolio included defense policy and arms control issues. He received his doctorate in physics from MIT. Avocationally, he is a longtime folk and swing dancer and a poor magician. Apart from his CSTB work, he is published in cognitive science, science education, biophysics, and arms control and defense policy. He also consults on K-12 math and science education.
Nick Mathewson
Nick Mathewson is a director and chief architect at the Tor Project, a software project that helps you defend against traffic analysis, a form of network surveillance that threatens personal freedom and privacy, confidential business activities and relationships, and state security. He's one of the three original designers of Tor and does a lot of the ongoing design work.
Chris Palmer is a security consultant with iSEC Partners, performing application penetration tests, code reviews, and security research. Formerly, he was a staff technologist at the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
Yogi Patel
Yogi Patel is a computer science student at the University of Washington. He deployed for a year during the 2003 invasion of Iraq as an infantryman with the 101st Airborne. He was a member of the LW rapid prototyping team in 1999 and is currently an integration engineer with the LW project management office.
Kevin Poulsen is a senior editor at Wired News, where he oversees cybercrime, privacy, defense and political coverage, and he co-edits the Threat Level blog. He previously served as editor of the award-winning computer security news site SecurityFocus, acquired by Symantec in 2002, where his investigative reporting was frequently followed by the national press. Poulsen's byline has appeared in Wired magazine, Business 2.0 and other publications, and he's been interviewed by CNN, ABC News, CBS News, The New York Times, The Washington Post, the BBC, NPR and other outlets. In 2006, Poulsen's computer-assisted investigation into the presence of registered sex offenders on MySpace resulted in the arrest of an active pedophile, and led to policy changes at MySpace and federal legislation.
Neil Rowe
Neil C. Rowe is Professor of Computer Science at the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School where he has been since 1983. He is currently a National Research Council Fellow at the Army Research Laboratory in Adelphi, Maryland. He has a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Stanford University (1983), and E.E., S.M., and S.B. degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His main research interest is the role of deception in information processing, and he has also done research on intelligent access to multimedia databases, surveillance systems, image processing, robotic path planning, and intelligent tutoring systems. He is the author of over 140 technical papers and a book.
Bruce Schneier
Bruce Schneier is an internationally renowned security technologist and author. Described by The Economist as a "security guru," Schneier is best known as a refreshingly candid and lucid security critic and commentator. When people want to know how security really works, they turn to Schneier. His first bestseller, Applied Cryptography, explained how the arcane science of secret codes actually works, and was described by Wired as "the book the National Security Agency wanted never to be published." His book on computer and network security, Secrets and Lies, was called by Fortune "[a] jewel box of little surprises you can actually use." His current book, Beyond Fear, tackles the problems of security from the small to the large: personal safety, crime, corporate security, national security. Schneier also publishes a free monthly newsletter, Crypto-Gram, with over 130,000 readers. In its seven years of regular publication, Crypto-Gram has become one of the most widely read forums for free-wheeling discussions, pointed critiques, and serious debate about security. As head curmudgeon at the table, Schneier explains, debunks, and draws lessons from security stories that make the news. Regularly quoted in the media, Schneier has written op ed pieces for several major newspapers, and has testified on security before the United States Congress on many occasions.
Noah Shachtman
Noah Shachtman, editor of Wired's Danger Room blog, writes about technology, national security, politics, and geek culture for The New York Times, The Chicago Tribune, and others. Since 1998, he's been reporting for Wired News and Wired magazine – defusing roadside explosives with a Baghdad bomb squad, sneaking into the Los Alamos nuclear lab, chasing down suspects on Chicago's West Side, investigating a triple-homicide in Tacoma, WA, and undergoing experiments by Pentagon-funded scientists at Stanford. Now a Wired magazine contributing editor, Shachtman has also written articles for The Village Voice, Slate, Salon, Esquire, Popular Science, The New York Post, Popular Mechanics, The American Prospect Online, The Forward, The New York Times Magazine, and The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. He's been interviewed by the Associated Press, CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, CBS radio, NPR, BBC radio -- as well as by newspapers, radio programs, and television stations across the country. Before turning to journalism, Shachtman worked as a professional bass player, book editor, and campaign staffer on Bill Clinton's first presidential campaign.
Barbara Simons
An expert on electronic voting, Dr. Barbara Simons was a member of the National Workshop on Internet Voting that was convened at the request of President Clinton and produced a report on Internet Voting in 2001. She participated on the Security Peer Review Group for the US Department of Defense’s Internet voting project (SERVE) and co-authored the report that led to the cancellation of SERVE because of security concerns. She also co-chaired the ACM study of statewide databases of registered voters. She was President of ACM from July 1998 until June 2000. She founded ACM’s US Public Policy Committee (USACM) in 1993 and served for many years as USACM Chair. In 2005 Simons became the first woman to receive the Distinguished Engineering Alumni Award from the College of Engineering of U.C. Berkeley. She is also a Fellow of ACM and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Simons, who is retired from IBM Research, is writing a book on voting machines with Doug Jones.
Jeff Ubois
Jeff Ubois is currently working on archiving and access solutions for Intelligent Television, a New York-based production and consulting company. Prior to this association with Intelligent Television, he was a staff research associate at the School of Information Management and Systems at the University of California, Berkeley, where he developed approaches to measure the accessibility of archival holdings. He is also consulting to a variety of commercial and non-commercial institutions concerned with the mass digitization of video, including WNET/Channel 13 and Bittorrent. For the Internet Archive, he has worked on managing orphan works, maintaining archival integrity, and managing the collection and retention of digital library usage data. He writes about issues in television archiving and digital video at http://www.archival.tv, and has been published in First Monday, Release 1.0, Computerworld, and the publications of Ferris Research, a San Francisco-based consultancy specializing in collaboration software.
Maarten van Veen
Martin van Veen is an Assistant Professor in Information Systems at the Netherlands Defence Academy. He previously held positions at the Open University of the Netherlands, at the Professional University Saxion at Deventer, and at the University of Amsterdam. His active areas of research are Education of Computing, Information literacy, Fluency in IT, Representations in New Media, and Usage of Information Technology. He has published in journals and proceedings of (international) conferences, and he led multiple sessions of workshops on information literacy in education.
Terry Winograd
Terry Winograd is a professor of Computer Science at Stanford University, where he focuses on human-computer interaction design, with a focus on the theoretical background and conceptual models. He directs the teaching programs and HCI research in the Stanford Human-Computer Interaction Group. He is also a founding faculty member of the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford (the "d.school"). Winograd was a founding member and past president of Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility. He is on a number of journal editorial boards, including Human Computer Interaction, ACM Transactions on Computer Human Interaction, and Informatica. He is the author of five books, including Understanding Natural Language, Understanding Computers and Cognition: A New Foundation for Design, and Bringing Design to Software.