President Barack Obama will come to Stanford on Feb. 13 to address the White House Summit on Cyber Security and Consumer Protection, University spokeswoman Lisa Lapin told The Daily on Saturday.
According to Lapin, the last time a sitting U.S. president came to Stanford for business was in 1975, when Gerald Ford dedicated a new law school building.
Friday’s event is closed to the public, but Lapin expects that there will be a lottery for Stanford students who would like tickets to the summit. Details will be made available within a couple of days.
Cybersecurity has become a growing priority for the Obama Administration. In October he launched the BuySecure initiative, which includes reforms such as securing payment systems and preventing identity theft. Obama also spoke about cybersecurity in his State of the Union address on Jan. 20.
“No foreign nation, no hacker, should be able to shut down our networks, steal our trade secrets, or invade the privacy of American families, especially our kids,” he said in the address.
The White House Summit, which was announced on Jan. 13, will include senior federal government officials, CEOs from various industries, law enforcement officials, consumer advocates and Stanford faculty members and students who are researching cybersecurity issues. According to the summit’s official website, panels at the event will discuss issues such as public-private collaboration on cybersecurity and secure payment technologies.
Stanford founded its Cyber Initiative last November, with the help of a $15 million grant from the Hewlett Foundation.
“Our increasing reliance on technology, combined with the unpredictable vulnerabilities of networked information, pose future challenges for all of society,” University President John Hennessy told Stanford News at the time.
Contact Joseph Beyda at jbeyda ‘at’ stanford.edu.