U.S. colleges and universities possess an exceptional volume and variety of personal information about students, employees, and others, yet they continue to lag behind industry, government, and higher education institutions in other countries in voluntarily protecting that information.
In the past three years, higher education institutions have made a number of moves to secure their critical systems and protect their users, resulting in a marked change in the techniques used to combat security threats. Today, continued progress may depend on the development of an enterprise IT security program.
By adopting a unified approach to information security compliance, higher education institutions not only can effectively satisfy the requirements of the growing number of state and federal laws and industry regulations but also can address identified risks and improve the security of their information assets.
Lauren Steinfeld and Kathleen Sutherland Archuleta
Privacy management in higher education, a uniquely challenging effort, depends on senior management support, strategic partnerships, collaboration, and most important, the necessary skill set and the appropriate organizational placement of the Chief Privacy Officer or other privacy professional.
To protect information assets and contribute to the security of critical infrastructures, colleges and universities must empower an individual, such as the Chief Security Officer, or a team with the authority, the resources, and the support needed to effectively maintain an information security program.
Making knowledge services work in higher education will depend on developments in technology and also on a variety of commitments—academic, institutional, commercial, and public policy—undertaken by a small cadre of innovative institutions and leaders.
A survey conducted by the "School of the Future" at the University of Sao Paulo in 2005 offers comparative data in the areas of higher education information technology—including policy, infrastructure, portals, and investments—for Brazil and elsewhere in Latin America.
Pablo G. Molina and the 2006 EDUCAUSE Evolving Technologies Committee
Focusing on "pioneering," the EDUCAUSE Evolving Technologies Committee looked at six technologies and trends—Web 2.0 applications, cell phones, vortals, podcasting, open-source learning management systems, and wireless—and considered how higher education institutions can prepare not only for this rich content but also for that yet to come.
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