(Quad Cities) - With cyber-crime damage costs predicted to hit $6 trillion annually by 2021, the Quad Cities Chamber will bring together industry, business, and community leaders in a panel format to discuss the growing importance of cyber security to the region's businesses and their operations. The Cyber-security Town Hall: Protecting Your Business Against the Growing Threat of Cyber Crime will be held from 3-5 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 5, at The Current Iowa hotel, 215 N. Main St., Davenport.
The town hall will include an hour-long panel conversation led by regional subject matter experts to help area businesses understand the growing cyber-security threat to industry supply chains. The panel will cover what’s important on the cyber-security landscape now, why businesses should care, what steps they should take to assess their cyber-security readiness and how to move toward implementation.
Additionally, the town hall will address new Department of Defense (DoD) guidelines surrounding cyber-security going into place at the end of the year that will significantly impact any company that does business with the DoD. Through the new guidelines, companies that either do direct business with the DoD, or provide a product or service to a company that does business with the DoD, will be required to meet new cyber-security standards. Those that don’t will potentially incur major fines or lose contracts with the DoD.
“With the presence of the Rock Island Arsenal as well as manufacturers that provide products for the DoD, there are a good deal of businesses in the Quad Cities that will be impacted by new cyber-security regulations,” said Mike Coughlin, Executive Director of the Quad Cities Manufacturing Innovation Hub. “This town hall will help businesses understand the new requirements as well as get an overview on the latest threats and preparedness options.”
After the panel discussion, attendees will continue the conversation at one of five different small-group discussions led by individual moderators. Topics will appeal to a broad range of cyber security experience from novice to IT professionals.
Panelists scheduled for the event are:
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Special Agent Steve Telisak, FBI
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Beth Tinsman, CEO & Founder, Twinstate Technical Services
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Greg Price, Vice President of Defense Programs, Trowbridge & Trowbridge, LLC
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Josh McIntyre, Associate, Lane & Waterman Attorneys At Law (moderator)
This program is presented by the Quad Cities Chamber's Quad Cities Manufacturing Innovation Hub, which is funded, in part, by the Illinois Defense Industry Adjustment Program.
While there is no cost to attend, registration is required as seating is limited. Register online at www.quadcitieschamber.com/events.
About the Quad Cities Chamber
The Quad Cities Chamber is a champion for business and community growth in the region. It proudly helps drive Q2030: A Regional Action Plan to increase talent, jobs and economic opportunity for all. The Quad Cities Manufacturing Innovation Hub is a program of the Chamber that supports the prosperity pillar of Q2030 by providing a network of resources and support for area manufacturers and others in the defense industry supply chain to connect, collaborate, and learn about the technological and digital changes that will transform the face of their industry.
About the Illinois DIA Program
The Illinois DIA Program supports the state’s defense and manufacturing industries by delivering resources and providing new insights that help companies and communities grow, diversify, and become more resilient. The Illinois DIA Program covers five communities considered to be at high risk to market force changes due to their ties to the defense industry, a high concentration of manufacturers or both. Areas include the Quad Cities, Rockford, Northeastern Illinois, Peoria and Southwestern Illinois.
With funding from the U.S. Department of Defense, Office of Economic Adjustment (OEA), the program is executed through a partnership between the University of Illinois System, the Quad Cities Chamber of Commerce, and the Voorhees Center at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC).
