Information technology has fueled a revolution in how we communicate, live, work, and play in the United States and around the world. Although innovations in technology have fueled strong economic growth, they have also created complex policy challenges that demand collaboration from all sectors: public, private, civic, and academic. The Center for Public Policy Innovation (CPPI) is committed to building a community of collaboration to address these present and future policy challenges.
Cyber Security Briefing At Symantec
Last summer, as part of its mission to foster collaboration, CPPI hosted a tour of Northern Virginia high tech companies for congressional staff. Two dozen senior Capitol Hill staff members took advantage of this unique opportunity to visit three of the world’s leading technology firms – Aol, Oracle, and Symantec.
The meetings provided valuable insights into the challenges of government contracting, cyber security strategies and policies, and innovative new-media strategies.
Participants lauded the daylong trip. “This was a great event. It was very informative and opened my eyes to the wealth of tech business in the area,” commented one senior Hill aide.
Another congressional staffer said, “Thanks again for organizing the field trip yesterday. I found it very educational, and it was good to meet staff from other offices.”
The event’s industry hosts all agreed that it was a first rate tour and very valuable from a policy perspective. “It far exceeded our expectations,” exclaimed one. Another added, “It made me realize how hungry Hill staffers are for knowledge about our industry. We need more events like this.” CPPI looks forward to hosting additional tours in the future.
Aol is a leading-edge web services company, including a network of premium and niche content sites, and an extensive offering of world-class tools and platforms. Aol’s business spans the Internet with online and local content, innovative products and valuable services for consumers, publishers and advertisers. With one of the industry’s largest advertising networks, Aol engages consumers with online advertising services on both Aol’s owned and operated properties and third-party websites.
Oracle’s Reston Campus opened in 1998 and is the East Coast headquarters for Oracle’s public sector operations. Over 1000 Oracle employees work out of the Reston facility, as well as Oracle partners.
The facility hosts Oracle’s public sector software business, as well as Oracle’s National Security operations, which is an integrated team focused on the Intelligence Community. Solutions for public sector customers have also been developed at this facility.
Oracle provides the world’s most complete, open, and integrated business software and hardware systems, with more than 370,000 customers – including 100 of the Fortune 100 – representing a variety of sizes and industries in more than 145 countries around the globe.
Symantec’s Security Operations Center, or SOC, serves as the cutting-edge, state-of-theart war room for Symantec’s security analysts and engineers. The Virginia SOC is the largest of five such facilities operated by Symantec worldwide, with the others located in Japan, Germany, England, and Australia. These centers are the first line of defense in the war against online threats. The SOC is in operation 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Analysts work on three rotating eight-hour shifts daily to ensure that monitoring continues consistently and security incidents are dealt with in real-time as they happen.