CALL FOR PRESENTATIONS

6th Annual North Carolina Cybersecurity Symposium

February 26, 2027 | Raleigh, North Carolina

THEME: Securing North Carolina's Critical Infrastructure

The Annual North Carolina Cybersecurity Symposium brings together educators, researchers, industry professionals, public-sector leaders, and students who share a commitment to making our state more cyber secure.

The symposium's distinctive focus is the intersection of education, research, and industry: applying academic insight to real-world challenges and preparing the people who will continue this work.

North Carolina becomes more resilient when the people protecting its businesses, infrastructure, institutions, and communities can learn from one another, build relationships, and share what works. The symposium creates those opportunities while nurturing a connected cybersecurity community across the state.

The North Carolina Partnership for Cybersecurity Excellence (NC-PaCE) invites you to contribute research, case studies, lessons learned, practical approaches, and forward-looking ideas that contribute to the security of the State’s critical infrastructure.

Our primary theme for this year is critical infrastructure, including the following industries:

• Food and agriculture
• Healthcare
• Financial services
• Energy
• Water and wastewater
• Manufacturing
• Maritime
• Communications

You do not need to work directly for a critical infrastructure owner or operator. We welcome proposals from organizations throughout critical infrastructure supply chains and from those providing technology, services, research, education, policy, workforce development, or other essential support.

Cross-sector (applicable to any/all sectors) proposals are encouraged. Relevant topics may include:

• AI security, ethics, and effectiveness
• Supply chain and software supply chain risk management
• Cyber resilience, incident response, and recovery
• Cyber threat intelligence and digital forensics
• Network, information, application, and cloud security
• IoT and operational technology security
• Quantum computing and emerging threats
• Cybersecurity leadership, education, and workforce development

Presentation Formats

• 45-minute conference sessions
• Interactive workshops of two to three hours
• 15-minute student research presentations

What Makes a Strong Proposal 

• Show how the session will contribute useful knowledge, lessons, or connections that strengthen North Carolina's cybersecurity community and critical infrastructure.
•  Describe the presentation's key ideas, intended audience, and practical takeaways. Include sufficient detail for the program committee to evaluate the proposal; outlines are welcome.
• Offer new findings, useful lessons learned, or a fresh and defensible perspective rather than a general overview of familiar material.
•  Keep the presentation educational and vendor-neutral. Product demonstrations or sales pitches will not be accepted.
• Do not include your name, alias, employer, or other identifying information in the proposal body. Proposals are reviewed without speaker-identifying information to support a fair selection process.

Review and Speaker Information

• All submissions will be reviewed by the symposium program committee.
• Speakers may edit their proposals until the call for presentations closes.
• Speakers receive complimentary symposium admission.
• Speakers will be asked for permission to post their presentation materials on the NC-PaCE website.
• Travel expenses will not be reimbursed.

Questions about the submission process?

Contact Laura Rodgers at ldrodger@ncsu.edu