CALL FOR PRESENTATIONS

6th Annual North Carolina Cybersecurity Symposium

February 26, 2027 | Raleigh, North Carolina

THEME: Securing North Carolina's Critical Infrastructure

The North Carolina Partnership for Cybersecurity Excellence (NC-PaCE) and NC State University invite cybersecurity researchers, practitioners, educators, and leaders to submit proposals for the 2027 North Carolina Cybersecurity Symposium. We welcome research findings, case studies, lessons learned, practical approaches, and forward-looking ideas that can help protect the systems and services North Carolinians rely on every day.

Theme requirement: Every submission must clearly explain how the proposed presentation will strengthen the security, resilience, or recovery of one or more critical infrastructure sectors in North Carolina. 

Presentation Formats

• 45-minute conference sessions

• Interactive workshops of two to three hours

• Student research presentations

Priority Topics

Sector-focused proposals may address:

• Food and agriculture

• Healthcare

• Financial services

• Energy

• Water and wastewater

• Manufacturing

• Maritime

• Communications

Cross-sector proposals are also encouraged when they are explicitly applied to critical infrastructure. Relevant topics 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

What Makes a Strong Proposal

• Identify the critical infrastructure sector or sectors addressed and explain the relevance to North Carolina.

• 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. (not required)

• Travel expenses will not be reimbursed.

Questions about the submission process?

Contact Laura Rodgers at ldrodger@ncsu.edu