Pitt’s Cyber Energy Center and Pitt Cyber to Host Their Second Transforming Cybersecurity Workshop

As critical infrastructure like water, energy, and industrial control networks face increasingly sophisticated cyber threats, the University of Pittsburgh Cyber Energy Center and Pitt Cyber will host their second Transforming Cybersecurity Workshop on Tuesday, August 11, 2026. The event will bring together experts across government, industry, and academia for a full day of structured problem-solving at the intersection of cybersecurity technology and policy.

“Last year, we launched this effort to build a broader cybersecurity ecosystem that connects technology and policy to address critical challenges in protecting vital infrastructure,” said Erica Owen, associate professor in Pitt’s School of Public and International Affairs and co-organizer of the event. “That first workshop and the luncheon that followed have set in motion a collective, sustained, multidisciplinary effort to improve safety, security, and resilience across essential, connected systems.”

The workshop will feature two keynote speakers who bring complementary perspectives on the technology-policy interface:

• Chad Heitzenrater, senior information scientist at RAND, will present his recent research on how advanced AI is poised to reshape the economics of cybersecurity.
• Ginger Wright, program manager for Cyber-Informed Engineering (CIE) at the Idaho National Laboratory, will explore the challenges of translating CIE principles into operational practice.

In addition to the speakers, the workshop will feature working sessions built around real sector-specific problems. A structured panel representing political, economic, social, and technological perspectives will identify the most persistent barriers to cybersecurity adoption in the water and wastewater sector. Workshop organizers will present a specific solution addressing this problem. Participants will break into working groups, evaluating this solution through the lenses of desirability, feasibility, and viability.

“Complex challenges like closing the gap between what operators need to do to secure critical infrastructure and their actual capacity to do it can't be solved in a bubble. It takes cooperation across technology and policy to support adoption. And that can't happen overnight,” said Daniel Cole, associate professor of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science at the Swanson School of Engineering, director of the Cyber Energy Center, and co-organizer of the workshop.

Cole added, “We’re honored to welcome cybersecurity leaders like Chad Heitzenrater and Ginger Wright to share their important research and participate in working sessions that will address a concrete problem while continuing to build a stronger cybersecurity ecosystem.”

The workshop will take place from 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. at Pitt’s University Club on the Oakland campus. Registration is open.