Last July 7, 2018, students and professionals from around the country flocked to the Hive Hotel and Convention Place to attend the National Conference on Digital Citizenship and Cyber Security.
Envisioning a secure world in the digital age, the event was organized by Our Lady of Fatima University’s College of Computer Studies, College of Criminal Justice, and Center for Professional Development and Academic Partnership, in coordination with the College of Arts and Sciences, and the College of Maritime Education.
“We have now acquired a new citizenship, the digital citizenship, which we all know cuts across nationalities and geographical borders”, Dr. Heracleo D. Lagrada, OLFU Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the Graduate School, said as he warmly welcomed the participants.
Hon. Eliseo M. Rio, Jr., the Acting Secretary of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), stood as the conference’s keynote speaker. “Protection against cyber-attack needs to start with organization[s] and individuals taking responsibility for the cyber security of their own computer systems. However, it is also important for us to work collectively specially in protecting our essential services against cyber-attacks”, he said in his speech.
Endorsed by the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) and conducted in partnership with the DICT, the forum featured topics and cases on security and privacy issues in the cyber space as insightful talks were given by a roster of reputable and knowledgeable resource persons from the industry.
Engr. Jose Carlos P. Reyes, Technical Consultant at the DICT’s Cybersecurity Bureau, presented the National Cybersecurity Plan 2022 in his talk, where he also emphasized that tools created for online security would not be relevant without “the right policies in place”.
Engr. John Peter Abraham Q. Ruero, President of the Information Systems Security Association – Philippine Chapter, focused on the topic “Capacitating Human Capital on Cybersecurity”; while Dr. Rolando R. Lansigan, Chief of the Compliance and Monitoring Division of the National Privacy Commisson, dissected the details of the Data Privacy Act in his talk “Right to Privacy in the Digital Age”.
A discussion on “Cybercrime Enforcement and Digital Forensics” was then given by PO3 Jeremiah James E. Cajayon, a Digital Forensic Examiner from the Philippine National Police’s Anti Cybercrime Group. An awarded criminologist, Mr. Cajayon is an OLFU alumnus from batch 2005.
Participants actively took part in the open forums that succeeded each talk as they raised their questions and shared key takeaways from the sessions.
Closing the program, conference chair Dr. Raymond S. Macatangga, Dean of the College of Computer Studies, extended his gratitude to everyone who made the event possible.
Indeed, the conference was a good opportunity for pupils, educators and industry experts alike. With a timely agenda, the event asserted the vitality of learning how to adapt to the fast-evolving world’s presence in the digital sphere— learning that could “lead to a secured and peacemaking world in cyber space”, as championed by the theme of this national conference.
