News Release

In the wake of the Sept.11 terrorist attacks, how should information technology researchers weigh the competing demands of security and privacy? Can the nation guard against criminal behavior without jeopardizing the personal freedom promised by new forms of electronic communication?

Ben Shneiderman, a prominent computer scientist who believes researchers must now reconsider how they develop and apply information and communication technologies, will present his views during a program Thursday, Feb. 21, at the Homewood campus of The Johns Hopkins University.

The talk by Shneiderman, founding director of the Human-Computer Interaction Laboratory at the University of Maryland, College Park, will kick off The Johns Hopkins University Information Security Institute's spring seminar series.

Shneiderman, a professor of computer science, will speak on "A Research Agenda for the New Computing: Preventing Terrorism, Strengthening Communities, Reducing Inequities."

The presentation will begin at 10:30 a.m. in Room 3, Shaffer Hall on the University's Homewood campus, 3400 N. Charles St., Baltimore. The event is free and open to the public.

The hour-long program is part of a lecture series organized by the university's new Information Security Institute, established to tackle the complex technological, legal, ethical and public policy challenges of keeping information private and computer systems secure in an increasingly electronic world.

The institute conducts research and offers courses, drawing on experts from nearly every school and division in the university. It will work in partnership with industry and government agencies.