Curtis Blais
Shared Chief Information Security Officer, Cybera
Mr. Blais is a multi-discipline certified IT professional, cleared to Secret with over 30 years of experience in the IT industry. His career spans numerous disciplines in IT including application development; design, build and operations of internetworking environments; design, construction/maintenance of information security architectures; governance, risk, and compliance consulting; enterprise risk management; and strategic security leadership as a shared Chief Information Security Officer. Mr. Blais has provided services to every level of government and held numerous positions in the private sector including Board of Director appointments for privately held corporations and a non-profit. In conjunction with his multiple certifications in networking, security and risk, Mr. Blais holds a masters degree in leadership and organizational change from Royal Roads University; is the author/creator of a Risk-based Information Security Model; completed Harvard’s Cyber Risk Management program at the top of his cohort; was the principle author of the National Cybersecurity Assessment Report on the state of cybersecurity in higher learning in Canada; and is currently working on a manuscript for a book detailing a simple mechanism to formalize Information Security programs.
Dave Kubert
Chief Information Security Officer, University of Northern British Columbia
Dave is the chief information security officer for the University of Northern British Columbia. He’s spent his career in academia working in Unix systems administration, network engineering, and software development before finally surrendering the last vestiges of his soul and moving into information security. Dave’s professional interests include redefining the role of information security in organizational structures, risk governance, walking a fine line, and being in over his head.
Don Thompson
Chief Information Security Officer, University of British Columbia
Don has been involved with post-secondary institutions for more than 30 years, as a student, researcher, instructor and administrator. He has been UBC’s Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) since 2017. As CISO, Don manages a team of cybersecurity experts to ensure UBC is well-positioned to defend against an evolving threat landscape, lower the risk of significant data or financial loss, and establish UBC as a leader in these areas for post-secondary.
Sunny Jassal
CISO and Interim CIO, BCIT
Sunny is a transformational leader accomplished at developing and executing business strategy with a mission to enable and secure digital transformation. He is a passionate technologist and trusted leader striving to deliver innovative technology solutions with strong credibility across business and technology groups. Sunny brings over two decades of progressive on-the-ground IT experience leading highly technical teams across various sectors. Sunny has special interests in Cybersecurity and Governance and leads by the principle of ‘security by design’.