WEBVTT - IBM and HBCUs: Fueling a New Generation of Cybersecurity Experts 0:00:04.440 --> 0:00:12.760 Welcome to Tech Stuff, a production from iHeartRadio. This season 0:00:12.760 --> 0:00:15.840 of Smart Talks with IBM is all about new creators, 0:00:16.079 --> 0:00:21.360 the developers, data scientists, CTOs, and other visionaries creatively applying 0:00:21.400 --> 0:00:25.280 technology in business to drive change. They use their knowledge 0:00:25.280 --> 0:00:28.280 and creativity to develop better ways of working, no matter 0:00:28.360 --> 0:00:32.800 the industry. Join hosts from your favorite Pushkin Industries podcasts 0:00:32.840 --> 0:00:36.040 as they use their expertise to deepen these conversations, and 0:00:36.120 --> 0:00:38.800 of course, Malcolm Gladwell will guide you through the season 0:00:38.840 --> 0:00:41.760 as your host and provide his thoughts and analysis along 0:00:41.760 --> 0:00:44.640 the way. Look out for new episodes of Smart Talks 0:00:44.640 --> 0:00:48.160 with IBM on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever 0:00:48.200 --> 0:00:51.360 you get your podcasts, and learn more at IBM dot 0:00:51.400 --> 0:00:53.200 com slash smart talks. 0:00:55.280 --> 0:00:58.600 Hello, Hello, Welcome to Smart Talks with IBM, a podcast 0:00:58.640 --> 0:01:04.280 from Pushkin Industries, iHeartRadio and IBM. I'm Malcolm Gladwell. This season, 0:01:04.319 --> 0:01:08.320 we're talking to the new creators, the developers, data scientists, 0:01:08.360 --> 0:01:12.760 CTOs and other visionaries who are creatively applying technology in 0:01:12.880 --> 0:01:17.640 business to drive change. Channeling their knowledge and expertise, they're 0:01:17.640 --> 0:01:21.800 developing more creative and effective solutions no matter the industry. 0:01:22.400 --> 0:01:26.440 Our guest today is doctor Derek Warren, Associate Dean and 0:01:26.520 --> 0:01:30.480 Director of Graduate Programs at the Southern University College of Business. 0:01:31.040 --> 0:01:34.400 After a thirty two year career at IBM, Derek chose 0:01:34.440 --> 0:01:37.480 to become a professor, and as a professor in the 0:01:37.480 --> 0:01:41.360 business school of a historically black university, it's his job 0:01:41.720 --> 0:01:45.200 to make sure Southern University students acquire the skills they 0:01:45.240 --> 0:01:49.720 need to remain competitive in the modern job market. For Derek, 0:01:50.120 --> 0:01:54.080 that's where cybersecurity comes in. But nearly half a million 0:01:54.240 --> 0:01:57.600 unfilled jobs in the US alone, the industries demand for 0:01:57.640 --> 0:02:03.040 professionals with technical experts is staggerant. In an effort to 0:02:03.080 --> 0:02:06.200 bridge the gap, in twenty twenty two, IBM announced a 0:02:06.240 --> 0:02:12.119 collaboration with twenty HBCUs to establish a Cybersecurity the Leadership 0:02:12.200 --> 0:02:16.440 Center at each of them. Through this partnership, hbcu' students 0:02:16.440 --> 0:02:20.639 have gained access to IBM training, software and credentials at 0:02:20.680 --> 0:02:23.280 no cost to them, with the aim of building the 0:02:23.400 --> 0:02:28.799 vibrant and diverse workforce cybersecurity urgently needs. In today's episode, 0:02:28.960 --> 0:02:32.240 you'll hear how Derek is using IBM's skills build a 0:02:32.280 --> 0:02:35.600 suite of courses focusing on business and tech to arm 0:02:35.639 --> 0:02:39.480 his students with the knowledge necessary to stand out to employers, 0:02:39.720 --> 0:02:44.280 and his approach to inspiring creativity and himself and his students. 0:02:45.200 --> 0:02:48.120 Derek spoke with doctor Lory Santos, host of the Pushkin 0:02:48.200 --> 0:02:52.160 podcast The Happiness Lab. Laurie is a professor of psychology 0:02:52.200 --> 0:02:55.960 at Yale University and an expert on human cognition and 0:02:56.080 --> 0:03:05.480 mental well being. Okay, let's get to the interview. 0:03:07.360 --> 0:03:09.160 Derek, tell us a little bit about your role at 0:03:09.200 --> 0:03:10.520 Southern University System. 0:03:11.000 --> 0:03:15.640 I am the Associate dean and director of Graduate Programs 0:03:15.639 --> 0:03:18.600 for the Southern University College of Business. I'm also an 0:03:18.680 --> 0:03:22.200 associate Professor of management as well as the single point 0:03:22.200 --> 0:03:24.840 of contact our SPOCK as we like to call it, 0:03:25.240 --> 0:03:29.080 for our relationship with IBM Global University Programs. 0:03:29.800 --> 0:03:31.960 And so, then walk me through your role at IBM, Like, 0:03:32.000 --> 0:03:34.120 how does that connect to your role at SUS today. 0:03:35.360 --> 0:03:40.960 Well, I am a thirty two year IBM alumnus. I 0:03:41.040 --> 0:03:44.160 started with IBM right out of college. I graduated from 0:03:44.240 --> 0:03:48.839 Southern University in computer science and after getting those job 0:03:48.880 --> 0:03:52.200 ovels with IBM, I started in Tampa, Florida there and 0:03:53.200 --> 0:03:58.480 had a very vibrant, exciting and fulfilling career with IBM 0:03:58.640 --> 0:04:01.760 and after returning to so Than after retiring, got a 0:04:01.800 --> 0:04:05.160 call from a colleague at IBM Vice President said, you 0:04:05.240 --> 0:04:09.120 need to speak to someone in IBM Global University Programs 0:04:09.160 --> 0:04:13.720 because we have these spectacular programs and HBCUs don't seem 0:04:13.760 --> 0:04:17.800 to be taking advantage of them enough. So I said, hey, 0:04:18.040 --> 0:04:22.279 I'm happy to listen. We did that first conversation, I said, 0:04:22.480 --> 0:04:27.960 these would be fantastic for Southern University, primarily I'm At 0:04:27.960 --> 0:04:30.880 that time, I was director of Alumni for Southern University, 0:04:31.520 --> 0:04:36.040 and my thinking was these programs could help not only 0:04:36.160 --> 0:04:39.480 level the playing field, but further differentiate us and our 0:04:39.560 --> 0:04:44.240 students by providing access to these in demand technologies that 0:04:44.320 --> 0:04:48.599 were offered through IBM Global University Programs. So the technologies 0:04:48.640 --> 0:04:55.599 focused around artificial intelligence, blockchain, cloud computing, cybersecurity, data science, 0:04:55.720 --> 0:05:00.560 design thinking, the Internet of Things, and quantum computing. Providing 0:05:00.600 --> 0:05:06.760 that access was something that I definitely wanted Southern University faculty, staff, 0:05:06.800 --> 0:05:08.800 and students to be involved in. 0:05:09.520 --> 0:05:12.640 So today's episode is all about the need for diversity 0:05:12.640 --> 0:05:16.039 in cybersecurity. So talk about the role that diversity should 0:05:16.080 --> 0:05:17.760 be playing in cybersecurity today. 0:05:18.839 --> 0:05:25.040 Diversity in and itself offers the opportunity to introduce and 0:05:25.080 --> 0:05:30.480 to include broader perspectives, different trains of thought. And when 0:05:30.520 --> 0:05:34.680 you think about cybersecurity and the dangers of it and 0:05:34.720 --> 0:05:37.960 the number of bad actors that are at play there, 0:05:38.320 --> 0:05:43.479 you need as much diverse thinking to help solve these 0:05:43.520 --> 0:05:47.279 problems as possible. And cybersecurity is one of the hottest 0:05:47.760 --> 0:05:51.200 feels available. There are hundreds of thousands of jobs. I 0:05:51.200 --> 0:05:55.600 believe the forecast is somewhere around between three and five 0:05:55.680 --> 0:06:01.800 hundred thousand current cybersecurity job openings, and that is anticipated 0:06:01.839 --> 0:06:05.360 to grow certainly by the year twenty twenty five. So 0:06:05.760 --> 0:06:10.040 we're going to need a workforce that is inclusive, that 0:06:11.080 --> 0:06:14.640 has the opportunity for very thoughts so that we can 0:06:14.680 --> 0:06:21.080 avoid blind spots and pitfalls, that allows all of us 0:06:21.120 --> 0:06:23.479 to work together to solve these problems. And the other 0:06:23.480 --> 0:06:27.240 thing about cybersecurity is that it is adaptive, so it 0:06:27.360 --> 0:06:29.680 is changing every day. As soon as we get a 0:06:29.680 --> 0:06:34.479 fix for one particular exposure area, the hackers figure out 0:06:34.480 --> 0:06:37.279 a way to introduce a new one around it. So 0:06:37.400 --> 0:06:41.360 it's going to take us constantly working together, the good 0:06:41.400 --> 0:06:45.400 actors working together to help combat the forces of evil. 0:06:46.240 --> 0:06:48.120 That are out there in the world today, and I 0:06:48.120 --> 0:06:50.599 think this is where education can be so pivotal to 0:06:50.640 --> 0:06:53.320 make sure that we have that diverse workforce who has 0:06:53.360 --> 0:06:56.120 the right training. And so you've said before, the education 0:06:56.320 --> 0:06:58.560 is the great equalizer in a world that is not 0:06:58.640 --> 0:07:01.159 always fair. A little bit more what you mean by 0:07:01.240 --> 0:07:02.200 that statement. 0:07:02.880 --> 0:07:05.880 Oh wow, I live by that statement. I do feel 0:07:05.920 --> 0:07:11.240 that education can help one overcome poverty. Education can help 0:07:12.400 --> 0:07:20.600 expose individuals to new opportunities. As part of our college specifically, 0:07:20.640 --> 0:07:26.040 we have a goal of poverty elimination, and I firmly 0:07:26.120 --> 0:07:33.120 believe that using education will help individuals who may not 0:07:33.440 --> 0:07:42.480 have been afforded access to economic benefits growing up. Learning 0:07:43.320 --> 0:07:46.720 new items, new areas, especially in these hot demand areas, 0:07:47.000 --> 0:07:51.200 can certainly help one secure jobs. Education has also been 0:07:51.320 --> 0:07:55.360 proven to help with discipline discipline problems. It's been proven 0:07:55.720 --> 0:08:01.680 to help to mitigate crime. It's been proved even to 0:08:01.720 --> 0:08:07.400 help individuals think differently about and to appreciate the world 0:08:07.400 --> 0:08:09.880 that we live in. And that's why I believe education 0:08:10.040 --> 0:08:14.960 clearly is something that can help cure many of the 0:08:15.040 --> 0:08:17.160 eels that currently exist in the world today. 0:08:17.560 --> 0:08:20.000 I agree with you completely about this philosophy, but I'm 0:08:20.040 --> 0:08:22.920 curious how that philosophy applies to your work with IBM 0:08:23.040 --> 0:08:25.720 and Southern University System. 0:08:26.160 --> 0:08:34.680 Well, the IBM initiative clearly introduces just a whole array 0:08:34.960 --> 0:08:40.960 of technology assets to our university community. So I'm a 0:08:40.960 --> 0:08:43.800 firm believer. Another mantra that I have is that there 0:08:43.840 --> 0:08:49.200 is no business without technology and no technology without business. 0:08:50.000 --> 0:08:53.440 So as such, these assets and the training that is 0:08:53.480 --> 0:08:57.120 provided helps, especially here in the College of Business, which 0:08:57.160 --> 0:09:00.000 is where I sit. I am firmly of the believe 0:09:00.559 --> 0:09:06.520 that all of our business majors need technology as a foundation. 0:09:06.840 --> 0:09:11.600 So my business majors learn about artificial intelligence. They are 0:09:11.679 --> 0:09:14.840 learning about chat, GPT and the other GPTs that are 0:09:14.800 --> 0:09:18.079 out there even as we speak. They need to understand 0:09:18.160 --> 0:09:22.280 cloud computing because everything that we do today touches the 0:09:22.280 --> 0:09:25.760 cloud in some way. They need to understand the role 0:09:25.840 --> 0:09:30.800 cybersecurity plays and why having a strong zero trust posture 0:09:31.280 --> 0:09:34.440 is important regardless of what industry that they're working in. 0:09:35.000 --> 0:09:37.760 Understanding data science and how to get insights out of 0:09:37.880 --> 0:09:41.560 data so that you can make better decisions and you 0:09:41.600 --> 0:09:46.000 can solve bigger problems is extremely important. Design thinking, which 0:09:46.120 --> 0:09:50.800 touches on creative problem solving, critical thinking specifically from a 0:09:51.200 --> 0:09:55.040 customer perspective is very important if you're going to help 0:09:55.559 --> 0:09:59.240 and my view, create a better customer experience for the 0:09:59.280 --> 0:10:02.680 clients that you serve out there. And again, everything we do, 0:10:03.240 --> 0:10:07.880 including our podcast today, is touching the Internet of things. 0:10:08.400 --> 0:10:10.800 And I won't even get into quantum computing. That's not 0:10:11.200 --> 0:10:13.720 I'm not expert in that space, but I will tell 0:10:13.760 --> 0:10:17.880 you a lot's happening there as well. So introducing our 0:10:18.240 --> 0:10:22.319 university family to these in demand technologies, to me, is 0:10:22.360 --> 0:10:25.800 a priority and it's part of my purpose being here. 0:10:26.840 --> 0:10:28.680 I mean, it's clear you're bringing the work that you 0:10:28.720 --> 0:10:31.320 did with IBM, you know, into your role as a 0:10:31.320 --> 0:10:34.319 professor and kind of training the students. But I'm curious 0:10:34.320 --> 0:10:37.640 how your work with IBM shaped your initial desire to 0:10:37.679 --> 0:10:39.559 go into academia in the first place. 0:10:40.400 --> 0:10:46.160 Well, that's an interesting question, Laurd. My parents were educators, 0:10:46.960 --> 0:10:52.880 so learning has always been at the forefront of my 0:10:52.960 --> 0:10:55.240 life when it comes down to it. I still remember 0:10:55.400 --> 0:11:01.040 my dad, who was a football coach in a small 0:11:01.080 --> 0:11:04.680 town in North Louisiana, Colled Bastrip, Louisiana, would take me 0:11:04.760 --> 0:11:07.320 to games or would have me sit in this class. 0:11:07.520 --> 0:11:12.040 Same with my mom. Primarily taught at the elementary school 0:11:12.120 --> 0:11:15.920 level and still does a lot of work in our 0:11:15.960 --> 0:11:20.640 hometown in North Louisiana. They really, truth be told help 0:11:20.720 --> 0:11:26.840 shape my desire to always continually learn and the importance 0:11:26.840 --> 0:11:29.480 of education. In fact, I tell people to this day 0:11:29.520 --> 0:11:32.880 that I didn't realize I had a choice of going 0:11:32.920 --> 0:11:35.199 to college or not going to college. I always thought, 0:11:35.880 --> 0:11:39.160 you know, it was part of that progression that I 0:11:39.200 --> 0:11:41.840 didn't realize until after I graduated from college that really 0:11:41.880 --> 0:11:43.640 I could have chosen not to go to college. I'm 0:11:43.679 --> 0:11:46.640 glad that I did not make that choice, but I 0:11:46.760 --> 0:11:50.080 never realized I had a choice in the battle. So 0:11:50.600 --> 0:11:54.080 that and then jumping into IBM. From the first day 0:11:54.160 --> 0:11:57.600 that I joined IBM in Tampa, Florida, with the IBM 0:11:57.640 --> 0:12:03.120 Information Network, at that time, we were immersed in education. 0:12:03.800 --> 0:12:09.920 We were always being encouraged to learn. Learning equals growth, 0:12:11.040 --> 0:12:19.880 Learning equals promotional opportunities. Learning equals just in a sense, happiness. 0:12:20.320 --> 0:12:24.839 So I get joy when I'm learning, and that's helped 0:12:24.920 --> 0:12:29.840 with my desire to share what I've gained from my 0:12:30.040 --> 0:12:35.400 experiences with IBM with my students, with my peers and colleagues, 0:12:35.800 --> 0:12:40.200 with my bosses here at Southern University and other HBCUs 0:12:40.240 --> 0:12:40.600 as well. 0:12:41.800 --> 0:12:43.320 And so while we through an example of how this 0:12:43.360 --> 0:12:45.000 partnership really comes to life in the. 0:12:45.000 --> 0:12:50.440 Classroom, Well, I'll give you a pretty recent example. We 0:12:50.600 --> 0:12:55.920 recently sponsored here on the campus a symposium and we 0:12:55.960 --> 0:13:01.400 called that symposium cyber TIP. So see why I be TIP, 0:13:02.040 --> 0:13:07.360 and the TIP stands for Talent Initiative Program. And we 0:13:07.640 --> 0:13:14.600 used our partnership with IBM to introduce cybersecurity concepts to 0:13:15.040 --> 0:13:19.959 virtually every college on campus and every discipline, and we 0:13:20.000 --> 0:13:25.280 brought together students. We advertised it, brought students together and 0:13:25.440 --> 0:13:31.240 challenged them to come up with different cybersecurity topics in 0:13:31.280 --> 0:13:35.240 a variety of areas. So we had ad majors, we 0:13:35.320 --> 0:13:42.120 had nursing majors, we had engineers, our civil engineers, mechanical engineers, 0:13:42.160 --> 0:13:48.760 we had finance accounting. All disciplines basically were challenged to 0:13:48.880 --> 0:13:54.240 come up with a cybersecurity related topic that they could 0:13:54.280 --> 0:13:58.320 relate to, and we awarded the top ten presentations. So 0:13:58.360 --> 0:14:03.800 there were fifty presentations. The top ten received additional recognition 0:14:04.800 --> 0:14:07.720 and believe it or not, Laurie I was blown away. 0:14:07.800 --> 0:14:14.520 A student that I mentored with a freshman female received 0:14:14.520 --> 0:14:18.080 the top price, and she gives the cybersecurity and supply 0:14:18.200 --> 0:14:20.280 chain and she was a business major, so you would 0:14:20.280 --> 0:14:22.800 almost think cybersecurity, that's going to be somebody in sciences 0:14:22.840 --> 0:14:25.640 and engineering and so on and on. But a freshman 0:14:25.720 --> 0:14:29.120 student did a topic on cybersecurity and supply chain her 0:14:29.160 --> 0:14:33.560 minor and supply chain management, and she actually was awarded 0:14:33.560 --> 0:14:37.160 the top presentation, So I was extremely excited. Another one 0:14:37.240 --> 0:14:41.360 that got high ratings was cybersecurity in the fashion industry. 0:14:41.960 --> 0:14:46.040 And then you had cybersecurity with regard to plant sciences 0:14:46.120 --> 0:14:50.320 and agriculture. And then to see the creativity with the 0:14:50.320 --> 0:14:56.400 students and how they researched the topics and their skill 0:14:56.480 --> 0:15:01.280 in presenting their skill and responding to questions, their skill 0:15:01.440 --> 0:15:05.720 in saying, hey, here's the problem, here are some recommended solutions. 0:15:06.920 --> 0:15:11.480 Just to see that growth made me extremely happy. 0:15:11.800 --> 0:15:14.520 I love hearing about the breath with which they're using 0:15:14.600 --> 0:15:16.960 cybersecurity in the classroom. That you can apply it in 0:15:17.080 --> 0:15:19.320 egg or in fashion, in all these domains. It also 0:15:19.400 --> 0:15:22.880 means that students who leave who maybe not going into 0:15:22.880 --> 0:15:26.480 cybersecurity themselves, understand the problems that come up in whatever 0:15:26.560 --> 0:15:30.400 industry they're in exactly. But you've also been using IBM 0:15:30.480 --> 0:15:33.680 Skills Build for coursework and certification. Can you tell us 0:15:33.680 --> 0:15:36.160 a little more about what skills build is and how 0:15:36.160 --> 0:15:37.800 you've leveraged all these resources. 0:15:38.680 --> 0:15:43.320 We use skills builds specifically to augment our existing courses. 0:15:44.040 --> 0:15:49.400 For example, I taught a business analytics course this past semester. 0:15:50.040 --> 0:15:55.600 That business Analytics course uses IBM Skills Build Data Science 0:15:55.760 --> 0:15:59.960 course as its course content. I use all of the modules. 0:16:00.080 --> 0:16:03.560 There are eight to nine modules that touch on landscape, 0:16:04.880 --> 0:16:11.160 data science, case studies, the future trends, touches on all 0:16:11.200 --> 0:16:13.600 of those things that I use. It as both an 0:16:13.680 --> 0:16:16.880 eight week course and a sixteen week course depending on 0:16:16.920 --> 0:16:20.360 the modality that is delivered. When they exit that course, 0:16:20.360 --> 0:16:23.440 they not only exit with three credit hours. If they 0:16:23.480 --> 0:16:26.520 exit the course successfully completing the course content, I should 0:16:26.560 --> 0:16:29.800 say they not only exit with three credit hours in 0:16:29.920 --> 0:16:34.680 data science data analytics, they also receive a stackable credential 0:16:35.360 --> 0:16:39.280 and data analytics which they can of course take with them. 0:16:39.480 --> 0:16:42.440 They can share it on LinkedIn, they can share it 0:16:42.480 --> 0:16:49.200 on Facebook or Twitter. Basically use it to showcase the 0:16:49.200 --> 0:16:52.040 skills that they've required in that space. And the same 0:16:52.280 --> 0:16:56.120 occurs with cybersecurity, with cloud and with the other Skills 0:16:56.120 --> 0:17:01.560 Build offerings. Skills Build also touches in other areas such 0:17:01.600 --> 0:17:06.480 as mindfulness. Skills Bill has courses on entrepreneurship, which is 0:17:06.520 --> 0:17:09.120 extremely important to our College of Business, as we try 0:17:09.119 --> 0:17:12.880 to push and promote an entrepreneurial mindset, as we try 0:17:12.920 --> 0:17:17.920 to push and promote financial literacy, as we work to 0:17:18.040 --> 0:17:24.280 encourage digital literacy, and we actually use skills Build as 0:17:24.320 --> 0:17:27.240 part of many of our community initiatives. So our surrounding 0:17:27.280 --> 0:17:31.479 community and the world, we've introduced skills Build to them also, 0:17:31.920 --> 0:17:35.600 And now that I think about it, Laurie, we've actually 0:17:35.800 --> 0:17:38.639 we did a trip to Ghana last June. We'll be 0:17:38.680 --> 0:17:43.159 going back this June. The most popular session of the 0:17:43.200 --> 0:17:49.879 trip was when I introduce our Ghanian colleagues to skills Bill. 0:17:49.920 --> 0:17:53.520 Because it is international, I introduced them to Skills Bill. 0:17:53.680 --> 0:17:56.000 They allowed me to teach one of the classes. This 0:17:56.119 --> 0:17:59.840 is an extremely large university, it's ka nus Kwama and 0:18:00.040 --> 0:18:03.639 from a University of Science and Technology. I introduced it 0:18:03.680 --> 0:18:09.000 to a class and within a week, within a week, 0:18:09.119 --> 0:18:12.840 we had over three hundred students that had taken the 0:18:12.920 --> 0:18:15.879 Design Thinking Course, which is a two hour self paced 0:18:15.920 --> 0:18:19.320 course of fourteen lessons. Over three hundred students had taken 0:18:19.320 --> 0:18:22.119 the course. By the time I returned to the US 0:18:22.320 --> 0:18:26.320 a couple of weeks later, over eight hundred students had 0:18:26.359 --> 0:18:31.160 taken the course. So the impact of Skills Build and 0:18:31.400 --> 0:18:37.720 the exposure to these technologies and these stack credentials, to 0:18:37.800 --> 0:18:40.719 me has not just a US impact, but it has 0:18:40.760 --> 0:18:41.680 a global impact. 0:18:43.680 --> 0:18:46.399 I love how excited Derek Getz when he talks about teaching. 0:18:46.920 --> 0:18:49.919 He's a genuine passion for exposing others to new knowledge 0:18:50.080 --> 0:18:54.280 they otherwise wouldn't encounter. And it's remarkable that he's using 0:18:54.280 --> 0:18:57.959 IBM Skills Build to do that work internationally, be it 0:18:58.040 --> 0:19:02.520 the cybersecurity of fashion in Louisiana or design thinking in Ghana. 0:19:03.320 --> 0:19:06.560 As Derek will explain to Laurie in a moment, that exposure, 0:19:07.040 --> 0:19:11.080 those first time experiences can spark a newfound creativity in 0:19:11.119 --> 0:19:14.159 a person. Let's listen on as Derek gets into the 0:19:14.200 --> 0:19:16.840 creative aspect of his work as an educator. 0:19:17.640 --> 0:19:20.840 So this season of Smart Talks with IBM is focused 0:19:20.840 --> 0:19:24.120 on the new creators, these visionaries who are creatively applying 0:19:24.160 --> 0:19:27.360 technology and business to drive change. Do you see your 0:19:27.359 --> 0:19:28.240 work as creative? 0:19:28.720 --> 0:19:32.879 Oh, without a doubt, without and I'm not trying. I'm 0:19:32.920 --> 0:19:34.960 not bragging when I say that I will about a 0:19:35.320 --> 0:19:39.800 sound like I'm bragging, But I really do believe that 0:19:39.920 --> 0:19:44.240 this has allowed me to level up, to say the least. 0:19:44.600 --> 0:19:49.320 So I think I am a creator of innovative and 0:19:49.520 --> 0:19:57.080 enhanced educational experiences for our students, for my peer faculty, 0:19:57.640 --> 0:20:02.360 for our deans and provos, even our university president, chancellor 0:20:02.440 --> 0:20:05.040 and the other chancellors on our other four campuses. 0:20:05.280 --> 0:20:07.160 And so when you speak to your students, how does 0:20:07.240 --> 0:20:12.280 diversity help cultivate creativity within this field of cybersecurity in particular. 0:20:13.119 --> 0:20:22.560 Well, it cultivates creativity clearly because it helps us understand 0:20:23.000 --> 0:20:26.879 each other. I believe one of my greatest experiences, and 0:20:26.960 --> 0:20:31.879 this occurred when I was with IBM. iBIM afforded me 0:20:31.920 --> 0:20:37.560 the opportunity of living abroad for over seven years. I 0:20:37.640 --> 0:20:41.040 lived in Tokyo for over a year. I lived in 0:20:41.119 --> 0:20:45.680 Shanghai for two plus years. I lived in Johannesburg, South 0:20:45.720 --> 0:20:49.320 Africa for a little of a year helping a large 0:20:49.440 --> 0:20:53.520 multinational corporation prepare for the World Cup, and then I 0:20:53.600 --> 0:20:58.439 returned to the US and did additional two years working 0:20:58.560 --> 0:21:02.560 with various clients of IBMS and then went back to 0:21:02.680 --> 0:21:09.119 Shinjin China, and so that exposure to different cultures, to 0:21:09.520 --> 0:21:13.680 diverse cultures, to individuals. Because some people think of diversity 0:21:13.680 --> 0:21:20.080 as black and white, it's not. Diversity includes thinking ways 0:21:20.080 --> 0:21:24.679 of thinking. Diversity is much more than just skin color 0:21:24.720 --> 0:21:29.560 and human beings. Diversity is in learning, it's in education. 0:21:30.720 --> 0:21:34.480 It's like you said just now, it's in cyber security 0:21:34.600 --> 0:21:38.720 because right now, the things that we are being hit 0:21:38.840 --> 0:21:41.840 with from a cyber standpoint, I was just reading that 0:21:41.960 --> 0:21:47.040 chat GBT got hit with a cyber attack. It it 0:21:47.080 --> 0:21:48.879 was hacked that they had to be taken down for 0:21:49.400 --> 0:21:55.240 a minute. So it's going to really involve us continuously 0:21:55.400 --> 0:22:03.800 being creative in order to pro actively address problems over 0:22:03.800 --> 0:22:06.359 the day as well as reactively address those that we 0:22:06.480 --> 0:22:10.239 can't anticipate that are certainly going to happen as we 0:22:10.280 --> 0:22:12.320 move forward. As educators, we've. 0:22:12.200 --> 0:22:14.840 Been talking so much about how you've used creativity in 0:22:14.880 --> 0:22:17.760 the classroom, but you know, as a colleague professor myself, 0:22:17.800 --> 0:22:19.919 I know that one of the perks of being in 0:22:20.000 --> 0:22:22.159 academia is that your students go off and they do 0:22:22.200 --> 0:22:24.600 all these amazing things in the real world. And so 0:22:24.640 --> 0:22:27.760 I'm curious if you've ever interacted with students after graduation? 0:22:28.080 --> 0:22:30.879 Have they taken this principle of creativity and applied it 0:22:30.880 --> 0:22:32.800 in their own work life? And if so, can you 0:22:32.800 --> 0:22:33.680 share some stories? 0:22:34.800 --> 0:22:37.120 Oh, without a doubt, Without a doubt. And a couple 0:22:37.160 --> 0:22:40.560 of my students that I'm extremely proud of. This student 0:22:40.760 --> 0:22:42.560 was out of our loss and one of our loss 0:22:43.280 --> 0:22:48.080 students who took the in fact, they took cybersecurity and 0:22:48.119 --> 0:22:52.080 I believe they took the data science courses after taking 0:22:52.119 --> 0:22:58.040 those courses. He developed and has developed and it's now 0:22:58.040 --> 0:23:04.840 in its second year a journal of IP law and technology. 0:23:05.320 --> 0:23:08.640 She created a journal. She created it as a student, 0:23:09.440 --> 0:23:12.520 was the first editor of course of the journal, and 0:23:12.600 --> 0:23:15.560 now that journal is going into his second or third year. 0:23:16.840 --> 0:23:22.320 To hear her say that our courses and this partnership 0:23:22.359 --> 0:23:27.199 with IBM inspired her to create that journal as a 0:23:27.240 --> 0:23:32.159 law student is probably one of my private accomplishments. The 0:23:32.240 --> 0:23:36.200 other accomplishment I'd like to mention is I get emails 0:23:36.240 --> 0:23:42.360 from students regularly that say, hey, I completed the IBM 0:23:42.440 --> 0:23:45.960 Skills Build course and cyber are and Data Science r 0:23:46.000 --> 0:23:49.960 INAI added it to my LinkedIn profile, and hey, I'm 0:23:49.960 --> 0:23:54.480 getting calls from a variety of companies, Google and Microsoft 0:23:54.560 --> 0:23:59.280 and Adobe and Meta, all these different companies. Now, because 0:23:59.440 --> 0:24:02.720 as you know, companies are using AI to kind of 0:24:02.760 --> 0:24:07.200 peruse through LinkedIn for keywords. But because they've taken these 0:24:07.359 --> 0:24:10.720 and completed these digital credentials, these stack of credentials, they're 0:24:10.760 --> 0:24:16.320 getting job opportunities and one in particularly because of the 0:24:16.400 --> 0:24:19.280 digital credential that they added, they were able to get 0:24:19.440 --> 0:24:23.040 promotional opportunities. So I've had several that have ridden me, 0:24:23.280 --> 0:24:25.119 you know, to thank me and say, listen, thanks for 0:24:25.160 --> 0:24:28.280 bringing this to us because I just received a new promotion, 0:24:28.440 --> 0:24:33.120 I've gotten a new job. So hearing that from our 0:24:33.160 --> 0:24:38.360 graduates and seeing that they're using what they're gaining through 0:24:38.400 --> 0:24:43.160 this partnership for their growth and success has been extremely 0:24:43.200 --> 0:24:44.080 fulfilling for me. 0:24:44.600 --> 0:24:47.360 That's great. And so you've said before that if you're 0:24:47.400 --> 0:24:50.560 not uncomfortable, you're not learning. How do you apply this 0:24:50.600 --> 0:24:53.520 philosophy to your own life and how do you encourage others, 0:24:53.640 --> 0:24:56.359 especially your students, to go outside their comfort zone. 0:24:57.920 --> 0:25:03.800 Well, that quote actually was derived from a quote that 0:25:04.359 --> 0:25:08.640 I heard Jenny Rimedi, who was IBM's first female CEO, 0:25:08.880 --> 0:25:13.480 who I admired greatly. She said, growth and comfort cannot coexist, 0:25:15.480 --> 0:25:18.080 and when you think about it, it can't. I mean, 0:25:18.720 --> 0:25:21.679 you got to get uncomfortable, you know. I tell my 0:25:21.720 --> 0:25:24.280 students all the time, you're going to suffer pain. You 0:25:24.320 --> 0:25:27.520 can suffer the pain of discipline or the pain of regret. 0:25:28.119 --> 0:25:32.560 And I certainly would prefer to go through discipline then 0:25:32.920 --> 0:25:37.000 then regretting something that I did. So I really well, 0:25:37.040 --> 0:25:41.080 I'll give you a story when I was first offered 0:25:41.119 --> 0:25:44.640 the assignment in Tokyo and my family and I were 0:25:44.800 --> 0:25:47.760 in Tokyo. We arrived in Tokyo. Of course, Tokyo is 0:25:47.760 --> 0:25:50.600 one of the largest, if not the largest city metropolitan 0:25:50.640 --> 0:25:54.199 area in the world, with thirty plus million people. We 0:25:54.280 --> 0:25:59.280 got there, it was intimidating, extremely intimidating. Well, during that week, 0:25:59.359 --> 0:26:03.159 while we were god of huddled in our apartment, I 0:26:03.240 --> 0:26:09.320 remember hearing a presentation around the question when was the 0:26:09.400 --> 0:26:13.760 last time you did something for the first time? So 0:26:14.359 --> 0:26:18.760 I took that question and I created a challenge with 0:26:18.920 --> 0:26:22.240 my family. It was a family challenge, and that family 0:26:22.320 --> 0:26:26.200 challenge was listen, every week, we're going to have first 0:26:26.240 --> 0:26:29.159 time experiences. We're here in Tokyo. It's a brand new place. 0:26:29.480 --> 0:26:31.359 We're going to have first time experiences and then we're 0:26:31.400 --> 0:26:34.919 going to do report outs of playbacks at the end 0:26:34.920 --> 0:26:37.399 of the week, doing family meetings. So my daughter and 0:26:37.440 --> 0:26:40.520 I were the two that really took on the challenge. 0:26:40.560 --> 0:26:43.320 She's pretty competitive now, she's a PR EXECU in New 0:26:43.400 --> 0:26:47.119 York to this decade. But she and I, she was 0:26:47.160 --> 0:26:50.200 fifth grade at the time, but she and I took 0:26:50.240 --> 0:26:53.879 the challenge and so we used it to meet new people. 0:26:54.320 --> 0:26:57.399 We used it to explore and go different places. We 0:26:58.040 --> 0:27:02.360 used it just to have new X experiences, and it 0:27:02.400 --> 0:27:09.960 peaked our curiosity. It encouraged our competitive spirits, but most importantly, 0:27:10.040 --> 0:27:13.760 we just grew. We learned so much to that challenge. 0:27:14.040 --> 0:27:19.240 Through that, I climbed Mount Fuji in Tokyo, I walked 0:27:19.240 --> 0:27:22.359 two hours on the Great Wall of China. I was 0:27:22.400 --> 0:27:26.520 having so many first time experiences. I started losing count 0:27:26.600 --> 0:27:32.399 because they were occurring just on the hour, especially when 0:27:32.440 --> 0:27:35.000 I lived abroad. And when I think about it now, 0:27:35.160 --> 0:27:38.560 that's how I encourage my students to to get creative 0:27:38.680 --> 0:27:42.760 and stay creative by just seeking out those first time experiences, 0:27:42.800 --> 0:27:46.280 by using their curiosity to grow and to learn, and 0:27:46.400 --> 0:27:48.200