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51ÁÔÆæ hosted the first in a series of professional leadership training programs at the Oliveira Student Center on Tuesday, October 24.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The sessions are the result of a new partnership between TSC and Institute for Homeland Security at Sam Houston State University and are open for business professionals and TSC students and staff to attend. Entitled <\/span>Executive Leadership for Protecting Critical Infrastructure<\/span><\/i>, the interactive lecture sessions are focused on the ever-changing field of security, both in the physical and digital realms, as well as the how the rapid advancement of modern technology is changing both the nature of security and the way in which we approach it.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe overall goal for us at the Institute of Homeland Security is to improve the resiliency and security of our critical infrastructure sectors,\u201d said the program\u2019s Executive Director, Michael Aspland. \u201cWe\u2019re focused on energy, chemical, transportation, and health care,\u201d he continued, \u201cand by helping to share knowledge about how to focus on security and resilience with professionals in this space, it\u2019ll make Texas a safer place.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The kickoff session of the series focused on physical and cyber security, highlighting a growing convergence of the needs, goals and strategies of the two areas.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Scott McHugh, Program Executive Manager for the Institute of Homeland Security, led the morning session, highlighting the importance of critical infrastructure protection, the growing need to merge elements of physical and cyber security, and what can be done in order to prepare for future security experts to operate in both spaces.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe are at the space now in which there is almost no daylight between cyber security and physical security,\u201d said McHugh. \u201cThere used to be, and it used to make sense that you had two different functions that were doing, in essence, similar things but still different enough to where it really wasn\u2019t important for both to be combined.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n However, there are still concerns that need to be addressed when it comes to the idea of a merger. \u201cThere\u2019s a great deal of resistance within the physical communities and the cyber communities of blending the two functions together for obvious human nature reasons: worried about jobs, future career opportunities, so on and so forth,\u201d explained McHugh. \u201cWhat we\u2019re talking about today is not only the need for blending the two functions together and the value that it brings to corporations, but also the strategies that corporations are looking to implement to make that a reality and be able to do so in a way that addresses the human-related resistance to this outcome.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n