Cyber Policy Studies’ mission is to assess and address the intersection of technology with peace, conflict and communications.
It was developed as a Cyber Policy Initiative by Professor Lochard in the President’s Office at Middlebury (MIIS) in 2012. It was the first interdisciplinary, civilian academic effort on this topic worldwide. While Lochard was a senior fellow at U.S. National Defense University (NDU), a joint appointment was made at GMU to develop and direct a continuation of this effort: first at the C4I center, briefly at CARE, and finally then to the CEC Dean’s Office in January 2022.
Her role at Mason has been to oversee, manage, develop and execute of a set of cyber policy activities and projects in research, publications and outreach. This includes:
- proposing, guiding and carrying out scholarly research on issues related to cyber policy;
- serving as a subject matter expert on cyber policy – related grants, proposals, presentations, symposia/conferences or workshops and publications;
- developing opportunities for Mason’s personnel to collaborate with and to learn about cyber policy issues;
- developing, sustaining and nourishing a network of institutional ties and partnerships with outside organizations and entities;
- and supporting the hiring and oversight of any staff, fellows, adjuncts, consultants and student assistants, as needed.