What Were the Key Themes at RSA Conference 2018?

TL;DR

GDPR, blockchain, and data security drew especially strong interest at RSA Conference 2018, with packed seminars and continued attendance throughout the week. Innovation Sandbox highlighted emerging security companies, while extensive program curation, first-time speakers, recorded seminars, and student initiatives helped connect practical cybersecurity content with regulatory, technical, legal, and policy concerns.

Transcript

Welcome, everybody. We are live at RSA Conference 2018. We're at the RSAC studios here on the floor, in the mix, and it is Thursday of RSA Conference. Britta, can you believe that it's Thursday? It's been a great week. I- Really good week ... I'm joined here by Britta Glade, content curator for RSA Conference, and we have really been partners in cr... Read More

Key Insights

• RSA Conference content is developed through a yearlong process involving nearly 100 program committee members, speaker coaching, and repeated session refinement. The organizers evaluate what attendees currently care about, what will matter during the conference dates, and what participants can apply afterward.
• First-time presenters represented 60% of the speakers at RSA Conference 2018. A speaker coach helped them become comfortable and improve their material, while program committee members worked with presenters to refine sessions and ensure that the delivered content was useful to conference attendees.
• Innovation Sandbox is a security entrepreneurship competition that narrows its applicants to 10 finalists. Its presentation style was compared with Shark Tank and Dragon's Den, and reaching the finalist group was portrayed as significant because earlier participating companies had achieved substantial fundraising and acquisition outcomes.
• Innovation Sandbox finalists from the preceding five years included 50 companies that had collectively raised $2.1 billion over their lifetimes. Fifteen of those companies, representing 30% of the group, had been acquired, illustrating the subsequent business activity associated with previous finalist cohorts.
• BigID won the 2018 Innovation Sandbox after judges evaluated a diverse group of companies addressing data security, endpoints, and cloud migration. BigID's presentation concentrated on data protection and GDPR compliance, connecting the competition's outcome with one of the conference's most prominent subjects.
• GDPR was a central conference theme because attendees were preparing for the May 25 deadline while still questioning how and when the standard would be enforced. A recorded, all-day GDPR seminar drew almost 1,000 participants and became so full that admission depended on someone else leaving.
• Blockchain and cryptocurrency sessions attracted sustained attendance throughout the conference. The recorded seminar addressed foundational definitions, initial coin offerings, tangible applications, prototypes, reported successes, security implications, and legal considerations, while related sessions continued from Monday through Friday.
• Data security increasingly requires organizations to understand where information resides, how it flows, and whether partners can comply with privacy obligations. The discussions also emphasized tagging data, controlling international transfers, respecting sovereignty laws, and designing systems that can adapt to future legislation.

Questions & Answers

Q: What were the main themes at RSA Conference 2018?

The most prominent themes discussed were GDPR, blockchain, cryptocurrencies, and data security. GDPR sessions focused on the approaching May 25 deadline, enforcement questions, privacy practices, and compliance responsibilities. Blockchain programming covered definitions, initial coin offerings, practical applications, prototypes, security implications, and legal issues. Data-security discussions examined data location, movement, tagging, protection, deletion requests, partner compliance, and international sovereignty laws.

Q: Why was GDPR a major topic at RSA Conference 2018?

GDPR attracted attention because the May 25 deadline was approaching and attendees were trying to understand both the standard and its enforcement. Discussions addressed when and how enforcement might occur, whether GDPR could influence privacy practices globally, and how organizations should handle consumer deletion requests. European Commission officials attended, and the recorded all-day seminar drew almost 1,000 participants.

Q: What happened at the 2018 Innovation Sandbox competition?

Innovation Sandbox selected 10 finalists from a larger field of security entrepreneurs and presented their companies in a competition compared with Shark Tank and Dragon's Den. The finalists addressed areas including data security, endpoints, and cloud migration, which made the judges' choice difficult. BigID ultimately won with a presentation centered on data security and GDPR compliance.

Q: Why is becoming an Innovation Sandbox finalist significant?

Becoming one of the 10 Innovation Sandbox finalists was described as a major achievement because previous finalist companies had produced notable fundraising and acquisition results. Across the preceding five years, the 50 companies selected as finalists had collectively raised $2.1 billion over their lifetimes. Fifteen of those 50 companies, or 30%, had subsequently been acquired.

Q: How did RSA Conference 2018 develop and refine its content?

Conference content resulted from more than a year of work on the speaker call, session selection, and program development. Nearly 100 program committee members helped identify timely issues and refine presentations. Organizers considered what attendees cared about, what would matter during April 16 to 20, 2018, and what participants could apply afterward. A speaker coach also supported presenter preparation and content quality.

Q: How were first-time speakers supported at RSA Conference 2018?

First-time presenters made up 60% of the conference's speakers. They received assistance from a speaker coach who worked to make them comfortable and strengthen their content. Program committee members also engaged in repeated exchanges and refinement with speakers. This support was intended to ensure that sessions delivered during the week were clear, relevant, and useful to attendees.

Q: What did the blockchain and cryptocurrency seminar cover?

The blockchain and cryptocurrency seminar provided a beginning-to-end examination of the subject. It addressed what blockchain and cryptocurrencies are, what initial coin offerings are, which tangible applications were emerging, how prototypes and reported successes were developing, and what legal considerations applied. The seminar was recorded, allowing people who could not enter the packed room to watch it on demand.

Q: How were privacy rules changing approaches to data security?

Privacy and sovereignty requirements were prompting organizations to reconsider data architecture, including data lakes and information flows. A consumer's right-to-be-forgotten request requires an organization to locate the relevant data, understand where it travels, and determine whether partners can comply. International rules also require careful data tagging and transfer controls, such as preventing European citizens' personally identifiable information from being moved improperly into the United States.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• RSA Conference 2018 was shaped by energetic participation and a yearlong content-development process involving nearly 100 program committee members. The organizers focused on identifying timely concerns and selecting material attendees could apply after the event. First-time presenters represented 60% of the speakers, supported by coaching and repeated refinement of their sessions.

• Innovation Sandbox featured 10 finalists selected from a larger group of applicants and presented a competitive format compared with Shark Tank and Dragon's Den. BigID won with a focus on data security and GDPR compliance. The 50 finalists from the preceding five years had collectively raised $2.1 billion, and 15 had been acquired.

• GDPR, blockchain, cryptocurrencies, and data protection attracted packed seminars and strong attendance across the conference. GDPR discussions emphasized uncertainty about enforcement, global privacy practices, and the May 25 deadline. Data-security sessions examined how organizations locate, tag, transfer, and protect information while complying with deletion requests, partner obligations, and international data-sovereignty laws.