BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:Data::ICal 0.24 BEGIN:VEVENT DESCRIPTION: 'Title: Election Security in the Age of AI: Governance\, Tru st\, and the\n Systems Behind Democracy\n Tags: Policy @ DEF CON | Cre ator Talk/Panel\n When: Friday\, Aug 7\, 12:00 - 12:59 PDT\n Where: LV CCW Level 2 W210-211 (Policy Village) - [1]Map\n\n Description:\n\n El ection security is often framed as a technology problem. In reality\,\n it’s a governance problem operating inside a highly stressed public\n system. This session brings together leaders who were inside that\n syst em during the most scrutinized election cycles in modern U.S.\n history\ , moderated by an elections policy expert who has shaped how\n platforms handle political content at global scale. Tim Harper\,\n Project Lead f or Elections and Democracy at the Center for Technology\n and Democracy and former Content Policy Associate Manager for\n Political Advertising at Meta\, will moderate. His work focuses on\n combating election disinf ormation\, strengthening election integrity\,\n and building public trus t. Lester Godsey served as CISO for Maricopa\n County during the 2020 an d 2024 presidential elections\, leading\n cybersecurity in a jurisdictio n under intense national scrutiny and\n multiple adversaries. Bill Gates served on the Maricopa County Board\n of Supervisors during that same p eriod\, overseeing election\n administration amid unprecedented politica l pressure\, misinformation\n and reputational and physical threats. He now directs the Mechanics\n for Democracy Laboratory at Arizona State Un iversity. Together\, they\n bring a rare perspective: cybersecurity\, go vernance\, and systems\n engineering at the front lines of democracy.\n\ n Speakers:Lester Godsey\,William Gates\,Tim Harper\n\n SpeakerBio: L ester Godsey\, Arizona State University\n\n Lester Godsey serves as the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO)\n for Arizona State University \, the largest public university by\n enrollment in the United States. H is appointment follows a\n distinguished five-year tenure as CISO for Ma ricopa County\, where he\n skillfully managed information security durin g one of the most\n contentious election periods in the county's modern history. With over\n 30 years of public-sector IT experience\, Lester is a respected voice\n in the field\, having presented at local\, state\, and national levels on\n a diverse range of topics including telecommuni cations\, data\n management\, and cybersecurity. A lifelong learner and educator\, Lester\n holds multiple industry certifications including PMP \, CISM\, and CISSP.\n He has shared his expertise as a collegiate instr uctor for almost\n fifteen years\, teaching cybersecurity\, technology\, and project\n management courses. Lester is also a published author and actively\n contributes to the cybersecurity community. His academic bac kground\n uniquely blends the arts and technology\, holding both a Bache lor of\n Arts in Music and a Master of Science in Technology from Arizon a State\n University. This multidisciplinary foundation informs his inno vative\n approach to information security leadership.\n\n SpeakerBio: William Gates\, Arizona State University\n\n Bill Gates is Executive Di rector of the ASU Mechanics of Democracy\n Laboratory (MODL) and Profess or of Practice at Arizona State\n University’s Watts College of Public Service and Community\n Solutions. He leads MODL’s efforts to profess ionalize election\n administration through practitioner-focused training \, transparency\n initiatives\, and the integration of emerging technolo gies. In 2025\, he\n launched the AI + Elections Clinic to equip electio n officials\n nationwide with the tools and expertise to responsibly har ness\n artificial intelligence in support of voter confidence and electi on\n integrity.\n\n Bill previously served two terms on the Maricopa C ounty Board of\n Supervisors (2017–2024)\, overseeing elections in one of the\n nation’s largest voting jurisdictions during the highly scru tinized\n 2020 and 2022 election cycles. He also served on the Phoenix C ity\n Council (2009–2016)\, including as Vice Mayor.\n\n Bill is the recipient of various awards\, commending his years of\n leadership\, se rvice\, and defense of democracy including The American\n Bar Associatio n’s Unsung Hero of Democracy Award in 2024\, The Truman\n Foundation†™s Joseph E. Stevens Public Service Award in 2022\, The\n Arizona Republ ic’s 2021 Arizonan of the Year\, and The Phoenix\n Business Journal’ s Forty Under 40 in 2010.\n\n SpeakerBio: Tim Harper\, Center for Techn ology and Democracy\n\n Tim Harper is Project Lead for Elections and Dem ocracy\, where he leads\n efforts to combat election disinformation\, su pport secure voting\n technologies\, and strengthen public trust in elec tions. An elections\n policy expert\, Tim has driven policy and advocacy across industry and\n civil society. Most recently\, he served as Conte nt Policy Associate\n Manager for Political Advertising at Meta\, where he developed and\n implemented global policies governing electoral\, pol itical\, and social\n issue advertising. His work focused on transparenc y\, preventing\n foreign interference\, and countering election delegiti mization at\n scale. Previously\, Tim was Senior Elections Policy Analys t at the\n Bipartisan Policy Center\, where he led election administrati on policy\n development and federal and state advocacy efforts. He conve ned a\n bipartisan task force of election officials to inform policymaki ng and\n led major data-driven research initiatives\, including the larg est\n national study on voting line disparities. He began his career\n supporting election management bodies in the Middle East and North\n Af rica with the International Foundation for Electoral Systems. He\n gradu ated magna cum laude from Gonzaga University with degrees in\n Political Science and History.\n\n '\n\n 1. #LVCCW_Level2_West\n\n\n DTEND:20260807T195900Z DTSTART:20260807T190000Z LOCATION:Policy @ DEF CON - LVCCW Level 2 W210-211 (Policy Village) SUMMARY:Election Security in the Age of AI: Governance\, Trust\, and the Sy stems Behind Democracy END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR