Join the Government Technology & Services Coalition (GTSC) during October’s National Cyber Security Awareness Month for an in-depth look at the acquisition landscape for cyber security programs across DoD, DHS, DOS, and DOJ during its Capacity Building Session, Cyber Security Acquisition: What is the Government Buying? GTSC’s Strategic Partner Dickstein Shapiro LLP will track acquisition activity and provide some insights into how the Federal government is making cyber security investments. This is a “must attend” program if you are interested in understanding the Federal cybersecurity space.

Speakers:

Brian E. Finch

Dickstein Shapiro LLP

Brian Finch, a partner in Dickstein Shapiro’s Washington, DC office, is head of the firm’s Global Security Practice. Named by Washingtonian magazine in 2011 as one of the top 40 federal lobbyists under the age of 40, Mr. Finch is a recognized authority on global security matters who counsels clients on regulatory and government affairs issues involving the Department of Homeland Security, Congress, the Department of Defense, and other federal agencies. His focuses include liability mitigation, protection of critical infrastructure, state and local grant funds, WMD response preparations, chemical security, cyber security, and border and trade security.

Mr. Finch is a Senior Advisor to the Homeland Security and Defense Business Council and also is a member of the American Bar Association’s Homeland Security Executive Committee for the Administrative Law Section. Mr. Finch served as an inaugural Senior Fellow at George Washington University’s Homeland Security Policy Institute. He also was a member of the Heritage Foundation/Center for Strategic and International Studies Task Force for Examining the Roles, Missions, and Organization of the Department of Homeland Security. Mr. Finch is a Professorial Lecturer in Law at The George Washington University Law School, where he co-teaches Homeland Security Law and Policy. He is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia.
Mr. Finch speaks and writes extensively on global security and terrorism matters, as well as other public affairs issues. He has testified on the implementation of the SAFETY Act twice before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Homeland Security. He is regularly quoted in publications such as CQ Homeland Security and Washington Technology, and has been profiled by Government Security News Magazine, a leading homeland security journal. Examples of his articles include “Utilizing the SAFETY Act to Assist with CFATS Process,” which appeared in Business & Industry Connection in October 2009; “The SAFETY Act Affords Protections For Smart Grid Players,” which appeared in Renew Grid in October 2009; and “How Sports Owners Can Find Protection in SAFETY,” which appeared in the Sports Business Journal in November 2006. He also has appeared on television news programs such as MSNBC Live as a global security commentator.

Graham (Rusty) Mathews

Dickstein Shapiro LLP

Rusty Mathews, the senior legislative advisor in the Public Policy & Law Practice of Dickstein Shapiro, joined the firm in 1996. Mr. Mathews’ specialties encompass representation, on a variety of legislative and appropriations issues, of the environmental community, electric utilities, competitive power producers and marketers, healthcare providers, direct marketers, homeland security and related high-tech industries, insurance and reinsurance providers, and clients involved in sports, entertainment, and Internet gaming.
During the years 1995 through 1996, in the office of U.S. Senator Barbara A. Mikulski, Mr. Mathews served as Chief Minority Clerk, Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Veterans Affairs, Housing and Urban Development, and Independent Agencies. He managed all aspects of Congress’s second largest discretionary appropriations bill ($90 billion). He was also responsible for budget development and policy management for 25 federal departments and agencies, including the Departments of HUD and VA, the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Science Foundation, NASA and Federal Emergency Management Agency, and 15 independent boards, commissions, and offices.
In 1989 through 1994, in the office of U.S. Senator Robert C. Byrd, Mr. Mathews was the Assistant Majority Clerk, Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on the Department of Interior and Related Agencies. He managed all aspects of the Department of Interior appropriations bill relating to annual budget requests and policy development for the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Geological Survey, the Bureau of Mines, Office of Surface Mining, Smithsonian Institution, and the fossil energy accounts for the Department of Energy. He also served as principal negotiator for the Midwestern and Eastern coal states during Congressional deliberations on the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990.
Among Mr. Mathews’ career highlights are membership on the Senate Democratic Policy Committee, serving as Deputy Vice President for External Affairs with the U.S. Synthetic Fuels Corporation, and being Director of Senate Relations with the Department of Energy.