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The ISSA2003 conference was the third annual conference held under
the auspices of the RAU Standard Bank Academy for Information Technology and the
University of Pretoria Department of Computer Science. The ISSA2003 conference
ran from
9 to 11 July 2003 at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg, Gauteng.
This conference was originally developed to afford local players in information security the opportunity to attend an international conference in
their own country, and encourage international players to share their knowledge,
at the same time receiving exposure to local thinking, and being able to
appreciate our beautiful country. In its short lifespan, this conference has
certainly become a recognised opportunity for professionals from industry as well as researchers
to access a platform to share their knowledge, experience and research results in the field of
information security. The two higher education institutions involved have taken up
the challenge to grow the conference each year in terms of delegate numbers,
international participants and overall quality.
In 2001, the first ISSA conference was hosted in Magaliesberg. The second was
hosted in 2002 at Misty Hills in Muldersdrift, Gauteng. Both of these conferences
were well attended by both industry professionals and academics with over 90 delegates taking
part in the first and approximately 120 in the second. These numbers, and the
growth experienced are seen as good indicators of the quality of the conference,
as the information security community in South Africa is relatively small compared to our overseas counterparts. Papers presented
have maintained a good balance between all the information security topics and there
has always been something for everyone. The reviews received have generally
been good with some constructive criticism received, and taken into account in
developing this years' programme.
In 2003, our aim was to improve the baseline that we have now set for ourselves. This
could only be done with input from all those interested in the field of Information Security. A few people commented that there were not enough papers presented by people from industry. We therefore
urged more professionals in industry to take part and share their knowledge and experience.
The ISSA conference was not be just another conference. I am sure a number of
people would agree that the local market in South Africa is over-saturated with conferences covering topics such as e-Commerce, Disaster Recovery, Information Security and Risk Management.
We prefer to make it a positive and unique experience enabling delegates to
share their valuable knowledge and insight into Information Security.
We trust that the arrangements, events and management associated with this
years' conference lived up to expectations in terms of quality and
affordability.
We look forward to meeting new and old acquaintances at ISSA2004.
Les Labuschagne
Conference Co-organiser
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