NSPW 2014: Call for Papers and Participation

Inn at Laurel Point
Victoria, BC, Canada
September 15-18, 2014

The New Security Paradigms Workshop (NSPW) invites papers that address the current limitations of information security. By encouraging participants to think “outside the box” and giving them an opportunity to interact with open-minded peers, NSPW seeks to foster paradigm shifts in the field of information security. NSPW is a highly interactive venue, with informal paper presentations, lively, extended discussions, shared activities, and group meals, all in the spectacular setting of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada from September 15-18, 2014.

Most of the papers accepted to NSPW push the boundaries of science and engineering beyond what would be considered mainstream in more traditional security conferences. We are particularly interested in perspectives that augment traditional computer security, both from other areas of computer science and other sciences that study adversarial relationships such as biology, economics, and the social sciences.

NSPW welcomes four categories of submissions:

  • Research papers
  • Position papers (10 pages maximum)
  • Discussion panel proposals
  • "NSPHD" for doctoral students (10 pages maximum)

As a general guideline, research papers will involve some type of systematic investigation (e.g., a study), whereas position papers tend to be more of an "opinionated analysis." NSPW also benefits from a small number of stimulating panel discussions--if you have an idea for a great panel (with or without suggested panelists), we would welcome your proposal.

The NSPHD (New Security Paradigms: Higher and Deeper) is designed for graduate students working on a disruptive dissertation, and would benefit from extensive, expert feedback on emerging ideas. The format is flexible, but should outline your ideas, any work that you have completed so far, and what you foresee as future work. This is best suited for those who can incorporate the workshop discussion into their ongoing doctoral research. Submitted papers must be preliminary in nature and are held to a less rigorous standard than other categories of NSPW submissions. Thus they will not be published in the main proceedings, but will be available through links on the NSPW web site. The NSPHD category is not to be used as a replacement for graduate students co-authoring with more senior faculty advisors, as these should be considered for an NSPW submission as described above. The student will be invited to present their accepted paper in this category, but any faculty advisors or co-authors would not typically be invited due to space limitations.

We plan to accept about a dozen papers and panels in total, and will invite the authors to attend the three-day workshop plus a reception gathering the evening before. One author of each accepted paper must attend; other authors may attend on a space-available basis. To ensure that all papers receive equally strong feedback, all attendees must commit to stay for the full duration of the workshop. (We expect to offer a limited amount of financial aid to those who absolutely require it.) Final proceedings are published after the workshop. Authors are expected to revise their papers to include feedback received at NSPW.

Submission deadline: April 11, 2014 April 18, 2014 23:59 (UTC -6, EST time)
Format: PDF file (ACM SIG formatting preferred, Option 1) via EasyChair, https://www.easychair.org/conferences/?conf=nspw2014
Notification of acceptance: June 6, 2014
Pre-proceedings version: August 2, 2014 (ACM SIG formatting required, Option 1)
Workshop: September 15-18, 2014 in Victoria, BC, Canada
Final version: November 3, 2014

Submissions must include a cover page with author’s names, affiliation, justification and attendance statements submitted to the easychair link above. A justification statement specifies the category of your submission, briefly describes why your submission is appropriate for NSPW and highlights the new paradigm proposed. An attendance statement specifies which of the authors wish to attend the workshop. All submissions are treated as confidential, both as a matter of policy and in accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976.

NSPW does not accept papers that have been published elsewhere, nor papers that have been submitted to other conferences concurrently. Submissions accompanied by nondisclosure agreement forms will not be considered. Authors uncertain whether their submission meets the NSPW guidelines should contact the program chairs.

Questions about submissions should be directed to Program Co-Chairs Tom Longstaff (talcert@gmail.com) and Paul Van Oorschot (paulv@scs.carleton.ca)