The DBS Computing Society were delighted to host a guest lecture on the topic of General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) which is coming into effect across the EU on May 25th.
The event attracted great interest from across the college with students and staff from IT, Law, Business and Marketing among those who attended the packed event. Approximately 120 people gathered in Castle House to hear Mr Graham Doyle, Head of Communications from the Data Protection Commission office, along with his colleague MB Donnelly, Head of GDPR Awareness and Training, speak about the upcoming changes to data protection regulations.
The presentation, scheduled to last for 1.5 hours, continued well past that time due to the level of interest and the volume of informed questions put forward by students and staff. The session centred around the implications of GDPR for both individuals and organisations. GDPR will bring about significant changes to data protection regulations across the EU, and will impact not only on companies based in Europe but also any organisation from other jurisdictions operating within Europe and holding data on EU citizens. With potential fines of up to 4% of global turnover for companies found to be in breach of the regulations, organisations are taking the imminent change in regulations very seriously.
Such was the enthusiasm of the audience that the speakers continued the discussion in the common room, where a more informal and relaxed exchange took place between DBS students, Graham and MB.
The presentation has captured the interest of many DBS students and will no doubt inspire many to complete further research in this evolving area.
