Projects, programs, portfolios, and other corporate initiatives are about identifying and managing risk. But what about the risks connected with avoiding initiatives? What if all of the initiatives an organization avoids are strategic?

This past week, a number of intersecting risk-rich related news stories caught my eye. First, there was the ongoing investigation into the loss of Air France Flight 447 and its 228 passengers and crew. There is increasing suspicion that the plane was brought down by a combined problem involving "failure" of its in-flight computer system, which caused the crew to take maneuvers that could not be handled by the composite materials used to build the Airbus 330 aircraft.

"For any business function, one key sign of having 'arrived' is the pressure to 'benchmark,'" according to Michael Mainelli, the Mercers' School Memorial Professor of Commerce at Gresham College. Why then does Rich Karlgaard, publisher of Forbes, claim that "a flaw common to business and rampant in government is the failure to benchmark." This Executive Update aims to answer two questions surrounding this issue: Why should we be benchmarking risk management? And why don't more companies do this?

In this Summit 2009 keynote session, Cutter Fellow Mark Seiden, a high-profile security expert — well-known for his pursuit of Kevin Mitnick and revealing the vulnerabilities in airport security systems — will provide you with tales of the latest security holes, scams, and threats and advice on how to prevent getting caught in the traps.