Bridging the Gap in Privacy Education: A Global Cross-Disciplinary Initiative for Graduate Programs

As digital privacy becomes an essential concern across all sectors, there is a growing need for structured and comprehensive educational programs in this domain. To address this gap, ACM, IEEE, and IFIP have established a collaborative initiative to develop a Privacy Curricular Guideline specifically for graduate-level programs. This framework outlines core knowledge areas that align academic instruction with the evolving demands of practice. A Joint Task Force of international experts has proposed eight foundational pillars for privacy education: (1) Privacy Body of Knowledge, (2) Privacy Foundations, (3) General Computer Science Concepts for Privacy, (4) Privacy-Preserving Computing and Software Engineering, (5) Information Systems and Technology, (6) Privacy Development Lifecycle, (7) Applied Domains, and (8) Privacy-related Industry Perspectives. These pillars are now being refined by interdisciplinary Working Groups to ensure comprehensive and actionable content. For the information systems community, this initiative is especially significant. Privacy education must address unique IS challenges such as user-centric design, data stewardship, and ethical decision-making. Currently, privacy topics are inconsistently integrated across curricula, often embedded within broader courses on information systems or cybersecurity. This leaves a critical gap in preparing students for specialized privacy technologist roles. To advance this effort, the TREO Talk will: • Present the structure and rationale behind the proposed Privacy Curricular Guideline, highlighting key knowledge areas and intended learning outcomes. • Facilitate discussion among AMCIS attendees to incorporate their disciplinary perspectives and practical experiences. • Collect constructive feedback at conference to ensure the curriculum is responsive to both academic priorities and evolving industry demands. By engaging the AMCIS community, we aim to shape a curricular framework that prepares students to meet emerging privacy challenges with competence and confidence.