On January 5, 2017 Paris Law School Panthéon-Assas launched its first university degree (diplôme d’université) aimed at training future Data Protection Officers (DPOs) under the new European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which becomes effective across the EU on May 25th, 2018.  Created by Paris University Professor Bénédicte Fauvarque-Cosson and Hogan Lovells partner Winston Maxwell, the new program will include courses in law, cybersecurity, data analytics, management and ethics.  The faculty will include professors from various law schools, as well as practicing DPOs, information security specialists, lawyers and regulators from the CNIL (the French data protection authority), and major companies including Sanofi, GE, Axa, Lagardère, Google, Microsoft, Schneider Electric, BNP Paribas and the Banque Postale.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Professor Fauvarque-Cosson commented: “This is an exciting time because data protection law is being created before our eyes.  The new European regulation is just the start.”  Winston Maxwell underlined the difficulties of the DPO role under the GDPR: “The DPO is an important management position, but it will not be easy.”

Information about the new program is available here.

To see Professor Fauvarque-Cosson’s and Winston Maxwell’s video, click here.