On our independence
When creating SEC-T one of the principal convictions was the idea of independence from undue influence. For SEC-T, independence means that the organization has a committee run process for speaker selection that is not affected by outside parties.
We acknowledge that a number of conferences around the world let sponsors have speaking opportunities, our belief is that this is counter productive to creating a beneficial conference ecosystem as the attendees thus are expected to perform the entirety of the quality control process that is otherwise bestowed upon the organizers.
This also means that SEC-T has an obligation to show our attendees and speakers that we take responsibility for treating all our speakers equally and fairly and with the best of intentions of providing only talks we ourselves would appreciate as attendees.
SEC-T Organizers are also barred from being speakers at our own events apart from our duties on stage, as being a speaker could be seen as having a conflict of interests.
We also actively try to make sure our speakers spend time talking about their proposed topics rather than the companies they work for (Which sounds simple enough but sometimes turn out to be a challenge.).
The SEC-T Organization is also politically unaffiliated and does not hold party or association with any other organizations. We do however try to take an active role in working against discrimination and bigotry both in and during our events and in the information security arena in general.