Communications of the ACM
STL CyberCon Aims for More Inclusive Cybersecurity Workforce
Credit: UMSL
The sixth STL CyberCon took advantage of its virtual format this year to expand its reach. Hosted annually by the University of Missouri–St. Louis, the conference has been bringing together students, researchers, practitioners, and job seekers from across the St. Louis region to share insight and ideas about cybersecurity. This year, nearly 350 people registered for last Friday's event and logged in from as far away as Kuwait and India.
"The goal of the conference is to reach out to the community and raise awareness about cybersecurity," said Anshuman Singh, a member of the organizing committee and an associate professor in the Department of Information Systems and Technology in UMSL's College of Business Administration. "We cannot do that leaving out half of the population. Women are very underrepresented in cybersecurity for a variety of reasons. We wanted to present women leaders in cybersecurity from academia and industry."
Cybersecurity Ventures estimated that there will be 3.5 million unfilled cybersecurity jobs globally by 2021. Recruiting more women into the field could begin shrinking that gap.
Ambareen Siraj, a professor and the director of the Cybersecurity Education, Research, and Outreach Center at Tennessee Tech University, said the community has "worked together to move the needle in representation among women in cybersecurity."
She described the creation of WiCyS — Women in Cybersecurity — which is the only non-profit membership organization with international reach dedicated to bringing together women in cybersecurity from academia, research, and industry to share knowledge, experience, networking and mentoring. The initiative began in 2012 and now counts more than 6,000 members, half of whom are students.
From UMSL Daily
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