Women in CyberSecurity (WiCyS), the nonprofit organization dedicated to the recruitment, retention and advancement of women in cybersecurity, announced that registration for its 10th Annual Conference opened on Feb. 6 at 10 a.m. CDT.
The WiCyS Conference—held this year on March 16-18 at the Gaylord Rockies Resort and Convention Center in Denver, Colorado—is the premier event for both professionals and students to share knowledge and experience, network, learn, and mentor. Of the 1,800+ expected conference participants, approximately half are aspiring or underrepresented professionals who will have earned a scholarship to attend (including lodging, subsidized registration, and meals), funded by conference sponsors.
The conference is an opportunity for companies to connect with women and other under-represented groups to help fill the growing cybersecurity jobs gap—with 3.4 million people needed globally – and broaden diversity within the field. Typical attendees include industry professionals attending the technical conference for their professional development, in addition to student, faculty, veteran, military spouses, and equity and advancement scholarship recipients.
“We are excited to celebrate our 10th WiCyS conference this year as we continue to help grow the cybersecurity workforce into a place where all genders, identities, cultures, ethnicities, races, backgrounds, and experiences strive to build a safer world,” says Dr. Janell Straach, conference chair and chair of the board of WiCyS. “We can only begin to address the cyber jobs gap when we build a bigger table and bring a variety of perspectives into the fold.”
Conference attendees can take part in a wide range of activities, including technical presentations, workshops, panels, lighting talks, networking socials, résumé clinics, mock interviews, and a capture-the-flag competition. There will also be networking events tailored to those early in their career, those in mid-career and more. Keynote speakers will include Sylvia Schlaphof, head of engineering and member of the executive board at BOLL Engineering AG and a Fortinet Certified Trainer; Kelly Cander, VP, digital workplace and employee experience, Raytheon Technologies; and Barbara Kosloski, vice president of technology, Optum at UnitedHealth Group.
This year’s sponsors include Bloomberg, Fortinet, Optum, Amazon Web Services, Carnegie Mellon University’s Software Engineering Institute, Cisco, Deloitte, Goldman Sachs, Google, Mastercard, National Security Agency, PACCAR, Palo Alto Networks, SentinelOne, Shopify, Walmart and more.To register and find more information on the conference, visit: http://www.wicys.org/events/wicys-2023/2023scholarships/.
