Minister for Public Procurement, eGovernment and Circular Economy Ossian Smyth and CEO of Smarttech247 Raluca Saceanu touring the company’s Cork headquarters where they launched the next intake for the company’s Women in Cybersecurity Academy. Picture: Michael O’Sullivan/OSM.
Applications have opened for a free course that helps women develop skills for a future in cybersecurity.
The Women in Cybersecurity Academy, now its second year, is run by Cork firm Smarttech247 and has sixty spots available in its intake.
Over six weeks, the curriculum will cover a wide range of the skills required to tackle cyber attacks and students will have access to tips from a number of industry leaders.
Following an end-of-term assessment, a number of students will also be offered placements at one of Smarttech247’s bases in Ireland or abroad.
Organisers are particularly keen to raise awareness of the programme among Ireland’s growing Ukrainian community.
“We know from our business that Ukraine has built a really high level of expertise among its tech workforce, and the value of the country’s IT exports was more than $5bn in 2020,” said Smarttech247 Chief Executive Raluca Saceanu.
“As Ireland welcomes thousands of people from Ukraine to live in this country, we believe many of these could be fantastic candidates for the academy and for the wider cybersecurity scene in Ireland.
“There are thousands of openings in cybersecurity companies around the world at any one time, and yet, research in Ireland last year showed 27% of companies have difficulty retaining females in their cybersecurity team. Programmes like our Women in Cybersecurity Academy are vital to helping address the industry’s gender divide and secure its future talent pipeline”.
Launching this year’s course, the Minister for Public Procurement, eGovernment and Circular Economy, Ossian Smyth, also highlighted the importance of utilising all talent resources when it comes to defending against online attacks.
“The Irish government takes cybersecurity extremely seriously, and the industry here needs the best talent to stay at the cutting edge internationally,” Minister Smyth said.
“We know women are underrepresented in cybersecurity around the world and I’m delighted to see an Irish leader like Smarttech247 taking the initiative to address the balance.”
The hybrid course is open to any women who have or are on track to receive at least an undergraduate degree in computer science. Those looking to return to the workforce or who are already working in cybersecurity and want to refine their skills are also welcome to apply.
Full details can be found at www.smarttech247.com
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