With thanks to North East Futures UTC ( https://www.nefuturesutc.co.uk/ ) for hosting CyberNorth’s 2nd February event, we kicked off with a brief description of what NCSC’s national CyberFirst schools programme was all about and how our regional cyber security industry could help make a difference to the potential future career choices of key-stage three and upwards school children.
https://www.cyberfirstschools.co.uk/
The remaining presentation content was related to the voluntary Cyber / STEM Ambassador role.
First up was Simon “Bert” Coates from Lockheed Martin, who described how being a STEM Ambassador is a rewarding investment of time and inspiration for future cyber-related careers for the young ones. Simon gave examples of some of the activities he’d run onsite (as well as pre-planned external events) and the relatively small minimum time commitment that was required per year to maintain the STEM Ambassador status.
Next, Debra Cairns, Managing Director of Net-Defence, explained some of the reasons why she was applying to be a STEM Ambassador , including seeing this as a great way of directing a passionate belief in improving opportunities in the technology sector for those who might not normally think about such a career option, such as girls, and those from disadvantaged or minority backgrounds.
Next, Janine Marshall from RTC North explained the process of applying for STEM Ambassadorship and how her and her team would be offering continuous support throughout the application and beyond.
There was a good discussion period at the end, from all attendees, and the consensus was that this was a worthwhile endeavour to encourage professionals and cyber security-related companies to become more involved with helping to shape the quality and quantity of the resource pool for filling future cyber roles without having to seek candidates from outside of the Northeast region.
If this article has peaked your own and/or company’s interest to learn more about how STEM Ambassadorship could fulfil voluntary and organisational CSR objectives, please feel free to contact me directly, and I also have a link to the original slide-deck, sent upon request, if this would help the decision-making process:
Andrew Pounder: andrew@cybernorth.biz