2022: ACTIVITY REPORT OF THE CYBER SECURITY COALITION

In 2016, Nina Olesen started working at the European Cyber Security Organisation (ESCO), based in Brussels. Today, the organisation’s work is spread across six working groups that support all types of projects for developing, promoting and encouraging European cyber security. “I am coordinating the working group on education, training, awareness and skills. This is where the idea of Women4Cyber originated,” explains Nina, now Head of Sector at ECSO & Supervisor at the Women4Cyber Foundation. 

Kiki Walravens coordinates the Belgian chapter of Women4Cyber, established in 2022. “The common thread throughout my career has always been tech. I joined the Vice President of the GSM Association’s Brussels office at the founding meeting of Women4Cyber. Due the pandemic, I had to say goodbye to the Association after 18 years, and I took the opportunity to reorient myself, focussing on cyber security. I was lucky that Elke Kraemer from Clusity, which gives a platform to women in tech, took me under her wings and flagged the creation of the Belgian chapter,” Kiki explains. 

Need for education 

Studies have shown that the sector is going to need more and different types of experts as the field of cyber security grows and our society’s digital transformation accelerates. Nina Olesen: “We not only need technical people, but also non-technical people with different backgrounds. Because of the low rate of women working in cyber, we did a mapping of existing training and skills initiatives. We found out there were nearly no initiatives dedicated specifically to European women in cyber security. Therefore, ESCO established Women4Cyber in 2019, with the support of 35 founding, high-level women in the cyber security field in Europe.” 

Thanks to ESCO, Women4Cyber has a strong link with Europe, but to extend its reach, the foundation set up a framework of national chapters, beginning in Spain. “This enables a much bigger impact. We are proud that we now have 16 national chapters, including Belgium.” 

The main goals of Women4Cyber are to raise awareness, create role-model campaigns, and offer mentorships. “We have over 300 active mentors and mentees, both male and female. Our goal has never been to tip the scales the other way, so we’re open to women and men,” Nina clarifies. Thanks to sponsorships and donations, the foundation was able to invest in a mentorship platform and a one-stop-shop online platform for trainings, the Women4Cyber Academy (www.women4cyberacademy.eu), which lists the current opportunities in Europe for improving or learning cyber skills. “In 2023, we wish to build a European-designated platform for cyber security jobs, so stay tuned!” 

Building (Belgian) bridges 

Kiki came from an international background, and found it surprising to experience how vibrant the Belgian landscape is. “I volunteered to coordinate the Belgian chapter. In September 2022, the chapter and its plans were approved by the European Women4Cyber Foundation. In the meantime, eight workstreams have been set up, a social media strategy is being developed, and we are preparing a structured campaign and an event for International Women’s Day on March 8, 2023,” Kiki continues. 

At the Belgian Women4Cyber chapter, Kiki appreciates the opportunity to learn more cyber skills, stay active, position herself in the industry, and get a good picture of the different jobs in cyber. “I recently attended a course at CyberWayFinder, where I made a lot of new contacts. That made me realise that I’m interested in a job where stakeholder relations, cyber awareness and communication are important, to build bridges in the cyber security world,” Kiki says. “I would love to spread the message that it is never too late to give your career a new direction. Educational initiatives are not only for younger people, but for anyone who is interested.” 

Karin Hanselaer can look back on a long career in the banking sector. As her children grew up, she took Italian lessons, learnt to make jewellery, and always kept herself busy with something creative. “I got a lot of satisfaction from those hobbies, from my family, and from my job, but professionally I no longer felt challenged. Until Patrick Wheeler suggested I take a course in cyber security.” 

Patrick Wheeler founded CyberWayFinder together with Rosanna Kurrer in 2017, with the aim of employing more women in the cyber security world. “Initially, I was very hesitant. I was over the age of 50 and knew nothing about cyber security,” Karin says. After consulting her family, she began CyberWayFinder's pilot year, together with 23 other women.  

During the three-year course, the students attended six hours of classes a week, over two teaching days. “During the ‘bootcamp’ (the course kick-off), I learnt about cryptography for the first time. Clarence Pinto explained how the Nazis' Enigma machine worked. I have a degree in mathematics, so I was immediately sold. I knew then that cryptography would become my speciality.” 

All-in-one package 

Each year, CyberWayFinder students take one exam, covering SSCP, CCSK and CISSP in turn. “We not only acquired theoretical knowledge about cyber security, we also brushed up our soft skills,” Karin Hanselaer says. During the programme, a mentor follows up the student’s career. Karin, for instance, was supported by Philippe Fransolet, cryptography architect at BNP Paribas Fortis. He helped her get a position in the Key & Certificate management team in October 2018. “I had the theoretical knowledge, but no practical experience. Thanks to my history at the bank, though, I was productive within three months. In fact, I obtained my last certifications while I was already in my new position.” 

Without a nudge in the right direction, Karin would never have started down this track. “I didn't know it existed. Now, fortunately, there is more communication around CyberWayFinder. I would really recommend it. It takes a lot of energy to step out of your comfort zone and start something you know nothing about, but it is immensely enriching,” Karin testifies. “My family is proud that I graduated, and so am I!"  

Safety net  

Everyone in the industry is helping to promote the initiative. The result is an incredibly large network and safety net. “CyberWayFinder organises events that I still try to attend as much as possible. I reconnect with both lecturers and former colleagues who studied with me. I am very grateful to Patrick and Rosanna for the opportunities they have given me,” Karin concludes. “Partly because of her role in this programme, Rosanna has become Cyber Security Personality of the Year 2021. This recognition is well deserved, in my opinion!” 
Meanwhile, the programme has been adapted into six-month modules, and has been expanded to include male students. You can find more info at www.cyberwayfinder.com.  

Saskia Van Uffelen has had a long career in IT, with multinationals such as Ericsson and Inetum. Today she focuses, amongst others, on her assignment as an ambassador for digitisation. For example, she is digital manager at technology federation Agoria, the organisation that also set up the research group ‘Be The Change’, in 2018. 

“By conducting research on the evolution of the Belgian labour market, in particular the increasing labour shortage due to the lack of digital competences, we want to convince policy makers, the educational field, and other sectors and companies that training should be our top priority,” says Van Uffelen. Analyses show that by 2030 more than 500,000 jobs will not be filled due to a lack of talent. 

“In order to make people available for these vacancies, we will have to automate as many processes as possible. However, it is important to stress that for every job that disappears due to automation, 2.7 new jobs are created. This is good news, but completely different competencies are needed for those new jobs.” 

Digital inclusion 

In another striking figure, 46% of working Belgians run the risk of being excluded in a digital world. Van Uffelen explains, “This is partly due to the fact that they have too few digital skills, are not familiar with the digital applications, or cannot afford digital products due to high energy costs, for example.”
 
This observation led to the creation of DigitALL, the Digital Inclusion Charter, whose signatories explicitly commit themselves to taking action and creating awareness. “By drawing attention to the offer and supporting initiatives together, we want to help solve the training problem and close the knowledge gap. Numerous initiatives already existed, aimed at all sectors, genders, knowledge levels, etc. But we assembled them within one ecosystem. The Cyber Security Coalition is also part of this.” 

Connecting the dots 

DigiSkillsBelgium.be is the Belgian platform that brings together all digital skills training initiatives. “Initiators can make contact, inspire each other, expand an initiative to a new location, and so on,” explains Van Uffelen. The website currently includes more than 1000 initiatives from 500 different parties. When it became clear that the parties involved in the existing initiatives did not know each other, and that citizens might not be able to get in touch with them, Saskia, as National Coalition Lead for Digital Skills, contacted the European DG Connect. This prompted the development of a 'Digital skills and jobs' platform for Europe and locally in Belgium. 

“DigiSkillsBelgium.be is one of the components of a complete ecosystem in which we want to connect all digital initiatives from the Be The Change research group, to ensure that we sharpen digital skills faster and help to fill jobs, rather than waiting on the regular education system”, says Van Uffelen. 

Long live learning! 

The initiatives in the ecosystem are still in their infancy, partly because society still has to evolve. “We need a different culture: learning is a continuous process that helps us move forward. Lifelong learning sounds too negative to me, like a punishment. 'Long live learning!' is more appropriate and motivates to keep learning, at any age.” 

“With DigiSkillsBelgium.be, we have already brought together all the initiatives regarding digital skills training. Now we have to raise awareness, make citizens aware of what is on offer and of the platform, and get the financial support to make the initiatives bigger. This is the only way we will reap the benefits of the great work that has been done so far,” concludes Saskia Van Uffelen.