Washington, D.C. (PRWEB) September 11, 2015 -- The International Consortium of Minority Cybersecurity Professionals (ICMCP) today announced that (ISC)², as part of its effort to address the growing gap in the information security workforce by raising awareness of underrepresented minorities, will support its Inaugural National Conference to be held in Washington, D.C. in March 2016.
Despite the increasing demand for cybersecurity professionals globally, a significant shortage of skilled security professionals remains for underrepresented women and major minorities. According to the National Science Foundation, women are underrepresented in IT and cybersecurity, comprising only 29 percent of the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) workforce, despite making up 48 percent of the U.S. professional workforce. According to the (ISC)² 2015 Global Information Security Workforce Study, women only make up 10 percent of the global information security workforce. Similarly, minorities are grossly underrepresented with African Americans and Hispanics combined representing less than 11 percent of the cybersecurity workforce.
Co-Founder and Executive VP for ICMCP and CP and CSO at Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) Larry Whiteside Jr. says, “Cybersecurity has never been more important to our nation’s security and economy. With luminaries from the education, public and private sectors already signed up, this promises to be an exciting, interactive and informative conference that will help fill the workforce shortage by advancing the goal of creating more opportunities for women and major minority groups. We are thrilled by the extraordinary response to our inaugural conference, with globally recognized organizations like (ISC)² joining the growing list of our esteemed Gold Sponsors.”
The conference will focus on the public, private and academic imperatives necessary to overcome the shortage by closing the gap through diversification of the workforce. The conference will facilitate a national dialogue toward enhancing opportunities in cybersecurity education and employment for women and the major minorities in this burgeoning sector.
During the conference, attendees will:
• Engage thought leaders from industry, government and academia
• Network with security luminaries
• Gain insight from women and minority cybersecurity practitioners
• Interact with cutting-edge security vendors
• Attend professional development workshops
• Explore career paths in cybersecurity
• Learn about scholarships and internship opportunities
(ISC)² CEO David Shearer says, “The latest (ISC)² study forecasted that the deficit in the information security workforce will reach 1.5 million by 2020. In order to help fill this gap, we must focus our efforts on bringing underrepresented minorities into this industry. Supporting the ICMCP’s inaugural conference exemplifies (ISC)²’s commitment to raising awareness and fostering change for this crucial industry issue.”
SAVE THE DATE
WHEN: March 23 – 24, 2016 (tentative)
WHO: Cybersecurity executives, cybersecurity professionals, exhibitors, students and aspiring practitioners
WHERE: Washington, D.C. (venue to be announced)
For more information on sponsorship, please contact: [email protected].
To receive updates on the conference, please contact us: https://icmcp.org/save-the-date/
About ICMCP
The ICMCP is a volunteer-led 501©3 non-profit organization. Launched in 2014, the ICMCP is working to bridge the gap in the cybersecurity sector by providing scholarship opportunities, technical training programs, innovative outreach, mentoring and networking programs targeting women and minority cybersecurity professionals worldwide and by promoting academic and technical excellence in the industry.
Veda Woods, International Consortium of Minority Cybersecurity Professionals, http://www.icmcp.org, +1 (800) 924-1458, [email protected]
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