EC-Council Hosts NM Technology Council Event Addressing Technology and New Mexico’s Economy
Albuquerque, NM (PRWEB) April 14, 2017 -- The New Mexico Technology Council and State Auditor Tim Keller created an event hosted by information security leader EC-Council to examine impact of out of state spending on New Mexico’s small business community. The event was keynoted by Tim Keller, where he laid out his view of how IT business could be the difference-maker in growing New Mexico’s economy over the coming years.
The sold-out event also featured a panel of speakers voicing concerns and ideas for New Mexico’s tech community. The panelists represented a range of perspectives and included Katherine Ulibarri, CNM’s VP for Finance & Operations; Mark Fidel, RiskSense’s Co-Founder & Head of Corporate Development; Andrew Baca, Abba Technologies’ President & CEO; Steve Schroeder, Real Time Solutions’ CEO; Raminder Mann, the CEO of ANM; Nyika Allen, who was the moderator of the panel as well as the President & CEO of the New Mexico Technology Council.
Eric Lopez, EC-Council’s VP, said “I’m excited EC-Council had the opportunity to host this event as I see EC-Council as a key part of New Mexico’s cyber future. EC-Council is the industry leader in ethical hacking certification and education so I believe we have a lot to contribute to our local cyber work force.”
The City of Albuquerque was represented by their CIO, Peter Ambs. Ambs said “The presentation today by State Auditor Keller illustrates the importance of including, considering, and looking first to local technology companies for the capabilities to meet state and local government needs. The procurement dollars that stay local continue to circulate through our community in an exponential fashion. The venue provided by EC-Council gave community technology stakeholders the ability to a first-class facility and further promote the cyber security training and certification programs that EC-Council has right here in our City.”
Another attendee, Sheila Mendez, Sr. IT Director PPMO & Quality, PNM Resources Inc. had this to say: "I attended the NMTC event today to gain a better understanding of our state's IT spending, where it is directed and why. The discussions with local business leaders on how NM based companies could collaborate more often to respond to large RFPs and offer a partnered approach in product and service delivery, was insightful."
The panel discussion emphasized the fact that keeping IT dollars in the state was just as important as bringing it in. “I am very grateful that the New Mexico Technology Council organized this event so we could have a substantive and important conversation on how to keep more information technology contracts in New Mexico,” said Central New Mexico Community College Vice President for Finance and Operations Katherine Ulibarri. “Our state is facing plenty of economic challenges. If we can keep more IT projects in New Mexico, we’ll make an immediate, positive impact on the state’s IT industry and we’ll contribute to the creation of new, high-paying jobs. At CNM, we’re looking forward to putting greater emphasis on keeping more of our IT contracts in New Mexico.”
Keller, the current State Auditor as well as a candidate for Albuquerque Mayor, has an interest in the topic as one plank of his platform centers on keeping jobs and dollars in the state. His website outlines plans to “create new opportunities for entrepreneurs that will replace the millions of tax dollars currently sent to out-of-town vendors.” His campaign also highlights his plans to “encourage our best and brightest to stay or return home with partnerships … that offer real career paths for young people.” EC-Council’s cyber training can help anyone with some experience in IT transition into a much more lucrative career in information security, leading to more stability and career growth.
Other companies attending included Deloitte, Sandia National Laboratories, Xhib-it!, Rural Sourcing Inc., Level (3), and many others. "The community came together in a public forum to discuss IT contracting and procurement in New Mexico and most importantly how we can make changes to the current process to benefit our local homegrown companies." - Nyika Allen, President and CEO New Mexico technology Council
About EC-Council
EC-Council has been the world’s leading information security certification body since the launch of their flagship program, Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH), which created the ethical hacking industry in 2002. Since the launch of CEH, EC-Council has added industry-leading programs to their portfolio to cover all aspects of information security including EC-Council Certified Security Analyst (ECSA), Computer Hacking Forensics Investigator (CHFI), Certified Chief Information Security Officer (CCISO), among others. EC-Council Foundation, the non-profit branch of EC-Council, created Global CyberLympics, the world’s first global hacking competition. EC-Council Foundation also hosts a suite of conferences across the US and around the world including Hacker Halted, Global CISO Forum, TakeDownCon, and CISO Summit.
For more information about EC-Council, please see http://www.eccouncil.org.
Amber Pedroncelli, EC-Council, http://ciso.eccouncil.org, +1 (505) 922-2895, [email protected]
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