INFORMATICS - The Women4Cyber initiative was launched

The Women4Cyber initiative, founded by 30 women-leaders in IT and cyber security from public and private organisations, was launched at the European Cyber Security Organisation in Brussels. Gertrud Ingestad, Director-General of DG Informatics, is among the founding members of the initiative, established under the patronage of Commissioner Mariya Gabriel.

date: 30/01/2019

‘’We need to attract more women in cyber because we have to increase the chance to have more experts in this domain’’, pointed out Luigi Rebuffi, ECSO Secretary General, at the opening of the event.

During the discussion that followed, the founding members were invited to share their experience and ideas how to make the cyber security field more attractive to women and how to encourage them to take career paths for which they are not prepared.

Commissioner Gabriel expressed her strong support for the initiative and asked for immediate and concrete actions. ‘'The future is digital and the role of women in cybersecurity is crucial’’, she said calling for actions to combat stereotypes through initiatives like ''No Women, No Panel'' and attracting more girls to study STEM subjects.

‘’Our best option to close the gender gap in cybersecurity is by inspiring female talent to consider a career in cyber’’, said Gertrud Ingestad giving examples of initiatives to attract more women in the operational cyber teams in the European Commission.

Follow the activities of Women4Cyber here

From left: Maria Manuela Catrina, State Secretary, Ministry of Communications and Information Society, Romania, Despina Spanou, Director for Digital Society, Trust and Cybersecurity, DG CNECT, Gertrud Ingestad, Director-General of DG Informatics and Luigi Rebuffi, Secretary General of ECSO

The Women4Cyber initiative was launched

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