Wilmington University and Salem Community College cosponsored the ‘Ms. Connection – Careers for Women in Information Technology’ conference on March 4th. The conference, which was the first of its kind in Delaware, aimed at encouraging women to pursue careers in information technology. The four women panelists, experts in the field of Information Technology in both government and industry, talked about their careers and offered advice on how women can get started in the IT industry.
Karen Evans, the National Director for the US Cyber Challenge spoke about the need to fill 10,000 positions in cyber security in the United States. Through the Cyber Challenge program and contest students will be able to develop their skills, have access to advanced education and exercises, and be recognized by colleges and employers where their skills can be of the greatest value to the nation.
Nancy McDonald, formally a Chief Information Officer at DuPont and currently an adjunct professor at Wilmington University spoke of the variety of roles there are in Information Technology for women and how women can easily advance with an IT career. Nancy informed participants about the NCWIT upcoming workshops at Wilmington University on June 11 and June 18th. These hands-on workshops, for women considering a college degree will expose them to five tracks related to Information Technology.
Karen Smith, a VP and Quality Manager at JP Morgan Chase talked about how important it is to network with other IT professionals. Karen, the founder and president of the Black Data Processors Association of Northern Delaware, has promoted and encouraged students of all ages in the STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and math). The students in this program have demonstrated success by securing 1st place honors in a Nation STEM competition earning them scholarships and internship opportunities.
Elayne Starkey, Chief Security Officer of Delaware’s Department of Technology and Information and a member of the Governor’s Homeland Security Council spoke about the DigiGirlz program. The DigiGirlz program will be held Tuesday, March 29 at Wilmington University and is open to all 8th and 9th graders. DigiGirlz will engage young women in lively discussion about technology and will offer fun hands-on activities.
More information about these programs can be found:
Cyber Challenge http://www.uscyberchallenge.org/
NCWIT College Workshops http://www.wilmu.edu/news/newsArticle.aspx?newsID=933
Black Data Processors Association http://www.bdpa-de.org/about.htm
DigiGirlz http://delawaredigigirlz.eventbrite.com
On Thursday night, April 7th, 2011, the Center for Cybersecurity Education will present a cyber crime colloquium at Wilmington University’s New Castle campus. The Chic Squad, an all girl’s high school cybersecurity team from Padua Academy will describe their experience competing in the Air Force Association’s CyberPatriot III. The girls will be followed by the featured speaker, Supervisory Special Agent David Musgrove of the FBI and the Maryland chapter of InfraGard. SSA Musgrove will describe current trends in cybercrime, social engineering techniques most in use by cyber criminals and Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) techniques used by law enforcement to track the bad guys and what they are up to.
