CICRA, Daily FT announce Youth Cyber Security Summit as an annual event

Monday, 2 July 2018 00:00 -     - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

  • *Over 400 O/L and A/L students to participate at second Summit on Wednesday at BMICH
  • *Global and local experts to inspire youth on importance of cybersecurity  

Stemming from the success of the popular Cyber Security Summit, joint organisers CICRA Holdings Ltd. and the Daily FT have announced the extension of the Youth Cyber Security Summit to an annual event. 

 The second Youth Cyber Security Summit, drawing over 400 Ordinary Level and Advanced Level students who are keen to pursue a career in IT, telecommunication, software engineering and cybersecurity, will be held on Wednesday (4 July) from 9.00 a.m. to 4.30 p.m. at the Jasmin Hall of the BMICH.  Conversion to an annual event is based on the feedback from participants at the inaugural Summit held last year. 



For the past five years, the CICRA Holdings and Daily FT have jointly held the Cyber Security Summit and CEOs Forum successfully, making it a must-attend event in the calendar of corporates, public institutions, the IT industry and professionals.  The 2018 edition of the larger Cyber Security Summit and CEOs Forum will be held in September.



CICRA Holdings Group Director and CEO Boshan Dayaratne said: “During our progressive journey, we realised that educating the youth on cybersecurity is an important social responsibility of ours. We see that to lack of awareness and early adaptation of technological devices by the youth have created lots of incidences, even taking their lives.”

“We see youth getting involved in online games and sometimes, without knowing, getting into unwanted trouble, such as the “Blue whale” online game which makes participants commit suicide at the end. Whilst we agree that we must move along with the technological advancements in the globe, there is a risk of using them without knowing how to do so securely. Our intention is to educate the youth who are attending the summit so they can become ambassadors of cybersecurity in their own schools and educate the rest,” Dayaratne added. The 4 July Youth Cyber Security Summit is an invitation-only event, but organisers have allocated 50 seats for students who are studying the London O/L and A/L 2018 to register online at www.youthsummit.cicra.edu.lk. The first 50 registrations will be invited to attend the summit. 

Digital Infrastructure, Telecommunications and Foreign Employment Minister Harin Fernando will be the Chief Guest at the Youth Cyber Security Summit. The event is supported by the Ministry of Telecommunication and Digital Infrastructure and the ICT Agency of Sri Lanka. 

CICRA Campus Head of Business Development Achini Fernando said there will be an eminent panel of speakers lined up for the Youth Cyber Security Summit this year as well. The keynote speaker is by Zoe Rose, a female ethical hacker from United Kingdom.  Zoë is a Cisco Champion and certified Splunk Architect who frequently speaks at conferences and quoted in the media, and most recently featured in Vogue Magazine. She supports her clients to manage their vulnerabilities and embed effective cyber resilience across their organisation. 

Cybersecurity research discipline lead at Deakin Software and Technology Innovation Laboratory and a cybersecurity senior academic and researcher at Deakin University, Australia, Amani Abrahim will be the other foreign speaker. She holds a Ph.D. and a M.Sc. in Computer Science and has professional-level industrial certifications in computer networks and cybersecurity such as CEH, CCNP, CCANS, CCNA, and CCSI. Several local industry leaders will also address the Summit to inspire the participants. Among them are Dialog Axiata Group CEO Supun Weerasinghe, Microsoft Sri Lanka and Maldives Country Manager Hasitha Abeywardena, 99X Founder CEO Mano Sekeram, and Cybersecurity Solutions Architect from CICRA Consultancies Rukshan Devendra.

Standard Chartered Bank supports Youth Cyber Security Summit

Standard Chartered Commercial Banking – Sri Lanka Executive Director/Head Dushan Casie Chetty (left) hands over the sponsorship for the National Youth Cyber Security Summit to CICRA Holdings Group Director and CEO Boshan Dayaratne - Pic by Ruwan Walpola

 

A leading global bank with a 150 years’ presence in Sri Lanka, the Standard Charted Bank has come forward to support the important Youth Cyber Security Summit as the Official Banker.  Organised by the CICRA Holdings and the Daily FT, the Youth Cyber Security Summit on Wednesday (4 July) at the BMICH will draw over 400 Ordinary Level and Advanced Level students keen on pursuing careers in IT, telecommunications, software engineering and cyber security. 

The sponsorship was handed over by Standard Chartered Commercial Banking – Sri Lanka Executive Director/Head Dushan Casie Chetty to CICRA Holdings Group CEO and Director Boshan Dayaratne. 

Present in over 60 markets with over 1,000 branches, the Standard Charted Bank’s purpose is to drive commerce and prosperity through unique diversity, and through heritage and values expressed in the brand promise, ‘here for good’. 

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