APPLETON (NBC 26) — There are teams of people working to keep cyberspace secure. For some of those who say they feel underrepresented their field, today was for them.
- Day 1 of the Wisconsin Governor's Cybersecurity Summit focused on women in the field, featuring hundreds of professionals at the Fox Cities Exhibition Center
- State Chief Information Officer Trina Zanow emphasized the importance of diversifying the cybersecurity workforce, highlighting the event's role in empowering women
- The summit featured representatives from major companies and military branches, sharing their experiences and emphasizing the need for basic cybersecurity skills for everyone
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story)
There are teams of people working to keep cyberspace secure. For some of those who say they feel underrepresented, today is for them.
At the Wisconsin Governor's Cybersecurity Summit’s Women in Cybersecurity event, hundreds of cybersecurity professionals gathered at the Fox Cities Exhibition Center for the three-day summit.
On Day One, the focus was on the women of cybersecurity.
"It's important for us to diversify our skillset and population in the cybersecurity world," says Trina Zanow, the State of Wisconsin Chief Information Officer, who helped organize the "Women in Cybersecurity" event.
Zanow spoke firsthand about the impact of the event. “Women, in particular, building up other women to see it's possible because a lot of the IT world and the cybersecurity world has been male-dominated in the past,” she explains.
Big companies like Microsoft, Google, and Amazon were present, but some branches of the nation's military were also here, with members sharing their experiences with cybersecurity.
"Everybody depends on a different platform. As far as everybody does banking online, some people are paying their bills. We want to make sure people have those basic skills to prevent themselves," explains Jeannie Jeanetta, Wisconsin National Guard Chief of Staff Joint Staff.
Jeanetta started her military career as a communications specialist, but her role morphed into cybersecurity. She says what made today special isn’t just the women in her field—but their stories too.
"I think that what we did here today, as far as inviting women in, is to find out about everybody's path. So everybody has taken a different path and I just have a unique path through the military,” Jeanetta shares.
The Women in Cybersecurity event wrapped up Monday, but the overall Wisconsin Governor's Cybersecurity Summit will continue through October 30th.
