Microsoft Inc. has partnered with SheHacks, a women-focused STEM Hackathon to support East African women in technology. Microsoft East Africa entered the partnership through its Cloud and AI Security Engineering team. This further resonates its commitment to supporting, sponsoring, developing and advocating for women interested in Security Engineering.
According to the Cybersecurity Ventures Report for 2018 to 2021, it is estimated that there will be over 3.5 million unfilled positions in Cybersecurity. This shows that there is a shortage of cybersecurity skills in the world today.
See also: KnowBe4 Partners Cyber Security Africa to Scale Global Expansion
The partnership was to empower and inspire the next generation of cybersecurity engineers. The partnership is focused on preparing women to thrive in the technology industry. “We want to make it easy for anyone to take their next step forward in technology,” said Hayden Hainsworth, General Manager for Cybersecurity Engineering at Microsoft.
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Thank you for your support @Microsoftea and to the partners or had @ekraal_ @SafaricomPLC @OPCDE @cyberhayden #SheHacks2019 #HackFest2019 https://t.co/jfxsUGSPTH— SheHacks KE #SheHacks2019 (@shehacks_ke) October 20, 2019
SheHacks was founded by Evelyn Kilel and Laura Tich to support women in tech. The Hackathon provided an opportunity to empower women with cybersecurity skills to accelerate digital success in East Africa. This year’s Hackathon hosted close to 300 young ladies from Kenya and equipped them with skills for combating cybercrime.
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