In collaboration with Women4Cyber, LEADS organised a workshop to understand and address the growing demand for cybersecurity skills in Europe. The event brought together experts and professionals from various organisations to discuss and analyse the current state of the market and the future scenarios related to cybersecurity skills.
Nuria De Lama, LEADS representative, expressed gratitude to the participants for their valuable contributions to the workshop. She emphasised the importance of LEADS’ project and its goal to forecast the demand for cybersecurity skills in the upcoming years.
Brendan Rowan, Lead Project Coordinator of LEADS, focused on key factors influencing the demand for cybersecurity skills. He highlighted the need for both technical expertise and complementary skills, emphasising the importance of domain expertise in conjunction with technical skills. Rowan discussed LEADS’ approach to mapping the demand for skills based on emerging technologies such as cybersecurity, cloud computing, IoT, AI, data, and quantum.
The workshop delved into various challenges and opportunities in the cybersecurity field. It was revealed that attracting the right talent remains a significant obstacle, but contrary to expectations, salary competition is not the main hindrance. Instead, work experience and relevant professional qualifications were identified as key concerns.
The participants also discussed the increasing demand for reskilling and upskilling the existing workforce, especially within cybersecurity. Companies are looking internally to develop the necessary skills and address the shortage of qualified professionals. The workshop emphasised the importance of fostering a diverse and gender-balanced workforce within STEM areas.
The workshop focused on three main factors: macroeconomic, socio-political, and technological. These factors were analysed to understand their impact on technology adoption and the demand for cybersecurity skills. Participants worked in breakout rooms, examining use cases, skill details, and hypotheses related to specific factors.
Overall, the LEADS and Women 4 Cyber workshop provided a platform for experts to share their knowledge and opinions on the demand for cybersecurity skills in Europe. The insights gathered during the event will contribute to the LEADS project’s effort to forecast future skills needs accurately and bridge the gap between supply and demand in the cybersecurity field.