Let’s make 2023 a year to remember!

I don’t know about you, but 2022 was a big year for me. I had challenges. I had wins, accomplishments and a few failures. If I am to be completely honest, it was exhausting, but I feel it to have been rewarding on many levels. After three years locked up, isolating ourselves from each other, we came out in a big way. Conferences, events, business; all were thriving and alive with activity.

I am working with Baidam, a 100 percent Australianowned and operated First Nations business delivering network and application security expertise. I can say with no doubt whatsoever, I love the organisation. It is not perfect. It is hard work, but we all have the same ambition to make a real difference so, when we move on, we will leave it better than when we came.

Making a difference; what does that mean really? In the context of Baidam it means helping to build and support Indigenous representation in ICT and in the cybersecurity industry in particular. The company is succeeding in that mission, but slowly. It is a marathon, not a 100 metre sprint. Some big plans for 2023 will help give this mission a huge shot in the arm. They are plans I am proud to be a part of, and I hope to truly make a difference, not just to Baidam and its development, not just to the clients who are our biggest supporters, but to aspirants trying to make their way into our sector. Things are going to change, and we will lead the way. Watch this space!

Making A Splash In 2023

What about outside Baidam? My writing is going to make a splash in 2023 (maybe even a tsunami). Some of you may be aware of a co-authored project I worked on in 2022 with the amazing Caity Randall. Cyber awareness and education need some development. We have been trying hard as an industry to help increase individuals’ cyber knowledge, to help make everyone a little safer online. But, if we look closely, we see we are not making a great difference. Caity and I feel cyber education is being offered much too late in children’s schooling. So we have produced a book to educate mid-primary through to early high school students about the online world.

The book is called “The Shadow World” and will be available in May. Get ready. We believe if we can teach students along with their teachers or parents all will learn together and we will make a difference to the cyber education of the entire population, not only of young people. To this end we plan to give away 5,000 copies of the book to primary schools around the country.

That’s right, five thousand copies, for free ! I will let that sink in for a second because it is huge, right?

Yes, it is huge, and it is only possible because of an amazing organisation that will fund the initial pilot, a proof of concept you might say. I will not reveal that organisation because I want it to have the opportunity to announce its support, and gain the kudos it deserves from this amazing initiative.

School Cyber Education Initiative

The idea is to find fifty primary schools that want to take part. Each school will receive approximately 100 copies to enable it to give one book to each student in either year five or year six. Teachers and students will be able to use the books to learn together. Students will be able to take their books home and talk to their parents about the contents. We hope giving every student in a particular year a copy of the book will produce wide educational benefits and kickstart generational change.

After the dust settles on this initial pilot we will be looking to bring in more sponsors to help us deliver the book to more schools. Our aim is to cover every primary school in Australia. We know that to be a big goal, a mammoth task. But if we do not aim high we will not produce the generational change and the real educational benefits we aim for.

More Foresight Books

My Foresight book series will also grow with two more instalments to be published in 2023: Shadow and Vulcan. Through them I will continue to encourage young women to see cybersecurity as a career option, to think “Hey, maybe I could do that. Maybe I could be like her.” Yes, you can, yes you should.

So, 2023 is not going to be easy. It will certainly be exhausting, but let us not waste time on pointless New Year resolutions. Let us stop talking about making a difference. Let us stand tall together, and put words into action. If you have something you wish to achieve, make a plan, put that plan into motion and do what you say you will do.

Let us all make a real difference through education, support for equality and through actions rather than words.

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