AtlanTTic organises a meeting on cybersecurity as part of the ‘Connecting in Equality’ series of conferences

The University of Vigo’s Research Centre for Telecommunication Technologies, atlanTTic, a member of the CIGUS Network, an initiative launched by the regional government (Xunta de Galicia) that groups together centres of accredited scientific excellence within the Galician university system, hosted the third and final session of ‘Connecting in Equality: the transformation of the technological future’, bringing this series of sessions on technology and equality to a successful close.

Attending the opening session was Manuel J. Reigosa, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Vigo; Martín Llamas Nistal, Director of atlanTTic; Rebeca P. Díaz Redondo, Director of the School of Engineering and Telecommunications; and Mar F. Cendón, a specialist from the Equality Unit. This was followed by a roundtable discussion chaired by atlanTTic researcher and professor of the School of Engineering and Telecommunications, Edita de Lorenzo.

A call for women to act as agents of change

Four female experts in cybersecurity from academia and business participated in this roundtable debate: Ana Fernández Vilas, a researcher at atlanTTic and coordinator of the R Chair in Cybersecurity and the interuniversity master’s degree in Cybersecurity (MUniCS); Eduvigis Ortiz, president and founder of Women4Cyber Spain; Pilar Vila, CIELO at Forensic & Security; and Elena Rodríguez Lois, a cybersecurity researcher at atlanTTic.

The four women had the opportunity to relate their experience and careers as women engineers in the cybersecurity sector, highlighting the low representation of women in technical careers and the gender gap that still exists in this field. In addition, they also emphasised the importance of changing this perspective, agreeing that it should be women themselves who act as the agents of change.

A call for the transformation of the world of technology, incorporating a multidisciplinary approach and a more feminist and diverse vision, was the principal topic of the session, together with others such as the need for everyone to share the same possibilities for the future, something which, in the speakers’ opinion, is only possible through education that delivers equal opportunities for all.

All the conferences organized in the framework of this cycle received backing from the Equality Unit of the University of Vigo, thanks to the Equality Award aid given to atlanTTic in 2023.