Nominations for cyber awards
A West Lothian school has reason to celebrate after receiving two further nominations in the prestigious Scottish Cyber Awards.
A group of three students, dubbed ‘the Turing Testers’, from St Kentigern’s Academy in Blackburn are amongst this year’s finalists in both the ‘Outstanding Women in Cyber’ and the ‘Outstanding Cyber Team’ categories.
The Turing Testers, Catherine Fitzimons, Amina Tahir and Rachel Cooper, are no strangers to the Scottish Cyber Awards, as they were finalists for ‘Outstanding Cyber Team’ at last year’s event.
Now in its third year, the glittering ceremony has become a key fixture in the calendar of an industry that is fast emerging as one of Scotland’s most important.
Those at the forefront in the battle to protect Scottish people and businesses against cybercrime will again be recognised at the Sheraton Hotel in Edinburgh next month, where the winners will be announced.
Mandy Haeburn-Little, chief executive of the Scottish Business Resilience Centre, the hosts of the awards, believes that Scotland has the potential to be a country of excellence in cyber security and innovation.
She said: “The judging this year was even harder than last year and that just further underlines the sea change in the number of cyber innovation and technical companies that Scotland is seeing grow.
“This year we had more applications, the decisions were tougher and the suite of finalists really does read like a who’s who of the best of that talent.
“As a sector this is a hugely valuable part of our economy and I am really supportive of recognising that hunger for success and for excellence.
“This year we have seen much greater diversity than before and that includes a much higher entry level to ‘Outstanding Woman in Cyber’.
“In addition, ‘Best Cyber Talent’ saw an excellent field of young and emerging bright stars and we need to do all we can to keep that talent here, even for a short while.
“Now more than ever, talented people here in Scotland are getting on the front foot, creating solutions, training others and setting new standards of excellence.
“Congratulations to all who have been nominated, it may sound a cliché but the standards truly were higher than ever before - and being represented is a sign of quality.”
Categories in this year’s awards include Outstanding Woman in Cyber, Best Cyber Breakthrough and Cyber Security Teacher of the Year.
For the first time ever, an award will be judged by the public - with Best Customer Experience now open to a public vote and will be live on the Scottish Cyber Awards website (www.scottishcyberawards.co.uk) until October 30.
Richard Holmes, vice president Cyber Security Services for CGI and Scottish Cyber Awards judge, said: “The entries were of a very strong standard and the judging process gave an excellent insight into the truly innovative approaches being taken in Scotland to fight the cyber threat.”
The Scottish Cyber Awards will be held on Wednesday, November 28, at the Sheraton Hotel in Edinburgh.
The judging this year was even harder than last year