We are delighted to announce the founding four Advisory Group Members, the group will provide the SWCRC with guidance, advice and influence the direction of the Centre. Welcome to
Kate Doodson, Joint Chief Executive of Cosmic, Robin King, Chair of The South West Cyber Security Cluster, Andrew Sharman, Founder of the South West Business Crime Centre and Stephen Mariadas, Chief Executive Officer at the South West Institute of Technology.
Mark Moore, Director of The South West Cyber Resilience Centre said: “I’m delighted to be welcoming Kate, Robin, Alex, Andrew and Stephen as founding members of the Advisory Group. They’re an incredibly impressive foundation for our team, and I’m enormously grateful to all of them for being kind enough to share their time and expertise, in an effort to protect businesses and charities across the region.”
“The breadth of experience and knowledge that this group of individuals brings to the table is enormous. With small businesses collectively falling victim to almost 10,000 cyber-attacks daily, I’m looking forward to harnessing the knowledge and experience of our Advisory Group Members, to make the South West a safer place for our businesses to trade in.”
Kate Doodson, Joint Chief Executive of Cosmic Kate is the Joint Chief Executive of Cosmic, one of the leading social enterprises in the South West and recognised across the UK for its achievements and ongoing development. Kate is a girl geek having spent 20 years in the IT industry, many of which running a wholly female owned IT software business.
Kate specialises in Digital Futures and the strategic use of Digital to transform business processes. She is passionate about ensuring organisations use digital technology to improve productivity and thrive, particularly in the rural economy.
Kate regularly delivers lectures across the UK and internationally on Digital Transformation.
Kate is a steering group member of the South West Cyber Security Cluster, Tech South West. She is a Co-opted Governor at Marjon University and South Devon College.
Her previous career in Civil Engineering enabled her to work extensively in both the UK and overseas.
Kate has been shortlisted for the Women in IT awards, as IT Advocate of the Year, and received awards from Tech4Good, Social Enterprise UK and Venus awards. She has been listed on the WISE 100 2020 Index as Social Leader of the Year.
When asked about joining the SWCRC Advisory Group, Kate said: “We hope to support the SWCRC with our understanding of the needs of small businesses and organisations in the South West and aim to develop a greater understanding of the service so we can signpost well for businesses that need this support. We have a real passion to increase the skills and knowledge base of small businesses in the region to ensure then can run safe and sustainable businesses online now and in the future”
Robin King, Chair of The South West Cyber Security Cluster
Robin is an experienced, sales-focused business manager with a specialism within the Technology and Security markets. He has held senior roles within a range of companies, bringing together the skills of highly experienced teams to lead solutions and services into a range of public and private sector markets, notably the Defence and Security sectors in both the UK and overseas. He has a particular interest in cyber security, retains senior relationships relevant to the UK technology-based innovation market including those with Government, the System Integration and Prime Contractor communities and with several Academic institutions.
Robin has represented the interests of the UK SME sector within UK and International trade organisations to include UKTI, UK Council for Electronic Business (UKCeB), UK ADS Group (as a member of the Defence Small Medium Enterprise Committee) and the internationally recognised Transglobal Secure Collaboration Program (TSCP) with interest in securing supply chain interoperability. He was an invited member of the UK Prime Ministerial Trade Delegation to the US to represent UK SME Cyber Security interests.
Amongst other activities, Robin is a trusted advisor to a number of cyber security businesses as they establish market presence within the specialist sectors of defence and security markets with a particular interest in Industrial Control System provision for Critical National Infrastructure.
Andrew Sharman, Founder of the South West Business Crime Centre
Andrew Sharman is a respected practitioner in the world of business crime reduction with over a decade in managing and supporting BIDs, BCRPs, Police & PCCs across the country.
Andrew is a partner of the Institute of Place Management, a Member of the Institute of Strategic Risk Management, and an assessor for the National Standards Accreditation for Business Crime Partnerships governed by Secured by Design Police Crime Prevention Initiatives.
Stephen Mariadas, Chief Executive Officer at the South West Institute of Technology
Steve Mariadas is the CEO of the South West Institute of Technology. He has a wide range of experience in both industry and education having held the position of Chief Information Officer for a European airline. Since moving into education ten years ago, he has been instrumental in building digital and data apprenticeships across the region.
Steve was awarded a Technical Teaching Fellowship by the Royal Commission and works closely with the Department for Education and Gatsby Foundation.
On joining the SWCRC Advisory Group, Stephen said: “As the Institute of Technology for the South West our single vision is to tackle current skills gaps and anticipate employer future skill needs. We want to provide industry standard, specialist training facilities in the South West to ensure we have the digital and cyber skills our region needs. Our involvement in the South West CRC will give us unrivalled exposure to the direction of cyber allowing us to build the right curriculum and attract the right learners to exciting careers in this sector.”
Find out more about the South West Cyber Resilience Centre at www.swcrc.co.uk, where you can also sign up for free core memberships to help protect your business or third sector organisation from cyber attack. We’ll give you free guidance and support, and regularly update you with the latest ways to stay safer.
If you need anything more, we’ll work with you to find inexpensive and expert ways to secure ICT support in a marketplace which we know can feel confusing to outsiders. As a policing-led, not-for-profit organisation, we’re here to help.
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