Intelligent CXO Issue 03 | Page 9

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Digital Opportunity Trust and IBM team up to provide digital and career skills for youth in the Middle East and Africa

Digital Opportunity Trust ( DOT ) is announcing a timely collaboration with IBM to empower young women and men in the Middle East and Africa with the digital skills , workforce readiness proficiencies and business knowledge needed for successful careers , social wellbeing and economic growth .

DOT will work with local organisations to help young people tap into IBM ’ s free Open P-TECH ’ s ( ptech . org ) career readiness curricula . The platform equips learners with competencies in foundational technologies used in all industries , such as AI , cloud computing and cybersecurity , along with professional workplace skills like design thinking , teaming and presentations .
Together , the organisations will aim to reach at least 40,000 young people in eight countries – Jordan , Lebanon , Rwanda , Tanzania , Uganda , Zambia , Malawi and Ghana . Seventy percent of the youth will be young women .
The pandemic has laid bare the gaps and inequitable access to the digital literacy , employment and entrepreneurship skills that youth require to innovate , compete for jobs or start businesses in a digital economy . The gender gap is extreme – with women over 50 % less likely to be online than men in least developed countries , where 390 million women remain unconnected .
Poised to change this are IBM ’ s new Open P-TECH digital education platform with its potential to scale within formal and informal education systems , and the support of DOT ’ s network of young leaders with the facilitation , coaching and peer-to-peer talents that are critical to the effectiveness , application and retention of online learning .

Over one third of IT professionals are ‘ very concerned ’ about supply chain security risk , according to Infosecurity Europe poll

Over one third ( 38 %) of IT professionals say they are very concerned about the security risks third-party providers present to their organisation , according to the latest Twitter poll run by Infosecurity Europe , Europe ’ s number one information security event . More than a quarter ( 27.7 %) admit they have no processes in place to control data and information flow between suppliers , with 20.1 % simply having no idea whether any such measures have been implemented .

Infosecurity Europe also asked IT professionals what security prerequisites would be top of the list when preparing to work with a supplier . The number one priority was a full risk assessment ( 37.9 %), followed by cyber insurance ( 24.3 %), proven compliance ( 21.7 %) and national accreditation ( 16.1 %).
Recent research from the Ponemon Institute and SecureLink has found that almost half of all organisations have suffered a data breach via a third party in the past 12 months .
The risk is likely to rise as businesses along the supply chain adjust to yet another shift in working models , creating new vulnerabilities . In addition , organisations will increasingly turn to third party providers as they seek to streamline their operations , widening their attack surface .
In addition to the IT professionals who are very concerned about third party risk , a further 33.9 % feel somewhat concerned , with a confident 28.1 % saying they are not at all concerned . While more than half ( 52.3 %) of respondents have a process in place to control data flow between providers , only 35.1 % actually enforce this policy .
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