Episode 284 Deep Dive: Ana Forsyth | Cyber Education – How early do we start?

“The views reflected in this podcast are the views of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of KPMG Australia”.

In this episode, we sit down with Ana Forsyth, Associate Director from KPMG, as she discusses the fragmented state of Australia’s education system in relation to cyber education. Ana highlights the significant gaps between schools, vocational training, and higher education, stressing the need for cohesive national strategies and government accountability.

Ana also covers the critical role of teachers in cybersecurity education, the necessity of early cyber safety awareness, and the challenges parents face in navigating their children’s digital lives. She shares her views on current parenting trends in relation to children’s access to technology and the imperative for systemic educational reforms to build a resilient cybersecurity workforce in Australia.

For the past eight years, Ana has been a cyber professional consulting to Federal Government and Defence clients. Ana previously worked in event sales and hospitality management for almost a decade, but took the leap into cyber security and never looked back, successfully transferring her leadership and stakeholder engagement skills.

Ana completed a PhD in cyber security strategy, entitled ‘Educational pathways to national cyber resilience: the Australian story’ (ANU, 2020); the thesis focused on growing Australia’s future cyber workforce by enhancing its pipeline. She argued for strengthened higher and vocational cyber security education, but also for the need to drive more interest in STEM in primary/secondary school, bringing along not just the students, but also their teachers and carers. The research highlighted the need for support from government, academia and industry, seamlessly integrated at every level.

Ana also holds a Master of Arts in Strategy and Security (UNSW at ADFA, 2012), a Master of International Affairs (ANU, 2011), and a Bachelor of Business Administration and Hospitality Management (Northwood University and Hotel Institute Montreux, Switzerland, 2009). She grew up in the Middle East, and did most of her schooling in the French system.

[NB: if Ana could study forever, she would.]

Passionate about the human risk management facet of her industry, Ana is a firm believer in not only growing Australia’s future cyber workforce, but also uplifting the level of cyber skills across the board for the nation’s generations to come. She is dedicated to sparking conversation and raising awareness of the fact that future Australia needs support from us today to be the best that they can tomorrow – and as secure as possible.