NextGen Girls aims to upscale ISOC 25 Under 25 Award winner Respect Girls on Internet, Beyond the net community grant project by developing a networkof university and high school girls studying ICT.
The goal of the project is developing females to pursue emerging IoT security careers to help build safer and secure IoT environment at homes, workplaces and in their communities.
The emergence of pocket-sized computing devices, capable of electronic switching, sensing, controlling equipment, video, and audio has created a new paradigm shift in home automation, business, agriculture, transport, environmental technologies. The IoT systems uses internet at the core. Unsecured uses of IoT, especially at homes endanger safety and breach privacy of individuals and families. Women are the most vulnerable as IoT have been misused to invade women privacy for sex revenge, harassment, data breach and other scams. Obtaining support from male experts in the event of IoT breach is a risk says women safety activists. The solution is developed IoT and security skills among women to safeguard homes, workplaces, and community from IoT breaches.
Women becoming IoT security experts immensely contributes to gender equality, diversity, and growth in female IoT economy. Shilpa Sayura Partners AlgoHack community, Google education, Computer Society and ISOC Sri Lanka to implement NextGen Girls initiative. The activities include creating an IoT and Security Curriculum including Internet governance, Privacy, IPV6, IoT,, Networking, Information Security and open web technologies and training 40 female University students to become Internet Security Educators. They shall train 160 of their peers, and make awareness to 800 high school girls in IoT safety. The training delivered through 8 workshops at 4 universities, 24 live online training sessions, 2 meetups and an IoT hackathon among girls. The outcomes of NextGen Girls is development of a sustainable women community network specializing in IoT and security, advocating IoT safety and enable support for victims while increasing women participation in IoT and Security field. NextGen Girls community shall long term becomes a women lead
