By Justin Daniels, Baker Donelson
By Justin Daniels, Baker Donelson
The success of Atlanta Cyber Week is a testament to what happens when the cyber community speaks with one voice. Thanks to all of our sponsors, partners, influencers and event organizers for helping to market and execute a top-notch series of events that were fun, informative and filled with great networking opportunities. We also appreciate the companies and delegations that visited Atlanta from abroad. It is our desire that you enjoyed your time here and that your trip was a valuable experience. We encourage you to consider Atlanta for your U.S and North American growth and to be part of our cyber ecosystem’s rapid growth.
While there was no shortage of information and activity throughout the week, the most interesting insights for me were:
TEDx Peachtree: Technology transforms our world so rapidly that it has overwhelmed our capacity to comprehend and assess its long-term consequences. This is particularly true in cybersecurity, especially as it relates to balancing innovation versus security. The next time you purchase an Alexa or in the future, a self-driving car, consider what precautions have been built into the platform to protect your privacy and maintain your ongoing security.
CISO Meetup: Cyber companies need to understand the different cultures and budget cycles for companies. Even if you have a great product, if you are not talking to the large enterprise customer during their budget cycle then they are not able to make a buying decision. In addition, every large enterprise customer views innovation through their company culture. Some companies want to implement new ideas much faster than others.
Cybercon: Nadav Zafrir made it clear we live in an era of complexity and we need to accept a certain level of uncertainty.
As a community, we were able to speak with a unified voice through 11 events with more than 1,000 attendees in one week. Sean Martin, the cybersecurity reporter from ITSPMagazine specifically wrote in his article summarizing the weeklong event:
“Another difference that is a bit more subtle – but possibly more meaningful – is the culture of the city. While some cities may claim to be ‘The Next Silicon’ place, pretty much every Atlanta-based company and everyone from Atlanta that I spoke with throughout the week didn’t focus on being ‘the next’ at the expense of the other companies in the area. Rather, instead of talking, they demonstrated with actions just how they will all succeed as a community by working together. This, to me, was way more powerful than any claim to be, let’s say, the next “Silicon Peach.”
We cannot assume that others know what our cybersecurity ecosystem has to offer outside of this region. It is our responsibility to educate influencers in this country and internationally about the amazing opportunities that exist here. Let’s continue the conversation leading into Atlanta Cyber Week 2018.
Atlanta Cyber Week was powered by Baker Donelson and the Metro Atlanta Chamber.
