On 7 April, the Ecole Superieure d’Informatique, Electronique, Automatique (ESIEA) launched its Cybersecurity Seminars program at its campus in Paris. The event was attended by Virtual Routes Co-Director James Shires, who spoke alongside a representative from Google France and ESIEA staff including Professor Bassem Haider and Professor Catherine Teinturier, the Faculty and EDI Champions of the program respectively. Around 50 ESIEA students also attended the event, marking the start of a series of two-week intensive cybersecurity courses coupled with local community engagement.

Dr Shires’ remarks focused on the synergies between the ESIEA progam and others across Europe, Middle East, and Africa. Noting that each university and their students are best placed to assess and deliver meaningful cybersecurity assistance to local communities, Dr Shires highlighed how ESIEA can maximize the effectiveness of its local community engagement by drawing on its diverse student body, close partnerships with key government agencies, and multiple campuses across France. Professor Haider expanded on this theme, setting out several ways in which ESIEA plans to offer local community services: awareness of cybersecurity issues and risks; help with GDPR implementation, and even a student-run Security Operations Centre (SOC).

The event closed with Professor Loïc Roussel, the Director of ESIEA, placing the Cybersecurity Seminars in the context of ESIEA’s overall activities. Professor Roussel explained how the Cybersecurity Seminars will anchor ESIEA’s other cybersecurity courses over the coming years, providing a focal point for ESIEA to deepen its cybersecurity teaching and continue to connect theoretical insights with practical impact.