ANZ CompTIA Community - ANZ Meeting and Spotlight Awards

[Brianna White]

SYDNEY – Winners of the 2024 Australia and New Zealand Spotlight Awards​

Four individuals and four technology companies have been recognized for their leadership, commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and innovation in the industry. The awards were presented by the CompTIA Community, the membership arm of CompTIA, a leading IT certification provider.

“The winners represent the top tech leaders and innovators across the region,” said MJ Shoer, chief community officer, CompTIA. “We are proud to recognize those who excel in thought leadership, engagement, and diversity, equity, and inclusion.”

Award winners and finalists were honored at a dinner following the CompTIA Community ANZ meeting. The winners are:

• ANZ Future Leader Award: Raymond McCullagh, Avocado Consulting
  • Runner-up: Callum Simpson, SSW
• ANZ Advancing Women in Technology Leadership Award: Amy Kitson, Avocado Consulting
  • Runner-up: Vanessa Sunassee, MyCISO
• ANZ Community Leadership Award: David Norris, Nortec IT
  • Runner-up: Maria Armstrong, Pax8
• ANZ Cybersecurity Leadership Award: Aaron Jacobs, Sophos
  • Runner-up: Elliot Seeto, Pax8
• ANZ Advancing Diversity in Technology Leadership Award: CyberCX
  • Runner-up: Pax8
• ANZ Solution Provider Award: Avocado Consulting
  • Runner-up: Phriendly Phishing
• ANZ Innovative Vendor Award: Huntress
  • Runners-up: iasset.com and MyCISO
• ANZ Innovative Distributor Award: NEXTGEN Group
  • Runner-up: Pax8

Judges included members from CompTIA Community’s ASEAN, Benelux, DACH, North America, and UK and Ireland regional groups, and the CompTIA Community Workforce Advisory Council.

Let's congratulate everyone for their hard work and dedication.

 

[Rose Stamell]

Our 3 CompTIA Community ANZ Regional meetings were held last week in Auckland, Sydney and Adelaide. Attendances in all cities were strong, and content from our extensive variety of speakers was well received.

In all locations, we were treated to thought-provoking sessions from our guest speakers with a variety of questions and discussions. The opportunity to see so many of our CompTIA Community members (and soon-to-be members) all interacting and learning from each other demonstrated what being part of the community is all about.

One PDF from each location is attached. When any material that's currently missing is provided by the speakers, the PDFs will be updated and re-posted here.

These community meetings were not video recorded by CompTIA, however Dr Samuel Seit, our Sydney Keynote presenter who presented with Adam Cogan about AI in Skin Care came prepared with a tripod for his phone and his team recorded his presentation which you can find here, on YouTube. To read the story on how AI Saved my life you can read Adam's blog. Our second keynote How to Implement Passwordless Solutions, AI and Quantum Computing Into Your MSP Offerings presented as a discussion between Daniela Fernandez, head of information security at PayPal Australia with our CompTIA Community ANZ Chair and MD of Nortec IT, David Norris offered more interesting insights to our attendees, and you can learn more at this Q&A style blog post with answers to our questions by Daniela Fernandez.

In Adelaide, Securing Active Directory: KRBTGT Resets After Credential Theft by Samuel Freeman, Senior Investigator DFIR, CyberCX proved to be an interesting session, and in alignment with the Risk Management Workshop content presented by CompTIA's VP of Cybersecurity Programs, Wayne Selk. The Cybersecurity Insurance session by Andrew Bremner of SherpaTech was also a natural fit in the Adelaide agenda.

And, out of our first-ever CompTIA Community Meeting in Adelaide, there was a very organic alignment of interest from a group of attendees to establish our Advancing Women in Tech Interest Group in ANZ! Lead by @Maria Armstrong as Chair of the Interest Group, and Bec Paior of ConnectWise as Vice Chair, you'll soon begin hearing more.

So, if you're not already a CompTIA Community member, what are you waiting for? There's something here for you too!

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