As part of International Women's Day 2024, Identifly CEO and co-founder Jan-Marie Davies spoke with InDaily's David Simmons on her career pathway and attracting women into STEM.

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‘Have a plan and execute it’: Cybersecurity firm’s female founder on attracting women into STEM

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With more than 15 years of experience in the male-dominated cybersecurity sector, Identifly founder Jan-Marie Davies said support networks and self-confidence were vital for women in her field.

Founded four years ago by Jan-Marie Davies, Adelaide-based Identifly has quickly built up an impressive client list for its identity security services including the likes of Beach Energy, Tattarang, OZ Minerals and more.

The company offers services crucial in our interconnected, always-online world. It works with businesses to ensure their employees’ identities are protected against cyber attacks.

Davies said her services were essential: “80 per cent of cyber breaches are identity-related, and can take significant time for an organisation to identify”.

“It’s around $4.03 million average cost for a data breach, so it’s big business,” she said.

Identifly sits within the cybersecurity industry umbrella, with other firms focussing on protecting systems and software.

It’s a heavily male-dominated field too, with Aspen Institute research from 2021 finding women make up just 24 per cent of the cybersecurity workforce.

Davies – “a mum of a five-year-old boy and a dog mum to a 10-year-old German Shepherd” – said she had felt “quite blessed” in terms of being supported as a woman in the field over her 15 years in the industry.

But she hoped more women would take up technical roles in cybersecurity, that being jobs with a strong IT background.

“What I have seen is there’s less participation from women in technical roles,” she said.

“I would love to see a higher participation rate, and I do believe there is a shift because women are putting themselves in this position.

“I don’t think it’s dissimilar to other industries such as building or manufacturing, and I think times are changing so I feel positive about it for the future.”

As for attracting women into those technical roles, Davies said that “women need to be confident in taking on a career in cyber”.

“I think they need to surround themselves with like-minded people who are going to support them, whether they’re studying or changing careers,” she said.

“I think that they need to know their self-worth and just go for it. One of my favourite quotes is from Eleanor Roosevelt that I think fits the situation really well: ‘Be confident, not certain’.

“For me, I’ve got a plan and I just get on with it. We’re here to have experiences to enrich our lives, and we need to just go for it sometimes and stop overthinking it.”

Her comments come on International Women’s Day, with this year’s theme being ‘invest in women, accelerate progress’.

Davies said the theme resonated with her “on many levels”.

“I always invest in aptitude: it is gender agnostic, it is culturally agnostic, it is about believing in a person and elevating them, both men and women,” she said.

“By society being more inclusive, we are accelerating progress because we’re including more voices in the direction of technology and our work.

“That’s what the theme means to me.”

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Read the full article on InDaily