Business View Oceania l February/March 2023

41 BUSINESS VIEW OCEANIA VOLUME 5, ISSUE 2 AUSTRAL I AN INFORMAT ION SECUR I TY ASSOC I AT ION (A I SA) is what we call an associate member, which tends to be students who are coming into the sector. We also have a corporate partnership program, where a company, for example, might want to partner with the association. And as a result, they can take advantage of membership for their staff who might be in cybersecurity, law, risk management, or technology. “Members get access to our newsletter, our branch events that occur across the country every month, and our signature conference, which occurs in Melbourne and is the largest cyber security conference in the country. “Members also get discounts on training through a number of our partners. They can do training through AISA, as well. And because we are a not- for-profit, charity organisation, we keep the cost of training extremely low and make it accessible. Some of the other benefits that members get are attending not just physical branch activities, but also a cloud or virtual branch. So if you want to find out something new or join what we call a special interest group, you can meet like-minded individuals discussing a particular topic area.” BVM: Are there any significant AISA events coming up? Manuel: “We run a one-day conference in Perth, Brisbane, and South Australia, and we run a 3-day conference in Canberra which is mainly focused on government agencies and departments. Our signature conference in Melbourne is set to be held in October. We are designing the conference around 7,000 delegates with about 20 streams going concurrently, as well as keynote speakers. We’ve got Steve Wozniak, co- founder of Apple, and Erin Brockovich…. There’s something for everyone, so our community can learn how to become cyber resilient, which is especially important in these turbulent times.” BVM: What does the landscape look like for the future of the industry, and how will AISA continue to benefit members going forward? Manuel: “As an association, we’re expanding the membership base. We anticipate that we’ll probably get to around about the 15,000 mark within the next couple of years because of the rapid changes that are occurring in cyber security. We’re working with the Australian Institute of Company Directors to produce toolkits for company directors, which is sorely needed. We’re producing research that is looking at whether businesses are over or under investing and what the risk aspect might be from a cyber security perspective. We will be expanding the conference in the future to make it even better and more accessible for people in the industry, but also for