Around the turn of the year we had an online meeting with two members of the Square Table Committee, Dwayne Valkenburg and Nico van Rooyen. Not only did we look back on what was achieved in 2020, we also discussed the committees ambitions for 2021.
‘Off course we don’t really know what’s going to happen in 2021, due to COVID-19’, Dwayne responds. ‘But we will definitely continue to organize the weekly Square Table webinars. Of course we hope to organize events in real life again. We heard from members that they missed opportunities to network, so we will focus more on that aspect in the upcoming events.’
‘We furthermore hope to grow the Square Tables as much as we can’, Nico adds. ‘We will ask speakers from last year to return, so they can elaborate on different topics. Furthermore we are working really hard on collaboration with different ISACA Chapters.’
‘Thinking like a cybercriminal’
Last year, the Square Table Committee was set up quite quickly, due to the outbreak of COVID-19 in March. ‘Since then we have organized 30 Square Tables, a number that we are very proud of’, Nico tells. ‘We started with a number of 70 participants in our first Square Table in March, and grew it to a record of 290 throughout the year. One events that really stood out was the one with Etay Maor, who works for Insights and is a Harvard professor, on how organizations should think more like a cyber criminal. Being in cybersecurity I thought this was very interesting and that webinar was very well received by the members.’
Collaberation
The Square Table committee is formed by ISACA and NOREA volunteers and all Square Tables are organized in collaboration with NOREA. Also the ISACA knowledge groups Privacy & GDPR and CSX were involved in the selection of topics and organization of the events. ‘One of the first webinars for example was organized by Fokke Jan van der Tol, a member of the knowledge group Privacy & GPDR’, Dwayne says. ‘We will start with a new series of Square Tables in February 2021. On the 3rd of February we will host a webinar with speakers Yuri Bobbert and Hao Dinh, on the implementation of zero in information security. That one is organized by the knowledge group CSX.’
Watch the full interview with Square Table Committee members Dwayne Valkenburg and Nico van Rooyen.
Call for speakers
Meanwhile, the committee is preparing the program for 2021. ‘We are still looking for speakers, so if you know someone or would like to share your insights on IT related topics, please contact us.’
Are you an expert in the field of IT audits, privacy legislation, governance, compliance, risk and/or security management? Do you have extensive experience in giving English presentations and webinars? Register now as our next Square Table speaker via squaretable@isaca.nl, and we will contact you shortly. Recommendations are also welcome.
More information
The Square Tables are provided on Wednesday evenings. The language of the webinars is English. The webinars are free to follow for members of ISACA and NOREA, as well as non-members. Following a Square Table is usually good for 1 CPE.
More information on the Square Tables and the Square Table committee.
