Dr. Hanan Al-Ahmadi, Assistant Speaker of Saudi Arabia’s Shura Council, speaks at the Global Cybersecurity Forum 2025 in Riyadh. (SPA)
The Global Cybersecurity Forum 2025 concluded in Riyadh on Thursday with a strong call for practical strategies to close the widening global workforce gap in the sector. Participants emphasized the importance of empowering women in cybersecurity and announced the launch of a new Child Protection Index to safeguard young people online.
Speakers stressed the need to unlock women’s full potential in building resilient cyberspace, raising cybersecurity awareness among female students, and developing their skills through targeted mentorship and training programs.
The discussion ties into the global initiative by Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister, to empower women in cybersecurity, designed to address the sector’s persistent gender gap and the shortage of female professionals. The initiative aims to reinforce global cyber resilience by ensuring greater inclusion.
Saudi Arabia’s experience
Dr. Hanan Al-Ahmadi, Assistant Speaker of Saudi Arabia’s Shura Council, underscored the Kingdom’s commitment to advancing women’s capabilities in line with Vision 2030.
The initiative reflects Saudi Arabia’s inspirational steps toward women’s empowerment and its clear vision for expanding women’s role in this vital sector, while also supporting global efforts, she stressed.
Al-Ahmadi noted that Saudi Arabia’s experience offers valuable lessons for strengthening global cybersecurity. She highlighted the Shura Council’s legislative and oversight role in advancing related regulations and policies, underlining its importance in supporting national and international cybersecurity initiatives.
Challenges facing women
During the event, the Global Cybersecurity Forum Foundation, in partnership with Duke University, unveiled a new report on challenges facing the expansion of women in the cybersecurity workforce in Latin America. The report provides evidence-based insights into the barriers and opportunities for women in the field, framing the workforce gap as a persistent challenge that threatens economic development worldwide.
The findings show that women continue to face the same obstacles identified in the forum’s 2022 report, which highlighted challenges across four career stages: entry and training, recruitment, retention, and career advancement.
Based on a 2025 field study of professionals and university students across Latin America, the report found that 64 percent of respondents believe women’s representation in cybersecurity remains significantly low. They cited limited exposure to STEM subjects in early education and a lack of mentorship as key barriers.
More than 40 percent expressed low confidence in their technical and professional skills, while 53.3 percent said they were unaware of existing career opportunities in cybersecurity, underscoring the urgent need for better guidance and mentorship.
Coinciding with this year’s forum, Riyadh also hosted the third training session of the “Empowering Women in Cyber Leadership” program, launched in February in partnership with the US-based USTTI. Women from 39 countries participated in the initiative, which aims to equip female leaders with advanced cybersecurity and leadership skills.
Child protection index
Another major announcement was the launch of the Child Protection Index in Cyberspace, developed by the forum’s foundation in collaboration with the international DQ Institute and other global organizations. The index was designed as part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s global initiative on child safety in cyberspace.
The index provides policymakers with a comprehensive tool to measure progress in building safer digital environments for children. It covers schools, families, technology infrastructure, private sector engagement, and government policies.
The initiative aims to strengthen collective international action, raise global awareness among policymakers about escalating cyber risks to children, and enhance responses through international cooperation. Officials described it as a strategic instrument for tackling one of the most pressing challenges in today’s digital world.
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