Photo of a teenage boy looking at the camera Iain Robertson, Youth Advisory Panel Member

Hi, I'm Iain. I'm currently in sixth form and passionate about cyber security, in particular network security.

The first in person meeting of the Council's new Youth Advisory Panel was very informative and full of thought-sharing and discussions. Amongst all the talks, one which caught my attention was on the Ethical principles of AI by Joe Foggarty. In his talk, he focused on defining operational ethics in AI where AI has to be lawful, necessary, proportionate, effective, and efficient. This talk helped to gain a rather deep understanding of such important and yet sensitive issues as the ethical concerns to be considered when implementing AI technologies into practice, and the need for finding the thin line between new solutions' launch and people's safety.

One of the highly beneficial aspects of the event was being able to speak with other members of the Youth Advisory Panel (YAP). These discussions were considerably beneficial since I was struggling between whether to attend university to obtain a degree and whether to go for an apprenticeship in cyber security. As I listened to the other YAP members, I began to understand which options are advantageous and which contain drawbacks. This sharing of experience is useful at a time when I have to make a big decision and having idea from both sides it makes this much easier.

Another memorable workshop is the one on website user journeys. This session was dedicated to defining scenarios by personas like Jasmine, an A-Level student who investigates cyber careers, or James, a mid-level consultant who wants to receive a promotion. The workshop also stressed on user-focused experience, which assisted the users to navigate through their careers with resources such as Cyber Career Framework and Career Mapping Tool. The concept of presenting the user journey was more practical and, at the same time, motivational because it successfully demonstrated how designing can improve users' experience.

In the Instagram workshop, of which a handful of YAP members led, explained how the use of social networks specifically Instagram would help in the promotion of the council. It was very great learning about what makes content engaging, how to draw the target audience and how to monitor discussion platform analytics; skills that are critical in professional self-promotion especially in today's world where social media is heavily involved.

Finally, meeting the Trustees was such a delightful experience. I spoke to Dr Chitra Balakrishna and she provided me with a great deal of information and suggestions on how gain further valuable qualifications to help me later on. It was amazing speaking to these Trustees, the connections made, the knowledge gained will undoubtedly influence my future decisions and career path in the cyber security field.

You can find out more about the Youth Advisory Panel here.