In March 2024, Sharp UK launched a Cyber Security inter-college competition. Around 50 students from both Chelmsford College and South Essex College were tasked with creating a presentation on their response to a fictional cyber security attack. The competition was created by Sharp UK and its strategic partner ConnectWise to help contribute towards student work experience - a crucial element for students to pass their respective courses.
The competition began with the students responding to a cyber security attack scenario. The students were then narrowed down to the final six (3 from each college) who were invited to ConnectWise’s offices in London. The students presented their responses to the cyber security attack to a mixed panel of Sharp UK and ConnectWise team members. The Sharp UK panellists were Ben Welton, Managed Services & Education Director, Matt Riley, European Data Protection and Information Security Officer and Simon Warnes, Director of Partnerships and Gary Jackson, Partnership Manager. After the presentations, a top 3 were selected. The top 2 places went to South Essex College, who also won Best College of the Day, and a student from Chelmsford College came third.
Speaking about the event, Simon Warnes, Director of Partnerships said:
“We were delighted to be able to work with both South Essex College and Chelmsford College on this inter-college competition. We were blown away by the quality of the presentations that were delivered at the ConnectWise head offices. The students really took the project seriously and the thought put into their submissions was outstanding. A huge thank you goes to both colleges and all the students that took part - we can’t wait to do the next one in 2025.”
