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RSA conference APJ event goes free and virtual

Eighth year information security industry conference has been run in APJ

The Asia Pacific and Japan (APJ) edition of this year’s RSA cyber security conference will be run in mid-July as a free virtual online event, a move prompted by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

This is the eighth year the information security industry conference has been run in the APJ region, with the event now set to run from July 15 to July 17, during Singapore business hours. 

The event organisers said that with public health and safety as top priority, it was decided that this year’s RSA conference in APJ would be reimagined as a global virtual learning experience.

“The health and safety of our attendees is of primary importance, and offering RSA conference 2020 APJ as a virtual learning experience this year was a decision we made to help ensure the cybersecurity community stays connected with access to a platform for continual learning and exchanging of best practices during this time of social distancing,” RSA Conference senior director and general manager Linda Gray said.

“Cyber security is more important than ever, and we want to continue the dialog no matter the format,” Gray added.

It is planned that the new version of the annual event will deliver three full days of free virtual learning experiences with some of the cyber security industry’s leading figures, along with speaker-led sessions and keynotes to interactive, hands-on learning breakouts and networking time with peers and experts.

“I am incredibly excited about the program we’ve put together and the experience that our attendees will have. We are also very grateful to the many speakers who are joining us from across the globe to share their expertise and help our attendees chart the next steps in their cyber security journey,” Gray said. 

The move follows similar actions taken by an increasing number of technology industry players to delay, cancel or transform their annual events into virtual, and often free, events. 

In February, IBM cancelled its participation in the global annual RSA cyber security conference, scheduled to be held from 24-28 February in San Francisco, due to coronavirus-related concerns. IBM was not the only sponsor to drop out of the event.

As at 16 February, just weeks before it was set to kick off, the total number of exhibitors, including IBM, that had cancelled their participation as a sponsor or exhibitor was eight, with six of them from China, one from the United States and one from Canada.