On December 8 and 9, 2022, Whatcom Community College’s (WCC) National Cybersecurity Training & Education Center (NCyTE), in collaboration with the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Office of the National Cyber Director (ONCD), will lead a strategic summit focused on addressing the nation's exploding workforce gap in cybersecurity.
The summit includes speakers and panels from:
• Members of the White House, Office of the National Cyber Director (ONCD) • Microsoft Corporation, US Bank, Lightcast
• National Science Foundation (NSF)
• Women in Cybersecurity (WiCyS)
• National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education (NICE) Framework
• Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA)
• Regional Community College leaders and NCyTE
• State Board of Community and Technical Colleges
The Community College Cybersecurity Strategic Summit builds off the Role of Community Colleges in Cybersecurity Education: Future Directions 2022 Summit and report* organized and led by NCyTE in June 2022 with funding from the NSF. This summer event addressed the fact that community colleges play a vital role in reaching untapped, diverse, potential new student populations to fulfill cybersecurity positions, and focused on 12 key areas where colleges are having impact or where challenges are hindering faster progress, such as faculty shortages across the nation.
The December 2022 Summit, to be held on WCC’s campus, will further these discussions from a largely Northwest perspective, and with a proactive focus on how the U.S. government can help. Over 100 invited stakeholders in cybersecurity workforce development will join in seven focus group discussions addressing such topics as clarifying pathways to cybersecurity careers, aligning educational programs with workforce requirements, and expanding and measuring diversification initiatives. WCC President Dr. Kathi Hiyane-Brown will facilitate one discussion
on The role and impact of senior administrators on cybersecurity workforce development, addressing such topics as how organizational leaders from education, government and industry can increase their impact on this workforce shortage.
“Convening this body of experts in a collective effort to advance solutions and promote educational pathways for both educators and students is key to moving the needle on the high demand of qualified workers needed in cybersecurity. It is a necessary lift and energizing endeavor to bring together national government, key corporations, higher educational leaders and industry partners to build awareness and find realistic solutions. We are honored to be hosting this summit,” said Dr. Kathi Hiyane-Brown, President, Whatcom Community College.
Stakeholders from across the northern- Midwest and Northwest regions of the U.S. will contribute input on cybersecurity challenges such as how to motivate and sustain a whole of nation effort to develop the country’s cyber workforce and address the growing cybersecurity educator shortage.
“Addressing the cybersecurity workforce gap presents a significant challenge that is also an enormous opportunity. And, community colleges are the epicenter of 21st-centry workforce training, providing students with the skills to meet demand and a pipeline to businesses that need their energy and expertise. Communities are transformed when community colleges, businesses, and government work together and this summit is an incredible example of that collaboration. We know that by training students in cyber-related jobs we are building an economy of resilience from the bottom up and the middle out,” said Camille Stewart Gloster, Esq., Deputy Director, Office of the National Cybersecurity Director.
Keynote speakers who will set context for participants include notable figures in cybersecurity workforce such as Deputy Director Camille Stewart Gloster, Esq., Office of the National Cybersecurity Director who will engage in a fireside chat with Dr. Hiyane-Brown, and Will Markow, Vice President of Applied Research, Lightcast. Zach Oxendine, Service Engineer at Microsoft Corporation will lead a panel of recent graduates and current students around their career-finding experiences, and Kara Four Bear, Superintendent of Eagle Butte School District, and recipient of the Presidential Cybersecurity Education Award in 2019 will lead a panel of Native American leaders providing their perspectives for engaging tribal members in the workforce.
Markow’s presentation in June 2022 illustrated the widening workforce gap, now projected at over 700,000 unfilled positions across the U.S. alone. Community colleges use innovative outreach strategies and relevant, real-world curriculum programming and modalities, resources, and practices to reach and educate untapped, diverse, potential new student
populations. These and other strategies are a vital component of closing the workforce gap, and the Cyber Strategy Summit aims to illuminate a way forward.
“The NCyTE Center is proud to convene and sponsor strategic discussions on how to increase community colleges' impact on the cybersecurity workforce shortage. Disseminating outcomes from these discussions gives community colleges a voice in the national strategic plan which is core to NCyTE's mission,” said Corrinne Sande, PI/Director NCyTE, CS/CIS, Whatcom Community College.
Original source can be found here.
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