3CS Addresses Cybersecurity Shortage
Palos Hills, IL (PRWEB) May 07, 2014 -- According to Cisco’s 2014 Annual Security Report, there is a shortage of nearly one million skilled cybersecurity professionals worldwide. To discuss bridging this crucial gap, the first annual Community College Cyber Summit (3CS) is being held on July 21st and 22nd at Moraine Valley Community College in Palos Hills, Illinois.
Community colleges play a critical role educating the next generation of cybersecurity specialists by providing training and skills to create workforce warriors protecting our nation’s critical infrastructure. 3CS is the only national academic conference that specifically addresses cybersecurity education in community colleges.
"While our nation begins to wake up to its cybersecurity vulnerabilities and challenges, community colleges are beginning to recognize the opportunities we have to help provide cybersecurity solutions,” states Dr. Robert Spear, Chair for 3CS, “We have strength in numbers. By working together, the nation's community colleges can provide the cybersecurity technicians that are so desperately needed."
Community colleges provide 70% of the nation’s workforce in cybersecurity. Keeping up with the demand of technology becomes increasingly imperative as smart phones and tablets are capable of connecting to the Internet the same way computers do. The result is new cybersecurity flaws and cyber attacks that are constantly being discovered as security teams continually try to catch-up.
3CS offers educators the opportunity to share insights, discuss challenges, and create solutions to cybersecurity attacks and shortages in the workforce. Community colleges nationwide are well positioned to educate professionals in cybersecurity. Community colleges are uniquely equipped to rapidly respond and put new programs in place that result in making a huge difference in the workforce by filling in the gaps.
Defense Intelligence Agency Director General Michael Flynn says the job market for cybersecurity is hot. For every person in military cybersecurity today, 28 more are needed. Summits like 3CS give community colleges the leverage needed to best support the needs of critical infrastructures, such as telecommunications, transportation, energy, healthcare, banking and financial services, emergency services, manufacturing and utilities.
The outcome of 3CS will facilitate student success through education and career advancement, as well as addressing concerns about information systems and communication networks vulnerability to terrorism and other disruptions. Cybersecurity educators will be working on a blueprint at 3CS that will be distributed to all community colleges, key Federal agencies, Congressional committees, state boards of education, associations and businesses.
3CS plays a major role in bridging the cybersecurity gap in the workforce and moving our nation in the right direction by educating the next generation of cybersecurity professionals.
For more information about the first annual Community College Cyber Summit (3CS), visit http://www.regonline.com/communitycollegecybersummit.
Lynn Dohm, The Nelly Group, LLC, +1 815-717-6546, [email protected]
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