Community College Cybersecurity Educators Gather to Address Workforce Shortage
Palos Hills, IL (PRWEB) July 11, 2014 -- Community college faculty and administration are coming together at the first annual Community College Cyber Summit (3CS), July 21st and 22nd, at Moraine Valley Community College in Palos Hills, Illinois. This forum is the only national academic conference that specifically addresses the role of community colleges in helping the nation meet the urgent need for a greatly expanded cybersecurity workforce.
Community colleges nationwide are well-positioned to take on the twin tasks of preparing the next generation of cybersecurity technicians and re-educating the existing workforce with requisite cyber skills. Since community colleges can rapidly respond and put new programs in place, they make a huge difference in the workforce by filling in the gaps. The close-knit relationships that community colleges have with business and industry assist educators in developing curriculum to match the ever-changing needs of employers.
"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."
3CS will offer advanced technical workshops, highlight innovations in cybersecurity education both inside and outside the classroom, and present new research opportunities in cybersecurity education. Sponsors such as Dell SecureWorks, EC-Council, Jones & Bartlett, Network Development Group (NDG), VMware IT Academy, and Syngress will showcase equipment, software, textbooks, certification exams and various other cybersecurity-related services for community colleges. The Federal Government partners such as National Science Foundation, National Security Agency, and Department of Homeland Security are also providing critical support to the Summit.
The outcome of 3CS will facilitate student success through education and career advancement, as well as address 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 is being produced by the five cybersecurity-related Advanced Technological Education (ATE) centers funded by the National Science Foundation: National CyberWatch Center (organizing producer), Prince George’s Community College, Maryland; National Center for Systems Security and Information Assurance (CSSIA) (host producer), Moraine Valley Community College, Illinois; Cyber Security Education Consortium (CSEC) (co-producer), Oklahoma; Southeastern Advanced Cybersecurity Education Consortium (ACE) (co-producer), Daytona State College, Florida; and CyberWatch West (CWW) (co-producer), Whatcom Community College, Washington.
CSSIA at Moraine Valley is proud to be hosting the first annual Community College Cyber Summit. To register, go to: http://www.regonline.com/communitycollegecybersummit.
Lynn Dohm, The Nelly Group, LLC, +1 815-717-6546, [email protected]
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