National CyberWatch Center Partners with International Consortium of Minority Cybersecurity Professionals
Largo, Maryland (PRWEB) March 22, 2018 -- The National CyberWatch Center and The International Consortium of Minority Cybersecurity Professionals (ICMCP) have partnered to address the shortage of highly skilled women and minorities in the cybersecurity sector.
The challenges business and government organizations face to fill cybersecurity positions with highly qualified candidates is well documented. Aside from the shortages and the pool of traditionally homogeneous candidates, women and minorities are largely underrepresented. In response, National CyberWatch Center has partnered with the ICMCP to affect and impact change. Since 2014, ICMCP has worked to bridge the gap of minorities and women in the fast-growing field of cybersecurity. The organization provides scholarship opportunities, innovative outreach, networking programs, technical training programs, and mentoring to these targeted professionals worldwide. ICMCP’s programs are designed to recruit, include and retain one person at a time.
The National CyberWatch Center is a key contributor to developing, promoting and providing cybersecurity education solutions to strengthen the workforce. This consortium of higher education institutions, businesses and government agencies collaborate on efforts to advance information security education and workforce development.
“National CyberWatch is thrilled to be partnering with ICMCP. Not only is ICMCP laser focused on building and promoting programs that address diversity challenges in cybersecurity, but National CyberWatch and its members benefit directly from this partnership by getting access to resources for underserved students, discounts on national conferences and effective practices bridging the diversity gap,” said Casey O’Brien, executive director and principal investigator of National CyberWatch Center.
Bringing these two unique teams together will cross-promote and cultivate a talent pool that might otherwise have been undiscovered. Their resources match perfectly.
“Given National CyberWatch Center’s focus on academia and ICMCP resources spanning the public, private and government spectrum, together we have an opportunity to impact social change and support economic and workforce development while addressing a threat with global implication,” said David Elcock, ICMCP executive director.
About National CyberWatch Center:
National CyberWatch Center is a National Science Foundation Advanced Technological Education-funded cybersecurity consortium working to advance cybersecurity education and strengthen the national workforce. Since 2005, National CyberWatch Center has played a key role in developing, promoting and providing cybersecurity education solutions nationally. To learn more, visit https://www.nationalcyberwatch.org.
About the International Consortium of Minority Cybersecurity Professionals:
The International Consortium of Minority Cybersecurity Professionals (ICMCP) is a national 501(c)(3) public charity non-profit whose goal is to “bridge the great cybersecurity divide,” and "build a pipeline of diverse cybersecurity practitioners. ICMCP focuses on ensuring that underserved populations gain access to cybersecurity education and reach the level of competency and proficiency they individually seek to pursue. Our approach to tackling this “divide” centers on offering academic scholarships, professional development, mentor programs, and job placement opportunities intended to attract more women and students of color into this rapidly exploding cybersecurity field. To learn more, visit https://www.icmcp.org
Lynn Dohm, The Nelly Group, LLC, http://nellygrp.com, +1 815.530.7307, [email protected]
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