Expanding the Nation’s Cybersecurity Workforce: A National Imperative

On April 5^th, the National Academy of Public Administration and the Florida Center for Cybersecurity hosted a forum, Expanding the Nation’s Cybersecurity Workforce: A National Imperative. The event focused on ways to close the gap on the current shortage of cybersecurity professionals, focusing on non-traditional approaches to training, educating, developing, and ultimately expanding the cyber talent pipeline, as well as other alternatives that can be implemented.

At least a half-million cybersecurity positions in the U.S. are unfilled. Demand for cyber professionals continues to outstrip the supply, and closing that gap is now a national imperative. As a result, it is a priority of the Biden Administration, the Congress, and the new National Cyber Director Chris Inglis, who provided remarks at the forum.

The National Academy of Public Administration’s recent report, A Call to Action: The Federal Government’s Role in Building a Cybersecurity Workforce for the Future, suggests a number of alternative approaches to accelerate, expand and diversify the cybersecurity talent pipeline. The forum’s panel of experts – leaders from the front lines of cybersecurity workforce development who have long labored to close the cyber talent gap and can provide “insider” insights – delved into those issues and opportunities.

The audience participated in a Q&A with the panelists following the panel discussion.

This event included a panel discussion moderated by Dr. Ron Sanders, Staff Director for the Florida Center for Cybersecurity and Academy Fellow. Panelists include:

• Dr. Diana Burley, Vice Provost for Research from American University and a leading cyber workforce educator
  
• Dr. Tony Coulson, Executive Director of the Cybersecurity Center and Professor, California State University at San Bernardino; Lead for the National Centers of Academic Excellence Community in Cybersecurity
• Dr. Costis Toregas, Director of the Cybersecurity and Privacy Research Institute, George Washington University; Academy Fellow

Dr. Charles Romine, Director, Information Technology Laboratory, National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST), also offered remarks in response to the panel discussion.

Academy Fellows Dan Chenok (Director; IBM Center for the Business of Government; Academy Fellow and Co-Chair of the Academy Panel on Developing a National Cybersecurity Workforce) and Karen Evans (Managing Director, Cyber Readiness Institute; Academy Fellow and Co-Chair of the Academy Panel on Developing a National Cybersecurity Workforce) co-chaired this event.

View the recording of the event below.