A consortium of 13 historically Black colleges and universities in partnership with two U.S. Energy Department national laboratories and a South Carolina school district has launched an ambitious pipeline initiative aimed at recruiting and training cybersecurity professionals and researchers.
State and federal officials, including Vice President Joe Biden, U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz, and Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe, traveled to Norfolk State University (NSU) on January 15 and announced that the Norfolk, Va.-based historically Black university is leading the Cybersecurity Workforce Pipeline Consortium. The Energy Department’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has established the consortium with a five-year, $25 million program grant to “educate, train and develop the nation’s next generation of cybersecurity professionals.” Launching the consortium is an effort by the NNSA to expand as well as diversify the nation’s cybersecurity workforce.
“The demand for cybersecurity professionals is growing 12 times faster than the rest of the U.S. job market. … This is a burgeoning field. It has enormous potential for any student from any neighborhood [and] from any school,” Biden said during the consortium launch event.
“Cyber espionage is a new weapon and tool as potentially dangerous as a piece of ordnance, a bomb. It is staggering what potential vulnerabilities exist, but the good news is that we have basically been ahead of the curve,” he noted.
U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, D-Va., a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said in a statement that “improving our nation’s cybersecurity will require collaboration among all stakeholders,” including those in the public and private sectors.
“I’m pleased Norfolk State will play an important role in developing a skilled workforce prepared to handle our nation’s cyber challenges,” he said.
Officials say NSU and its partner schools will be using grant funds for training students and faculty; course development; research in cybersecurity fields; and expanding cybersecurity programs. The initiative involves outreach to K-12 school systems to expose young students to the cybersecurity field. The Charleston County (S.C.) school system is one of the consortium members.
