Faced with high demand for cybersecurity and information technology (CS/IT) professionals, some industry leaders say it’s time to actively support alternative career development paths and tap into a wealth of talent that is currently going to other sectors. “For an industry that is very understaffed, employers are still being extremely…...
Challenge #4: Lack of Opportunities to Gain Work Experience Presents Key Obstacle to Building Cyber Career
It’s a Catch-22 situation that is restricting the growth of the cyber workforce. To build a career in cyber security/information technology (CS/IT), workers must acquire hands-on, workplace experience. But to qualify for many entry-level positions, applicants must already have one to three years of IT or cyber work experience. So…...
Local Students Explore Virtual Tech Mania
More than 75 middle and high school students from the Fort Meade region learned how to decode detailed messages, determine potential threats to a lunar landing system, hack a camera security system, fly a drone and construct a building at the Fort Meade Alliance’s Tech Mania in November. Students from…...
Challenge #2: Digital Age Challenges Schools to Widely Change K-12 Education
The growing need for cybersecurity and information technology (CS/IT) professionals in homeland security, healthcare, finance, energy and numerous other sectors has saddled America’s K-12 education system with a profound challenge. Grade schools which only started to dabble in teaching computer science roughly 15 years ago, now need to provide a…...
Challenge #3: How Gamers Could Be a Prime Source of Cyber Professionals
A key opportunity to grow the nation’s ranks of cybersecurity and information technology (CS/IT) professionals exists among a smattering of children with unexpected potential. They may not be A students, math whizzes, STEM-focused or even college-bound. But outside of class, they wile away hours gaming, coding, building robotics or toying…...