US releases its National Cyber Workforce and Education Strategy to transform cyber education

The Biden-Harris administration introduced Monday the National Cyber Workforce and Education Strategy (NCWES), a comprehensive approach to address immediate and long-term cyber workforce needs. The strategy aims to fill hundreds of thousands of cyber job vacancies, preparing the nation for the digital economy and empowering Americans to participate in the digital ecosystem. Coordinated by the Office of the National Cyber Director, the Administration’s implementation of this Strategy is already underway. 

“The National Cyber Workforce and Education Strategy charts a path to resolving these challenges by working towards filling cyber jobs for working families,” Kemba Eneas Walden, acting National Cyber Director, wrote in the NCWES document. “This Strategy leverages generational investments such as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Inflation Reduction Act, and the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS) and Science Act to achieve this goal.” 

Walden added that the Office of the National Cyber Director (ONCD) will collaborate with the private and public sectors “to realize the Biden-Harris Administration’s vision to ensure cyberspace reflects our values: national security; economic security and prosperity; respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms; trust in our democracy and democratic institutions; and an equitable and inclusive society. Strengthening our cyber workforce and equipping every American to realize the benefits of cyberspace is a whole-of-nation endeavor.”

The NCWES aims to strengthen middle-class working families through initiatives like the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, CHIPS and Science Act, and Inflation Reduction Act. It aims to fill middle-class jobs and empower underrepresented communities in the cyber workforce, offering opportunities with certificates and community college degrees. With the aim to transform cyber education, the NCWES advocates for a skills-based approach to build ‘more robust’ cyber career pathways. The strategy aims to foster extensive collaboration between employers, educators, government, and other key stakeholders to meet both urgent and long-term workforce needs.

Developed in consultation with non-governmental stakeholder groups, including private industry, academia, non-profits, and government partners, the NCWES has been organized into four pillars. These are – Equip Every American with Foundational Cyber Skills, Transform Cyber Education, Expand and Enhance America’s Cyber Workforce, and Strengthen the Federal Cyber Workforce. 

The first two pillars focus on developing cyber skills needed in the workforce and society. Efforts related to enhancing the national cyber workforce are discussed in the third pillar, while the final pillar addresses the unique opportunities and challenges of federal employment. Wherever possible, the federal government will lead by example in implementing positive change. 

The NCWES provides three guiding imperatives to inform objectives throughout this strategy. These include leveraging collaborative workforce development ecosystems to meet cyber workforce demands; enabling the lifelong pursuit of cyber skills; and strengthening the cyber workforce through greater diversity and inclusion.

Working to equip every American with foundational cyber skills enables stakeholders to enjoy the benefits of an interconnected society. It makes foundational cyber skill learning opportunities available to all, promotes the pursuit of foundational cyber skills and cyber careers; and, fosters global progress in foundational cyber skills.

By transforming cyber education, the NCWES seeks to address the immediate demand for a skilled cyber workforce while also preparing learners to meet the future needs of a dynamic technological environment. It aims to build and leverage ecosystems to improve cyber education, from K-12 education to higher education, community colleges, and technical schools; expand competency-based cyber education; invest in educators and improving cyber education systems; and make cyber education and training more affordable and accessible.

Expanding and enhancing America’s cyber workforce collaborates with various stakeholders, adopts a skills-based approach to recruitment and development, and increases access to cyber jobs for all Americans, including underserved and underrepresented groups. It helps grow the cyber workforce by proliferating and strengthening ecosystems; promoting skills-based hiring and workforce development; leveraging the diversity of America to strengthen the cyber workforce; and enhancing international engagements.

Strengthening the federal cyber workforce communicates the benefits of careers in public service amongst both job seekers and current employees and lowers the barriers associated with hiring and onboarding. It helps drive sustained progress through greater federal collaboration; attracts and hires a qualified and diverse federal cyber workforce; improves career pathways in the federal cyber workforce; and invests in human resources capabilities and personnel.

The NCWES follows the release of the administration’s National Cybersecurity Strategy, which established a vision for the development of a digital environment that is values-aligned and well-resourced to address prevailing complex threat environments. The NCWES envisions a skills-based digital future where workers have access to good-paying, middle-class cyber jobs within their communities. In addition, educators are enabled to continuously upskill the public, and employers can expand and diversify their workforce. 

The NCS calls for two major shifts. First, responsibility for defending cyberspace should be shifted from individuals and small businesses to the most capable actors in cyberspace. Accordingly, cybersecurity must be built into education and workforce development programs relevant to sustaining the digital environment. The second shift seeks to alter incentives across public and private sectors to favor long-term investments in security. Consistent with this shift, the document focuses on foundational cyber skills, changes in education, and collaborative cyber education and workforce development ecosystems.

As directed by the U.S. President in the NCS document, the ONCD will oversee the implementation of the NCWES. The ONCD will also work within the Executive Office of the President and with interagency partners to refine roles and responsibilities and to establish metrics and timelines. 

Last December, the National Cyber Director set up the National Cyber Workforce Coordination Group (NCWCG) and its subordinate working group, the Federal Cyber Workforce Working Group (FCWWG). The NCWCG serves as the principal interagency forum for federal agencies to address challenges and opportunities associated with cyber education, training, and workforce development, and serves as an implementation vehicle for the upcoming national strategy on cyber workforce and education. The FCWWG is the primary forum for interagency planning and executing necessary actions to build the federal cyber workforce and talent pipeline.

The NCWES document identified that the NCWCG will, along with the FCWWG and other subordinate working groups, as necessary, oversee implementation.

In implementing this strategy, ONCD and the NCWCG will adopt a data-driven approach. ONCD and the NCWCG will identify gaps, develop performance measures for outcome-based goals, regularly communicate progress to stakeholders, and use data to assess progress toward goals.

Commenting on the NCWES document, Debbie Gordon, founder and CEO at Cloud Range wrote in an emailed statement that “we are excited to see the Biden Administration addressing the critical cyber workforce needs. While this is a significant step forward in direction, there are some areas where ‘the how’ or more guidance could be beneficial. For example, in section 2, under Transform Cyber Education, it mentions ‘expand competency-based cyber education.’

Gordon pointed out that expanding competency-based cyber education is only attainable by utilizing simulation-based training to overcome the age-old conundrum of you can’t get experience without a job and you can’t get a job without experience. 

“The only way to do this is to incorporate experiential learning in the form of advanced simulation into cyber education programs,” according to Gordon. “Too many people are coming out of universities and community colleges with degrees or certifications that they still can’t get a job because they have no practical experience. Utilizing simulation-based training to augment traditional cybersecurity training will enable students to be prepared to be productive on the job from day one, and will give employers the confidence that they have experienced candidates at the ready.”

“The National Cyber Workforce and Education Strategy sets a direction for both workforce and education while taking an ecosystem-focused approach,” according to Sherron Burgess, vice president of strategy at Cyversity. “This strategy builds on previous efforts from the administration—holistically approaching the gap—engaging stakeholders across education, industry, research, etc., and spanning federal and industry workforces.” 

Candy Alexander, president of Information Systems Security Association (ISSA) said that the current education does not provide hands-on skills-based readiness to bring entry-level and those changing careers to a real work situation. “With the combination of skills needed in the industry and communities of individuals in need of skills and career paths, the National Cyber Workforce and Education Strategy couldn’t be timelier,” she added.

Anna Ribeiro

Industrial Cyber News Editor. Anna Ribeiro is a freelance journalist with over 14 years of experience in the areas of security, data storage, virtualization and IoT.