To supply the shortage of professionals specialized in the area, the National Cybersecurity Center of the Ministry of the Presidency (Minpre), the Cybersecurity Program attached to the Inter-American Committee against Terrorism (CICTE) of the Organization of American States (OAS) and the Citi Foundation, started the program “Creating a Career Path in Cybersecurity, Pathways2Progress”.
The goal of the training, which formally began on April 25, is train 50 students from vulnerable economic backgrounds from twelve universities to improve their long-term employability.
for 40 hours, students will acquire technical training in cybersecurityspecifically on basic fundamentals, incident management, threat analysis, forensics, and professional development.
According to the International Information System Security Certification Consortium (ISC), there are currently more than two million unfilled cybersecurity job openings globally, and the global workforce in this industry needs to grow by 65% to meet the demand for staff. qualified in cybersecurity.
In the Americas alone, there is a shortage of more than 700,000 skilled workers in this branch of knowledge. Against this background, the “Creating a Professional Career in Cybersecurity” program is a clear example of an initiative that is working to close the gap in technical skills in Latin America and the Caribbean, by training young people from diverse economic backgrounds and promoting of professional preparation in the region.
“For the Citi Foundation, it has always been a high priority to create spaces like this, where we make available to you important knowledge for the Internet business development. Therefore, our role in supporting the efforts to promote a more stable, secure and productive cyber platform for the benefit of our economies and social sustainability is essential.”,expressed, Máximo Vidal, general manager of Citi in the Dominican Republic.
The executive secretary of CICTE of the OAS, Alison August Treppel, pointed out that “through initiatives such as the program ‘Creating a Career Path in Cybersecurity’ and ongoing collaboration with the Citi Foundation, the OAS continues to support qualified cybersecurity training for youth in the region, exposing them to possible career options in the industry and sparking their interest in generating solutions tailored to today’s cybersecurity challenges.”
In addition to the Dominican Republic, the program will carry out virtual training in Costa Rica, Guatemala, Mexico and Panama until reaching 200 students during 2022. The most outstanding students of the program will have access to additional personal and professional training opportunities, including access to virtual training of digital entrepreneurship and an annual license from Platzi, a schoolon-linevocational training in technology.
