In its latest effort to mitigate national cybersecurity risks, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has awarded cooperative agreements to organizations across 13 states to address the nation’s ongoing shortage of qualified cybersecurity professionals.
NIST reports that approximately $200,000 in awards will go to 17 educational and community organizations that were selected to lead Regional Alliances and Multistakeholder Partnerships to Stimulate (RAMPS) cybersecurity workforce and education initiatives.
These RAMPs projects, many of which will focus on developing curricula or providing education and training at the high school, college or professional levels, aim to match the workforce needs of local businesses and nonprofits with guidance provided by the NICE Workforce Framework for Cybersecurity.
The agreements will be administered by NICE, a NIST-led collaboration among government, academia and the private sector. NICE’s mission is to “energize, promote, and coordinate a robust community working together to advance an integrated ecosystem of cybersecurity education, training, and workforce development.”
“By bringing together local industry, educational organizations and economic development entities, communities can develop a skilled workforce, help grow their economy and protect against risks in cyberspace,” said Rodney Petersen, director of NICE.
To that end, the effort will also help fill open cybersecurity jobs. NIST reports that the NICE-funded CyberSeek tool, which captures data about the cybersecurity job market, reveals that there are 74 workers available to fill every 100 cybersecurity job openings across the nation.
Other Agency and ANSI Member Efforts to Support National Cybersecurity
Among other cybersecurity efforts, NIST is also working to update its NIST Special Publication (NIST SP) 1331 Quick-Start Guide for Using CSF 2.0 to Improve Management of Emerging Cybersecurity Risks, which explains how organizations can improve their ability to address cybersecurity risks through existing practices within the cyber risk discipline in conjunction with the NIST Cybersecurity Framework (CSF) 2.0.
NIST also recently released draft guidelines aimed at helping organizations develop software in a secure, agile fashion and test for security vulnerabilities. The agency will release additional drafts of the guidelines incrementally throughout the life of the project, accompanied by public comment periods.
Across related ANSI member efforts to address cybersecurity risks, ASIS International’s recent feature article highlights the practical ways to bridge governance and culture in high-security environment. In July, the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) together with the Intelligent Transportation Society of America (ITS America) released a white paper that describes the key characteristics of an Outcomes Based Contracting (OBC) approach, tips for its implementation, and selected case studies that highlight its effectiveness. Among the key highlights of the paper are recommendations to help state and local agencies address cybersecurity, software licensing, and resource challenges.
Access the full list of the RAMP project recipients and read about NIST’s latest cybersecurity effort.