DICT, CHED Address Shortage of Cybersecurity-Skilled Professionals

The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) sealed a partnership with the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) for the development of a bachelor degree in Cybersecurity in college.

Adopting a curriculum from the George Marshall European Center for Security Studies, the Bachelor of Science in Cybersecurity program will be offered by AMA University next year. Other colleges and universities are set to follow suit in offering the program.

Assistant Secretary for Cybersecurity and Enabling Technologies Allan Cabanlong said while nationwide cybersecurity awareness and training programs is being conducted by the Cybersecurity Bureau, he emphasized the need to address the shortage of cybersecurity-skilled professionals through the integration of cybersecurity in the academe to improve the country’s cyber resiliency.

According to Cabanlong, the DICT is also coordinating with the Department of Education (DepEd) for the possible integration of Cybersecurity curriculum in Senior High School.

He said the proposed plan was made in order to attract interest among the youth for a career in cybersecurity, which has seen a growing demand with the continuous digital transformation in industry operations.

Cabanlong said the global need for cybersecurity professionals will not slow down and will only continue to grow exponentially.

The short supply of cybersecurity talents was actually one of the issues tackled in the Philippine International Cybersecurity Conference (PICC) 2018 in Davao City which gathered around 600 local and international cybersecurity and ICT leaders, experts, and policy makers to bolster the role of the government, private industry and civil society in countering cybercrime.

Aside from the capacity building strategy, the Cybersecurity Bureau is continually strengthening the Philippine cybersecurity landscape with the enforcement of the National Security Strategy and the establishment of National Cyber Intelligence Platform, which will reinforce the capabilities of the Philippine Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-PH).

According to the International Telecommunications Union Global Cybersecurity Index in 2017, the Philippines ranks 10th among ITU member in the Asia Pacific region and 37th place among 193 ITU member states globally.

“In the midst of all these (cyber) threats, rest assured that the DICT CyberSecurity Bureau, is working 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to ensure the protection of the Philippine cyberspace.”, Cabanlong said. (PIA-NCR)