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SACRAMENTO, Calif.—In an effort to draw attention to a gaping hole in the work force—an estimated 1 million jobs that need to be filled in the cyber-tech security business during the next few years—an industry consortium and the State of California on Jan. 28 launched a new program called the California Cyber Cup challenge for students.
The premise of the Cyber Cup program is to encourage students at the high school and college levels to become interested in and learn how to develop new ideas, software and hardware to improve security for current devices and for new ones that will be coming online in the Internet of things.
The announcement was made at CyberTECH’s Securing the Internet of Things conference at the state capitol as a part of the National Data Privacy Day 2016 activities. eWEEK moderated a panel discussion on cyber-security issues and trends with thought leaders from the business, government, education and security sectors at the event.
The intent of the new program is to have a fully working Cyber Cup software/hardware competition and awards program by spring 2017. Leading up to that event, the state consortium would give students access to experts in the industry and provide educational materials to all students showing interest in the cyber-security field as needed.
“When this is launches next year, this real-world program will make a profound impact on the future of fighting cyber-crime,” Ken Slaght of the Cyber Center of Excellence said. “We also believe it will pave the way for future cyber leaders.”
Representatives from the Los Angeles Unified School District, the California State University system, the UC college system, California community colleges, the University of Phoenix and other educational institutions have all sponsored the program. Other sponsors include the California Governor’s Office of Business and Development, the nascent CyberCalifornia business coalition initiative and the Cyber Center of Excellence, located in San Diego.
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