New Zealanders wanting a career in the lucrative and growing cybersecurity industry now have a natural starting point thanks to a new micro-credential created by Cisco and Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington.
New Zealand— like the rest of the world—faces a major cybersecurity skills shortage. A survey run by Hays shows sixty percent of organisations in New Zealand and Australia find recruiting for cybersecurity talent either “difficult” or “very difficult”. Research from ISC estimates a worldwide cybersecurity skills gap of almost three million with approximately two million of these in the Asia Pacific region.
The Cybersecurity Essentials micro-credential provides learners with an introduction to cybersecurity threats and challenges. The micro-credential is suitable for a range of learners across industry and government, from managers through to others looking to understand the key concepts, such as service desk staff, IT professionals or those looking to step into a new career.
Prof Stuart Brock, Vice-Provost (Academic), at Te Herenga Waka says, “The Cybersecurity Essentials micro-credential is an important step towards helping reduce the cybersecurity skills gap facing New Zealand. By designing the program with one of the world’s largest and most respected cybersecurity companies in Cisco, those completing the credential will be able to put in place appropriate mitigations and controls against one of the most significant risks of the twenty-first century.”
The micro-credential aligns with curriculum from Cisco’s Networking Academy which to date has trained over 34,000 students in New Zealand alone. The Cisco Networking Academy partners with education institutions to deliver courses in advanced networking, the Internet of Things, entrepreneurship, and cybersecurity.
Glen Bearman, Head of Public Sector, Cisco New Zealand says, “Cisco is committed to creating learning pathways in the most important technologies of today. As one of the world’s largest technology companies and a global leader in cybersecurity, we understand the importance of having a pipeline of local cybersecurity skills and capability. We are excited to partner with Wellington’s University to bring this curriculum to New Zealand and co-design a micro-credential which blends the University’s strong history of teaching excellence with Cisco’s industry and technical expertise. The micro-credential is part of a larger partnership with the University focused on growing human capital, supporting New Zealand’s innovation economy, and creating healthy communities.”
The micro-credential will be launched early next year and will take 50 hours to complete. Associate Professor Ian Welch, from the University’s School of Engineering and Computer Science, says, “Participants don’t have to be enrolled in a full University degree to enroll in the micro-credential but on completion will still have attained a certificate worth 5 points that can potentially stack towards future learning.”
“We hope the micro-credential will inspire professionals to broaden their skills and inspire them to be part of the cybersecurity solution for New Zealand. Jobs in cybersecurity are highly paid, in demand and diverse. While many cybersecurity jobs are technical in nature, many jobs in the future will require a working understanding of how to assess and manage cybersecurity risks. We hope that taking the micro-credential will make existing employees more valuable to their organisations.”
Kāpuhipuhi Wellington Uni-Professional CEO John Milford sees the micro-credential as a exemplar of what their business was established to deliver: “The development of Cybersecurity Essentials was a superb collaboration between a global leader in technology, industry, Te Herenga Waka University expertise, and our development and delivery capability. We look forward to the delivery of many more such courses.”
Find out more information and enroll here: https://www.wgtn.ac.nz/wellingtonuni-professional/short-courses/course?eventtemplate=1381-cybersecurity-essentials