Building on the release of the National Cyber Workforce and Education Strategy (NCWES) last August, the Office of the National Cyber Director (ONCD) issued a report outlining the progress made and the work to come in implementing the NCWES. The NCWES implementation is one part of the effort led by the Administration to enhance the capacity of the federal cyber workforce to protect the Nation, economy, and society. ONCD is coordinating across agencies to align and harmonize federal investments and initiatives.
The ONCD, in close partnership with the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and Office of Management and Budget (OMB), among others, is leading by example, coordinating efforts to expand and enhance federal cyber workforce and education efforts through public and private sector actions. For example, the administration is working to expand the pipeline for cyber workers by reducing barriers and improving the efficiency of federal hiring processes. These federal actions are supported by private sector commitments to educate, hire, and train the growing cyber workforce.
“In our increasingly digital world, demand for cyber talent is only going to grow,” Seeyew Mo, assistant National Cyber Director for Workforce, Training and Education, identified on Tuesday. “We are at a crucial point where we all must work together – across the Federal Government, private sector, academia and non-profits, and other stakeholders – and that’s exactly the action we called for in the National Cyber Education and Workforce Strategy (NCWES) released by the Office of the National Cyber Director (ONCD) nearly a year ago.”
In its ‘Initial Stages of Implementation’ report, the ONCD highlighted several successes, noting ‘unprecedented’ coordination across the interagency. A total of 35 federal departments and agencies are participating in one or more of the numerous working groups. These groups facilitate the discovery and sharing of best practices while collectively working towards the objectives outlined in the NCWES document.
The U.S. administration is removing unnecessary barriers to cyber careers and leading by example in skills-based hiring. OPM is modernizing the Federal hiring process and fully embracing a skills-based approach for IT positions. Furthermore, this pivot to a skills-based approach extends to federal IT and cybersecurity contractors across the country. That means anyone with the skills to serve will now have an opportunity to do so, regardless of how they acquire those skills.
The agency also highlighted that to make strides in education and workforce development systems it is identifying federal investments to provide more Americans with opportunities to access quality hands-on learning and training programs such as Cyber Clinics and earn-and-learn Registered Apprenticeships programs.
Also, with the federal government stepping up to do its part, over 100 organizations – including philanthropies, technology companies, professional associations, and academic institutions – answered the call. They made voluntary commitments that included US$95 million in investments, hiring 13,000 workers, and training one million individuals in cyber. These commitments are often spotlighted at ONCD outreach events as National Cyber Director Coker and the team have traveled across the country.
In its future outlook, the Biden-Harris Administration remains committed to driving change across public and private sectors through active engagement and collaboration. Addressing the hundreds of thousands of cyber job vacancies across America is deemed a national security imperative and a top priority, essential for preparing the nation to lead in the digital economy. Through the FCWWG, the ONCD will collaborate with federal departments and agencies to achieve their cyber workforce hiring goals for fiscal years 2024 and 2025. The initiative depends on ongoing enhancements to the data concerning the federal cyber workforce.
The ONCD, in collaboration with OPM and the FCWWG, aims to initiate a hiring surge for federal cyber positions in fiscal year 2024, which includes conducting cyber sprints to produce job offers. Throughout the next year, as the federal government enhances skills-based hiring and talent development for cyber roles, previously overlooked members of the workforce will gain access to well-paying federal cyber jobs that are crucial for securing national defenses and infrastructure, and supporting federal programs.
The NCWCG and its working groups will engage with communities nationwide to emphasize the importance of the federal cyber workforce and education ecosystems and to identify stakeholders ready to commit voluntarily in fiscal years 2024 and 2025. This initiative will focus on elevating opportunities for learners, providing support to community champions, and compiling a guide on cyber workforce and education ecosystems by ONCD.
The administration also plans to hold cyber career fairs, specifically targeting underrepresented groups in the cyber workforce, such as women, people of color, veterans, and individuals with disabilities.
Collectively, the initiatives and activities that the federal government is pursuing in the next two years are intended to respond to the critical need for cyber workers; increase skills-based hiring, talent development, and education nationwide; address barriers faced by federal and non-federal stakeholders; proactively analyze and monitor the changing labor demand for cyber skills; and continue to advance our cyber posture, national security, economy, and society.
ONCD will monitor and report on the progress of the actions that are aligned to objectives in the NCWES to develop a qualified and diverse cyber workforce, meet the demand for cyber workers in the federal government, encourage skills-based approaches to cyber workforce development, and transform education systems to increase access to cyber learning opportunities.
Federal departments and agencies are also set to strengthen their federal cyber workforce by working to increase the adoption of skills-based hiring and assessment in the federal government and make improvements in recruitment, hiring, retention, and talent development processes. This effort includes expanding work-based learning on-ramps into federal employment, increasing the use of flexible and innovative federal hiring and pay practices, and improving training programs for federal HR professionals.
The administration will be working with departments and agencies to identify federal cyber workforce development and education program best practices, update online resources, and elevate cyber careers through a coordinated national call to action. Initiatives in fiscal year 2024 will also seek to expand learning opportunities in foundational cyber skills and increase the capacity of K-12 systems and institutions of higher education to teach rigorous cybersecurity content.
To boost the participation of students and educators in cyber scholarship programs, federal departments and agencies will work with academia to expand concurrent credit transfer and articulation opportunities for academic credit, further integrate cyber across academic disciplines, and increase the availability of low-cost and no-cost cyber training and education curricula.
Together with private sector stakeholders, the administration will encourage the use of skills-based approaches by employers and increase work-based learning opportunities. The administration will leverage the collective strength of all federal departments and agencies to increase participation and promote the value of veterans, separating service members, and military spouses in the cyber workforce.
The whole-of-nation approach presented in the NCWES will require the combined efforts of every cyber workforce and education ecosystem stakeholder to enable all Americans to benefit from the enormous potential of an interconnected future.
Earlier this month, in a hearing by the U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security where it reviewed Microsoft‘s security vulnerabilities, Mark Green, a Republican from Texas and chairman of the House Committee talked about cyber workforce, one of the other initiatives is ‘the synchronization of the regulations that are out there, making sure we are not duplicative, and we aren’t contradictory, because as I understand there are some regulations that are.’
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