News

Tommaso De Zan Presents at the Global Forum on Cyber Expertise

Centre Research Affiliate Tommaso De Zan presented the research report “Mind the Gap: the Cyber Security Skills Shortage and Public Policy Intervention” at the Working Group Meetings of the Global Forum on Cyber Expertise in The Hague, Netherlands on April 4, 2019. The Global Forum on Cyber Expertise (GFCE) is a global platform for countries, international organizations, and private companies to exchange best practices and expertise on cyber capacity building, including cyber security education and skills initiatives.

During the presentation, De Zan argued that, while there is abundant anecdotical evidence on the incidence of the cybersecurity skills shortage, no measurement has been able to confidently capture the nature and the scale of the problem. Concerning the causes of the shortage, he pointed out that employers might be exacerbating the issue by not providing entry-level opportunities to young candidates that could be suitable to work in the cybersecurity sector.

As current data on the shortage are blurred, government policies may need recalibration. In the context of limited public resources, instead of strengthening other areas, governments could be smoothing the transition from the education system to the workforce and encourage employers to hire, train, and retain young cybersecurity talent through various financial incentives.