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Naval Information Warfare Systems Command (NAVWAR) enterprise’s continued involvement with the San Diego Cyber Center of Excellence (CCOE) demonstrates the command’s strong commitment and contribution to cybersecurity, as well as the importance of partnering with industry to better support the mission of protecting the fleet.
CCOE is a non-profit organization dedicated to accelerating San Diego’s cyber economy, positioning it as a global hub of innovation and aims to create opportunities and collaboration in the cyber community.
NAVWAR is among the many industry-leading cyber organizations involved with the CCOE, with Executive Director John W.R. Pope III, Command Information Security Officer Mark Compton and Navy Cybersecurity Program Office (PMW 130) Program Manager John Armantrout serving on the Board of Advisors.
“This partnership is a great example of the kind of relationships required for cybersecurity to be successful,” said Armantrout. “Communication of risks, mitigations and upcoming capabilities is the key type of information sharing for all parties across a cybersecurity team. Having CCOE and their industry partners at the table allow for collaboration on a meaningful level.”
Building and Maintaining Regional Cyber Talent
CCOE is partnering with the San Diego Workforce Partnership (SDWP), City of San Diego, San Diego Regional Economic Development Corp, NAVWAR and others on a regional cyber talent pipeline called CyberHireSD.
Funded by a grant from the James Irvine Foundation, CCOE will lead new cyber employer engagement and Talent Pipeline Management for incumbent workers in IT and cybersecurity roles. CyberHireSD is expected to serve 185 participants during the two-year grant. Among those participants, 90% are expected to complete training activities and receive at least one industry recognized credential; about 80% who were previously unemployed will gain employment; and about 1% of incumbent workers will get promotions or pay raises through this grant.
Another key CCOE initiative is the Underrepresented in Cybersecurity Apprenticeship Program, developed in partnership with NAVWAR. Hosted alongside other CCOE members and San Diego’s community colleges, this program aims to reach underrepresented populations and increase diversity and inclusivity in the cyber talent pipeline.
This cyber apprenticeship/student employee program includes numerous resources to allow students to learn more about cybersecurity and how to find job opportunities in the field, including prep sessions and matchmaking career events. Since launching the program in 2019, CCOE and NAVWAR have partnered with the San Diego Community College District, Southwestern College, San Diego Continuing Education and National University, yielding 30 student-employee hires.
The program was originally created by the emeritus advisor of CCOE and former executive director of NAVWAR, Pat Sullivan, to address the lack of diversity in the technical field, specifically in four-year college programs. Mimi Rosado, Deputy of Corporate Programs at Naval Information Warfare Center (NWIC) Pacific, was a driving force behind both CyberHireSD and the Underrepresented in Cybersecurity Apprenticeship Program.
Mark Compton and members of the NWIC Pacific team are also working with the CCOE and the National Foundation for Autism Research (NFAR) to pilot NFAR Cyber, a cybersecurity neurodiversity training and internship program launching in the spring of 2022.
Additionally, Senior Scientific Technical Manager Jara Tripiano and PMW 130 Technical Director Rachel Bondi serve on CCOE’s Women in Cyber Advisory Group, partnering with the Girl Scouts and SynED on a series of workshops for girls to learn about cybersecurity careers and earn their cyber badges. SynED is a non-profit organization that offers career coaching and training from industry experts.
Exploring the Region’s Cyber Impact
NAVWAR enterprise employees Sunny Fugate, Mike Karlbom and Doug Lange, served on the CCOE and San Diego Regional EDC’s “Securing the Future: AI and San Diego’s Cyber Cluster Study” advisory group to quantify the economic impact of the region’s cybersecurity cluster and explore the proliferation of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) technologies.
San Diego is now home to more than 870 cyber firms and 12,400 cyber professionals that generate an annual economic impact of $3.5 billion, a 15% increase since a 2019 cyber industry study. NAVWAR directly employs a third of all cybersecurity workers in San Diego and its presence is a contributing factor for many cyber companies to remain located in the city.
Check out the full report for helpful stats and resources: https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/a9f3ae2a753945e4b1f99da11da37fa8
Developing Challenges for Collaborative Solutions
Lisa Easterly, CCOE President and CEO, Sullivan and Armantrout have been reviewing U.S. Cyber Command challenges and other Department of Defense priorities to develop a framework for San Diego industry, academia and government to partner on collaborative solutions. The goal of these partnerships is to feed the start-up community and support defense and critical infrastructure, focusing on priorities like cybersecurity, AI/ML, 5G, autonomous vehicles, maritime and space.
CCOE will be working with PMW 130 on an AI and data science challenge as part of the U.S. Navy-hosted Hack the Machine event to be held later this year.
CCOE is also partnering with the National Security Innovation Network (NSIN) and NAVWAR for NSIN Hacks, focusing on virtual reality dashboards for cybersecurity analysts to take part in next spring. NAVWAR is developing the challenges for this hackathon, with CCOE engaging with the cyber industry, promoting and reporting on the challenges and proposed solutions.
In additional to involvement in CCOE programs and initiatives, the NAVWAR enterprise also provides the CCOE with subject matter experts for podcasts, local events and science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) community outreach to encourage continued education and interest in the cybersecurity field.
“We are grateful to NAVWAR for their continued support of our mission to accelerate San Diego’s cyber economy,” said Easterly. “Our collaboration with NAVWAR is vital to increase growth and diversity in the cybersecurity field and promote innovation.”
About NAVWAR
NAVWAR identifies, develops, delivers and sustains information warfighting capabilities and services that enable naval, joint, coalition and other national missions operating in warfighting domains from seabed to space and through cyberspace. NAVWAR consists of more than 11,000 civilian, active duty and reserve professionals located around the world.
| Date Taken: | 10.14.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 10.14.2021 09:41 |
| Story ID: | 407226 |
| Location: | SAN DIEGO, CA, US |
| Web Views: | 553 |
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This work, NAVWAR’s Involvement in Cyber Center of Excellence Supports Cyber Ecosystem of the Region, by Lily Chen, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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