HBCUs will work with IBM to establish
Cybersecurity Leadership Centers, giving students and faculty
access to IBM training, software, and certifications at no
cost.
WASHINGTON, Sept. 21,
2022 /PRNewswire/ -- During the National HBCU Week
Conference convened by the U.S. Department of Education and the
White House, IBM (NYSE: IBM) announced its collaboration with 20
Historically Black College and Universities (HBCUs) to help them
establish Cybersecurity Leadership Centers.
With 500,000 unfilled cybersecurity jobs in the U.S., the need
for expertise is critical: According to a recent IBM Security
study, insufficiently staffed organizations average $550,000 more in breach costs than those that
state they are sufficiently staffed.**
"Collaborations between academia and the private sector can help
students prepare for success. That's especially true for HBCUs
because their mission is so vital," said Justina Nixon-Saintil, Vice President, IBM
Corporate Social Responsibility and ESG. "The Cybersecurity
Leadership Centers we're co-creating with Historically Black
College and Universities epitomize our commitment to the Black
community and STEM education; it also builds on our pledge to train
150,000 people in cybersecurity over three years."
IBM will collaborate with the following 20 HBCUs across 11
states to co-create Cybersecurity Leadership Centers, helping to
create talent for employers and opportunities for students. (Six of
these collaborations were previously announced in May*)
- Alabama – Alabama A&M University, Talladega College, Tuskegee
University
- Florida – Edward Waters
University, Florida A&M
University
- Georgia – Albany State University, Clark
Atlanta University*
- Louisiana – Grambling State University, Southern University System*, Xavier University of LA*
- Maryland – Bowie State University, Morgan
State University*
- Mississippi – Alcorn State University
- North Carolina –
North Carolina A&T State
University*, North Carolina Central
University
- South Carolina –
South Carolina State University*,
Voorhees University
- Texas – Texas Southern University
- Virginia – Norfolk State University
- West Virginia – West
Virginia State University
Through IBM's collaboration, faculty and students at
participating schools will have access to coursework, lectures,
immersive training experiences, certifications, IBM Cloud-hosted
software, and professional development resources, all at no cost to
them. This includes access to:
- Cybersecurity curricula: IBM will develop for each
participating HBCU, a customized IBM Security Learning Academy
portal – an IBM client offering – including courses designed to
help the university enhance its cybersecurity education portfolio.
In addition, IBM will continue to give access to IBM
SkillsBuild.
- Immersive learning experience: Faculty and students
of participating HBCUs will have an opportunity to benefit
from IBM Security's Command Center, through which they can
experience a highly realistic, simulated cyberattack, designed to
prepare them and train them on response techniques. Moreover,
HBCUs' faculty will have access to consultation sessions with IBM
technical personnel on cybersecurity.
- Software: Multiple IBM Security premier enterprise
security products hosted in the IBM Cloud
- Professional development: Forums to exchange best
practices, learn from IBM experts, and discover IBM internships and
job openings
About IBM Education
As part of the company's Corporate Social Responsibility
efforts, IBM's education portfolio takes a personalized, diverse,
and deep approach to STEM career readiness. IBM's pro bono programs
range from education and support for teens at public schools and
universities, to career readiness resources for aspiring
professionals and job seekers. IBM believes that education is best
achieved through the collaboration of the public, private, and
not-for-profit sectors.
IBM SkillsBuild is a free education program focused on
underrepresented communities, that helps adult learners, and high
school and university students and faculty, develop valuable new
skills and access career opportunities. The program includes an
online platform that is complemented by customized practical
learning experiences delivered in collaboration with a global
network of partners. The online platform offers over 1,000 courses
in 19 languages on cybersecurity, data analysis, cloud computing
and many other technical disciplines — as well as in workplace
skills such as Design Thinking. Most important, participants can
earn IBM-branded digital credentials that are recognized by the
market. The customized practical learning experiences could include
project-based learning, expert conversations with IBM volunteers,
mentors, premium content, specialized support, connection with
career opportunities, access to IBM software, among others. As of
February 2022, IBM SkillsBuild
operates in 159 counties and is supporting 1.72M learners since its launch.
About IBM Security
IBM Security offers one of the most advanced and integrated
portfolios of enterprise security products and services. The
portfolio, supported by world-renowned IBM Security X-Force®
research, enables organizations to effectively manage risk and
defend against emerging threats. IBM operates one of the world's
broadest security research, development, and delivery
organizations, monitors 150 billion+ security events per day in
more than 130 countries, and has been granted more than 10,000
security patents worldwide. For more information, please
check www.ibm.com/security, follow @IBMSecurity on
Twitter or visit the IBM Security Intelligence blog.
* Announced in May 2022
** Cost of a Data Breach Report 2022, conducted by Ponemon
Institute, sponsored & analyzed by IBM
Media Contact:
Ari Fishkind
IBM Media Relations
fishkind@us.ibm.com
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SOURCE IBM