With 500,000 total Cybersecurity job openings and 1,000,000 employed nationwide, and growing rapidly, to say Cybersecurity represents a high growth industry would be an understatement. That’s why the Journeys Map team has been thrilled to have been working closely with Cybersecurity industry experts to identify pathways and close the skills gap in this vital industry.
Background
In 2017 the Journeys Map team was lucky enough to partner with the San Diego Cyber Center of Excellence (CCOE). CCOE is a non-profit that focuses on regional planning and program implementation in order to address cybersecurity workforce, economic development and infrastructure challenges through collaboration with industry, academia and government agencies. CCOE was created to support the growth of the cyber industry, promote cybersecurity in San Diego and provide a template to mobilize other regions. San Diego is a hub of Cybersecurity activity, with more than 150 firms focused on Cybersecurity that are being fed 3,200 students each year graduating from local universities and colleges in computer science and engineering fields. In addition, San Diego is home to the Navy’s Naval Information Warfare Systems Command (NAVWAR). NAVWAR directly employs nearly half of all the cyber security jobs in San Diego (>3,500) and its presence in San Diego is a major talent attraction and economic driver.
With that as the framework, the goal of our partnership was to launch a Cybersecurity focused version of Journeys Map that would map education, training and career pathways to the Cybersecurity industry.
“With the FBI reporting a 300% increase in cybercrime during the pandemic and a global shortfall of 3.5 million cyber professionals, it’s more critical than ever to address the cybersecurity workforce gap. CCOE and Journey’s Map are heading the call to help seed and diversify the talent pipeline for this high-paying industry!” said Lisa Easterly, San Diego Cyber Center of Excellence President & CEO. “In collaboration with the State of California, U.S. Department of Defense and cyber industry leaders, CCOE and Journeys Map created the Cyber Career Map based on the NICE Framework, where users can create FREE personalized career journeys catering to their skills and interests including education, certifications, work-based learning resources and so much more. Thank you Journeys Map for helping create such a powerful, yet easy-to-use tool to inspire the next generation of cyber warriors!”
Rapid Growth
From the time we launched the pilot version of the Cybersecurity map, which leverages the NICE Framework, both the Journeys Map and CCOE teams have been off and running. Our work together has included presentations at multiple NIST Conferences, sitting on the NICE/NIST career pathways taskforce, and more recently being awarded CASCADE II and CADENCE grants to continue to build out the map. These grants have allowed us to bring on other schools or organizations, such as the East County EDC, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and Syned, who have integrated the Cybersecurity map into their website and offerings.
“East County EDC, as its contribution to the DoD-funded, State-led effort, partnered with CCOE — and contributors from industry, government, and education/workforce — to research, design, and implement an overlay on the Cyber Career Map to add the Work-Based Learning (WBL) opportunities that provide students and job seekers with hands-on experience that the Cyber industry demands.” said James Sly, CEO of the East County Economic Development Council. “Journeys Map seamlessly incorporated these Cyber WBL, the majority of which are evergreen, into the Career Map to augment an individual’s pursuit of a customized pathway to a rewarding cyber career. The Cyber Industry told us that future cyber warriors need both experience and education/training to be successful candidates for cyber jobs. Journeys Map made it possible to add these WBL opportunities and a simple and effective manner.”
How It Works
We start by leveraging the NICE Framework, allowing Journeys Map to integrate industry accepted career pathway data. Every career destination has multiple pathways and alternatives can be compared. Journeys Map works by translating career pathways, jobs, skills, experience, degrees, certifications and even concepts to GPS positions on a map that extends from
birth to retirement. Every career has a dashboard featuring relevant data on a real-time
Supporting All Industries
The Journeys Map team looks forward to not only continuing to build out within the Cybersecurity industry, but also helping to support all industries. Biotech, Healthcare, Engineering, FinTech and everything in-between. There is a growing need to map the skills needed by industry with the pathways individuals embark on to reach their professional goals. If you are interested in exploring how we can support your work, reach out to hi@journeysmap.com today!