California Mayors Cyber Cup Celebrates Partners in Cybersecurity Education

Solving the cybersecurity workforce crisis in California is no easy task, but a team of students, teachers, coaches, government officials and business leaders are tackling it through collaboration and outreach to promote pathways that extend from high school to college to the workforce.

Those stakeholders will come together to celebrate their achievements on February 23, 2019 at the California Mayors Cyber Cup (CMCC), which will be held simultaneously in 10 regions across the state. More than 200 teams and 1200 students are expected to participate in an effort to bring cybersecurity awareness to their communities.

The CMCC includes a competition that embraces technical skill sets, leading cyber practices, and good cyber-hygiene habits. Community members are invited to join in the celebration for lunch, a business showcase and an awards ceremony.

California Assemblyman Kevin Kiley attended the CMCC event in Sacramento last spring and said the event helped make the community aware of cybersecurity threats and how to solve them through education and collaboration.

"California Mayors Cyber Cup competitions foster the next generation of cybersecurity professionals by bringing together students with leaders in government and industry," Kiley said. "This collaborative approach ensures a holistic understanding of security challenges while promoting community-wide awareness of cybersecurity issues."

The CMCC also allows businesses to demonstrate how cyber education can lead to jobs that are both in-demand and intellectually engaging. Claire Jefferson-Gilpa, IT account education manager at ConvergeOne, attended last year's event is looking forward to seeing it grow even more this year.

"Cyber education is an essential building block to create the pipeline of talent needed to drive industry, innovate to solve solutions and protect our communities," Jefferson-Gilpa said. "ConvergeOne is proud to invest in the youth within our community."

The winning team from each competition takes home a trophy that remains on display in their local City Hall throughout the year as a physical representation of all the hard work that goes into learning how to combat cyber attacks.

"Having Sierra College host the Greater Sacramento California Mayors Cyber Cup in Rocklin was an honor," said RocklinMayor Ken Broadway. "Tech skills are in high demand and preparing our students for high-paying careers that meet the cyber needs of business and government through an innovative program like this is imperative."

Each CMCC event will begin at 9 a.m. Feb. 23 with the student competition, which will focus on a real-life cybersecurity threat scenario. The community is invited to attend starting at noon.

A presentation on cybersecurity will be held at 12:30 p.m. and lunch will be served at 1 p.m. After lunch, local IT and cybersecurity businesses will participate in a showcase at 1:30 p.m., followed by an awards ceremony at 2:30 p.m.

Local government, educators, parents, community groups and businesses are encouraged to attend the event to see the valuable skills students are learning and how the educational pathways can lead to stable, high-paying jobs.

SOURCE California Cyberhub
Related Links

http://ca-cyberhub.org