Planning Grant for a New England Regional Center for Information Systems Security Education

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This planning grant is laying the groundwork for a regional center for information systems security (ISS) education to serve Connecticut, Massachusetts, and other New England states. Activities in the project include: (1) forming a board of directors, a project planning team, and three working committees focusing on academic reform, professional development, and capacity building; (2) conducting a comprehensive workforce assessment for the ISS field in New England; (3) aligning planned curricula with the national cybersecurity education standards being developed by the National Workforce Center for Emerging Technologies; (4) enhancing and supporting two pilot "seamless" ISS pathways among secondary and postsecondary educational institutions in southeastern Connecticut and northwestern Massachusetts; (5) exploring online and distance learning strategies, new certificate options, and faculty exchanges among institutions in New England; and (6) involving business and industry, economic development associations, and other research and educational institutions in planning for the center's development.This project builds on an innovative associate degree program in computer security and data assurance based at Norwalk Community College, which has also been developed with support from the Advanced Technological Education program (NSF Award No. 0201873). The planning-grant project is examining the Norwalk Community College curriculum and others to determine topics, courses, curricula, and approaches that the center should pursue as it designs programs to serve the region's educational needs in cybersecurity.Educational institutions, information systems companies, defense and financial services companies, economic development associations, and research institutes are collaborating in this planning-grant project. The partners include Western Connecticut State University, the Connecticut Community College System, Norwalk Community College, Springfield Technical and Community College, New Hampshire Community Technical College-Berlin/Laconia, Holyoke Community College, Cape Cod Community College, the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Mass Mutual Financial Group, Electric Boat, Deloitte and Touche, Greywolf Technologies, the Connecticut Office for Workforce Competitiveness, the New England Board of Higher Education, and regional school districts.