The industry-led course targeting 2,000 individuals will be offered in collaboration with the Kenya Bankers Association (KBA) and tech consulting firm Serianu.
The programme dubbed Cyber Shujaa, which will incorporate both physical and virtual classes, targets individuals with a background in IT aged between 18 and 25 years.
The University will be in charge of developing the curriculum while KBA and Serianu will provide the industry linkages for the trainees.
United States International University-Africa (USIU-Africa) has unveiled a three-year cybersecurity programme in a move to plug an industry gap for professionals.
The industry-led course targeting 2,000 individuals will be offered in collaboration with the Kenya Bankers Association (KBA) and tech consulting firm Serianu.
This comes amid concern that the number of certified cybersecurity professionals lags demand, forcing companies to scramble for the few available at a higher cost to deal with rising online attacks.
“This project will brand itself to become a cybersecurity institute to offer a nationally recognized certification in the area of cybersecurity,” said the university’s interim vice-chancellor Freida Brown.
The programme dubbed Cyber Shujaa, which will incorporate both physical and virtual classes, targets individuals with a background in IT aged between 18 and 25 years.
It seeks to bring 1,000 women on board as cybersecurity professionals and to support at least 30 young people as cybersecurity entrepreneurs.
The USIU-A, KBA, and Serianu have signed an MOU for the program that creates a pathway for learners to transition into the industry as practicing cybersecurity executives.
The University will be in charge of developing the curriculum while KBA and Serianu will provide the industry linkages for the trainees.
Serianu chief executive William Makatiani noted that Kenya loses an estimated Sh10 billion annually to cybercrime, exacerbated by a lack of well-trained cybersecurity executives.
KBA chief executive Habil Olaka noted that as technology evolves rapidly, a tripartite education and training approach for speedy skilling and placement will reduce the economy’s exposure to cybercriminals.
A recent survey by global cyber researcher and publisher Cybersecurity Ventures shows the number of unfilled cybersecurity jobs grew from one million to 3.5 million globally.
This has led to increased poaching of analysts within the industry, including by foreign firms as the cyber operational space is not limited by physical country boundaries.
