NIST is seeking public input on its draft strategic plan for the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education (NICE) program.
“Now is the time to begin a coordinated national initiative focused on cybersecurity awareness, education, training, and professional development. The United States must encourage cybersecurity competence across the nation and build an agile, highly skilled workforce capable of responding to a dynamic and rapidly developing array of threats”, NIST said in the draft plan.
The goal of the cybersecurity education plan is to raise awareness among Americans about the risks of online activities, broaden the pool of skilled cybersecurity workers, and develop a globally competitive cybersecurity workforce.
"This plan represents the coordinated thinking of the federal agencies that have leading roles in NICE. We are soliciting feedback from the larger population to inform and improve the planning process for this comprehensive national initiative", said Ernest McDuffie, who leads the NICE program.
Contributing to the cybersecurity education plan are the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Defense, the Department of Education, the National Science Foundation, the Office of Personnel Management, and the National Security Agency.
Public comments on the NICE draft strategic plan are due by Sept. 12, 2011. Comments should be entered into the Comment-Template_Draft-NICE.xls, available at http://go.usa.gov/KFw, and e-mailed to nicestratplan@nist.gov.