Government Will Ensure That Pathways into Cybersecurity Careers are Provided – Minister Morris Dixon

Minister of Education, Skills, Youth and Information, Senator Dr. the Hon. Dana Morris Dixon, says the Government is committed to ensuring that pathways into cybersecurity careers are provided.

“By partnering with local industry leaders and global organisations in innovative ways, we can allow students to gain practical experience, certification and internships that bridge the gap between theoretical knowledge and real-world application,” she said.

To achieve this mandate, Dr. Morris Dixon noted that the Government, private sector and their partners, both locally and internationally, must work together to ensure that cybersecurity training and resources are available for people at all stages of their careers.

She was addressing the Jamaica Cyber Incident Response Team (JaCIRT) National Cybersecurity Awareness Day, 2024, on Thursday (October 31), at the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) headquarters, Up Park Camp, in Kingston.

“Education alone is not enough. A three to four-year degree is not agile enough. We must also prioritise cybersecurity skills development through hands-on training and short-course certification. There are shorter courses that we can implement, where we can get the competencies,” Dr. Morris Dixon suggested.

She called on the leading skills training institution, the HEART/NSTA Trust, to work with industry partners and design cybersecurity programmes that are relevant to national security needs.

“There is an opportunity for tools and people to deploy in our cyber spaces. The change in attacks highlight the demand for cyber skills and knowledge which, unfortunately, remain unmet with a shortage of approximately three million cyber professionals around the world,” Dr. Morris Dixon noted.

“This gap not only places an immense strain on existing cybersecurity teams but also leaves many organisations vulnerable to attacks. In Jamaica, we have a shortage in that area. This underscores the need to develop our local talent [by providing] robust cybersecurity education and training programmes,” she said.

The World Economic Forum Global Risk Report 2024 ranked cybersecurity threat among the top-10 global risks, with cyberattacks among the fastest growing crimes, from US$3 trillion in 2015 and expected to climb to US$10 ½ trillion by 2025. With the advent of Artificial Intelligence (AI), this number is expected to grow.

Meanwhile, Minister of National Security, Hon. Dr. Horace Chang, said the Government of Jamaica and its partners continue work to strengthen the cybersecurity infrastructure.

“The Government has undertaken a number of initiatives to strengthen our law-enforcement agencies, but there is still a far way to go. A prime example is the increased budgetary allocation to strengthening the national cyber infrastructure,” he said.

Dr. Chang said the Government is also seeking to strengthen the cyber-investigation capacity of law enforcement significantly, through the Ministry of National Security project, Pro-Cyber.

This project is established as a partnership between the Ministry and the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) Communication Forensic and Cyber Division, which continues to bolster Jamaica’s forensic cyber capabilities through four key areas – training and development, technical equipment, software licensing, and workspace renovation.