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USAID and IBM will provide a report on the Philippine cyber talent pool.

On December 7, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and IBM will provide their assessment of the state of the Philippine cyber workforce at the moment.

In October of this year, a report named “National Cybersecurity Talent Workforce Assessment Report of the Philippines” was finished. Regarding the nation’s cybersecurity talent, gaps, and potential, it offers insights, into current difficulties, and suggested solutions.

According to John Garrity, Chief of Party for USAID’s Better Access and Connectivity (BEACON) Activity, “It’s a topic that needs to be focused on, and what we’ll hear on the 7th of December are ideas, debates, and discussions about the nature of the problem, what can be done, and what are the actions we can all enjoin each other to move forward.”

The lack of cybersecurity professionals is a problem for businesses, the government, and even for individuals, especially young people who can learn about the chance to work in this field where there is a surplus of qualified workers.

Several visitors from the public and private sectors are anticipated to participate in a panel discussion about the report’s conclusions and recommendations, which will be live-streamed online at bit.ly/CyberTalentPH and on the Facebook page of the Philippine News Agency.

A briefer states that to remove barriers to ICT growth, USAID’s BEACON collaborates with numerous Philippine government organizations, led by the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT).

According to the administration’s priority of digitalizing the nation, the project will contribute to improving the Philippines’ digital ecosystem, leading to “a stronger and more competitive telecommunication market and digital economy needed to accelerate economic growth and regional competitiveness.”

The DICT, which is in charge of guiding the nation’s digital transition under the Marcos government, has pledged to give Filipinos access to the digital resources they need to assist the economy recovery from the pandemic and make the country “more competitive.”

However, the cybersphere presents dangers and concerns, and this kind of technology has created difficulties.

“Cybersecurity threats and breaches are a concomitant risk of engaging in the digital economy. Your company will likely experience it, but the question is more when than if “said Garrity.

Citing a report from the cybersecurity company Kaspersky from 2021, Garrity claimed that the Philippines was the nation that cybercriminals were “most targeted” since it had the greatest percentage of consumers in the Asia Pacific region who had been infected by banking Trojans.

“The Philippines is the fourth most frequently targeted nation in Asia by online criminals. Undoubtedly, there are a variety of hazards, “added he.

The paper, produced for the Marcos administration, the DICT, business, and academia in light of these concerns, intends to offer suggestions and strategies to strengthen the country’s growing cybersecurity posture during the following four years.

“The research also provides more information on jumpstart actions that may be more beneficial for helping to truly get the cybersecurity ecosystem off to a stronger start. The purpose of the discussion on the 7th is to put into writing and pen in the report a lot of the things that we all know, such as that this is a significant challenge and that we need more cybersecurity talent and capacity in the nation, and to create, hopefully, enough momentum to result in the discussion taking concrete steps forward “said Garrity.

inadequate cyber talent

According to Garrity, the Philippines’ “underdeveloped” cybersecurity school pipeline makes the nation’s shortage of cybersecurity personnel worse than it already is.

“There is a clear and ongoing shortage of cybersecurity talent,” he said. “What that means is that many of the studies and responders basically expressed that there is this dearth of credentialed or qualified and experienced cybersecurity expertise across the board.

Only a small number of universities offer undergraduate and master’s degree programs in cybersecurity, but these institutions also struggle with low enrollment and early graduation.

Additionally, he added that the military was another source of many cybersecurity specialists in other nations, a talent pipeline that is currently developing in the Philippines.

Compensation disparity between cybersecurity specialists in the Philippines and other nations, which promotes a “brain drain” or worker movement to countries with higher pay, is another problem.

Additionally, there is a general shortage of skills among women for entry-level and mid-level positions in the public IT and cybersecurity industry, and there are no designated job functions with an exclusive focus on cybersecurity.

“Data encoding specialists and IT experts are present, but there are no jobs or functions specifically dedicated to cybersecurity. Therefore, there is a glaring void in the public sector “explained Garrity.

The USAID BEACON Activity is coordinating the report launch along with DICT, IBM, and media partners ANC and the Philippine News Agency.

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This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute endorsement of any specific technologies or methodologies and financial advice or endorsement of any specific products or services.

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