Providing two key audiences – students and veterans – with the skills necessary to compete in the growing cyber marketplace is the focus of an upcoming conference hosted by a number of area organizations with a collective interest in meeting and expanding the cyber workforce in Northern Virginia.
The “Cyber Training and Education Conference: Equipping Veterans and Teachers with needed Cyber Skills” will be held Tuesday, June 26 at the George Mason University Science and Technology Campus in Manassas. Speakers will include Congresswoman Barbara Comstock (invited); Dr. Scott Ralls, President, Northern Virginia Community College; and Fairfax Board Supervisor Penny Gross; as well as a variety of business leaders from Booz Allen Hamilton, Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, MITRE, and Amazon Web Services. Additionally, a wide number of representatives from Northern Virginia public school systems and Veterans organizations will be participating in the conference.
The conference offers two tracks – one for veterans interested in training pathways in cyber and another for teachers at the high school level, to provide them with the educational curriculum essential to prepare current high school students for a future in cyber technology.
Fairfax County Supervisor Penny Gross, who chairs the Community, Military & Federal Facility Partnership of Northern Virginia as an NVRC Commissioner, noted that “working with our local military installations – the Pentagon, Joint Base Myer Henderson Hall, Fort Belvoir and Quantico – as well as the nine public school districts in Northern Virginia, the need for a cyber workforce was readily identified. This conference will provide a roadmap for the way forward, focusing on growing cyber job opportunities in Northern Virginia and the needs of transitioning military members, as well as current high school students, to fill these jobs. It’s a unique public/private partnership that serves the region well, now and quickly into the future.”
This event is open to all area veterans and teachers at no charge; and all attendees can earn .7 CEUs for their attendance.
To register, visit https://vsgi.gmu.edu/cyber-ready-conference-registration-page/
About NVRC:
The Northern Virginia Regional Commission (NVRC) is a regional council of thirteen member local governments in the Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington DC. According to Virginia’s Regional Cooperation Act, NVRC is a political subdivision (a government agency) within the Commonwealth.
About VSGI:
VSGI’s mission to support Mason’s Entrepreneurial and Innovation goals by cultivating and supporting Mason-founded startups, rapid prototype development, high-value knowledge job creation, and regional economic development through serious game technology discovery to improve the human condition.