Cybersecurity is no longer a technology-only issue. It touches almost all aspects of an organization. To fill the cybersecurity skills gap in the current hyper-connected society, EIT Digital, the leading organization driving Europe’s digital transformation, and UC Berkeley, one of the world’s most prestigious universities, have joined forces in a new international collaboration.
Both have jointly launched the “Cybersecurity 360 Programme for Professionals,” taking place this autumn. Recently, Silicon Canals got an opportunity to speak to Fabián García Pastor, Head of Professional School at EIT Digital, where he shared his opinions on this one-of-a-kind cooperation.
García Pastor said, “As far as cybersecurity is concerned, we think it’s a global issue. Attacks against the computer infrastructure in one country can come from anywhere in the world. So, we decided to come up with this programme. For this, we wanted to collaborate with a recognized partner and Berkeley is the best-in-the-class. They’re a well-known and prestigious university, and they’re popular for cybersecurity as well. So together, we designed this 360-degree training programme which will take place in the Silicon Valley and in Munich, Germany, to train the professionals who aspire to address the cybersecurity challenges of their business proactively.”
Being an expert in the field, García Pastor has shared some strong reasons as to why the Cybersecurity 360 programme is an important one to attend.
#1 Transatlantic 360-degree programme
To gain the cutting-edge awareness, the Cybersecurity 360 programme has been split into two modules. The first one takes place on October 1-5 in Berkeley (U.S.), followed by a second week on October 15-19 in Munich (Germany). Participants can choose to register for one or both weeks. With this new transatlantic collaboration, EIT Digital aims to help European professionals to be at the forefront in today’s fast-paced digital world and experience the latest developments in cybersecurity from a 360-degree perspective.
“This is a transatlantic platform and it is quite unique, as there’s both a component in the U.S. and Europe. Today’s executives need to be aware of the cybersecurity risks for their organizations, and they need to be sufficiently competent to take responsibility for a viable cyber-resilience strategy. This is why such transatlantic programmes are of added value.”
#2 Broad coverage of content in modules
Attend this programme to explore the U.S. and European tech champion approaches to evaluate and face these threats. This programme is designed for senior management and the experts from both continents will share with you industry best practices through lectures, business cases, and company visits.
“While the EIT Digital Professional School is developing and delivering the European part of the professional training, the module being offered by UC Berkeley Executive Education mainly focuses on cybersecurity for software platforms, including online and cloud services.”
#3 Theoretical as well as practical
Participants will learn about different kinds of cyber-attacks and the risks they pose to their organizations. They will also understand fundamental cybersecurity principles and their application to key technical systems in order to manage security challenges and data privacy.
As an added benefit of having the programme take place in Munich and the San Francisco Bay Area, participants will also be able to attend company site visits, which will include specific “show and tell” demonstrations of cybersecurity best practices from each region’s industry leaders.
“The main aim is to provide both a theoretical and a practical approach. We will have two sessions each on the theoretical part of subjects like the impact of Internet of Things on cybersecurity. During the industrial visits, we will visit companies like Salesforce in San Francisco and Siemens in Germany, to meet with the company experts who will demonstrate the operational issues and their solutions.”
#4 Connect with the experts in the field
The Cybersecurity 360 programme by EIT Digital and UC Berkeley has some of the best experts from Europe and the U.S. to provide cutting-edge information on cybersecurity through face-to-face professional training which will include workshop sessions, networking opportunities and more.
#5 Cybersecurity expertise for everyone
With a diverse range of professionals involved in the programme, there will be a different set of topics to discuss from the U.S and Europe.
“There are several key areas where professionals can improve their cybersecurity expertise. One of them is the Internet of Things, which is being integrated into every other device nowadays. Some of them say in a few years, we are going to have 50,000 million devices connected, and even if some of them get attacked, that’s a huge number. Imagine in a hospital, in a plane, or in a factory – the impact in such a case could major”
“I think everyone in an organization should have some general cybersecurity skills in order to protect our devices and to know how to manage things. Even if you have no connection with the IT department, you have to know how to protect your environment and how to react if a cyber-attack happens.”
#6 Achieve a cyber-resilient business
Through the Cybersecurity 360 Programme for Professionals, leveraging on EIT Digital’s and UC Berkeley’s top-level expertise, participants will be fully equipped to address relevant cybersecurity issues, making sure they are never caught off guard.
“I would like to add that we’re are trying to teach cyber-resilience to our participants because we think it is very difficult to avoid cyber-attacks today. Most of the companies have already been attacked and most of them will be attacked again in the future. Professionals should be prepared for such situations, they should be resilient and react quickly.”
To sum up, for all professionals looking to brush up their cybersecurity skills, this programme is something not to be missed. “If you are a professional in cybersecurity, and want to gain knowledge in more related subjects, here you will get to know about the issues that are important for you,” concludes Fabián García Pastor.
Enroll NOW in Cybersecurity 360. And join the conversation: #Cybersecurity360
This content is part of a media partnership with EIT Digital. Read our previous stories about “Scaling-up in Europe” here.
For more information, visit the official website of EIT Digital Accelerator.
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