30,000 Students Across the Country Sought to Qualify for Cybersecurity Competition hosted by the National Cyber Scholarship Foundation

 

Wilmington, Del. — Delaware’s Governor John Carney, Secretary of Education Susan Bunting, and Chief Information Officer (CIO) Jason Clarke today announced that four of Delaware’s most promising high school students have earned the coveted title of “National Cyber Scholar” after winning the rigorous 48-hour competition designed to evaluate aptitude in combating cyber threats, and showcasing the best of what the First State’s schools have to offer as part of CyberStart America. Winners included Kelsey Mulrooney, Molly Shapiro and Annamarie Warnke from Padua Academy and Albert Opher from Sanford School.  At the college level, Kirolos Boghdady from the University of Delaware and Evan Timko from Delaware State University ranked highest in Delaware and won scholarship awards. This is the fifth year Delaware has participated, with over 400 students taking part during this round. Overall, Delaware had 39 semifinalists, 7 finalists, and the final 4 Cyber Scholars that ranked high in the competition. Please see the complete list of Delaware’s winners here.

Over 30,000 high school students across the country sought to qualify for this year’s CyberStart America competition, and only 5,000 advanced to the first round. Of those students, only 600 nationwide performed well enough to earn the title “National Cyber Scholars.” These students each won a $2,500 scholarship and an invitation to participate in the Cyber Foundations Academy, a multi-week training and certification course.

“Providing our young people with the opportunity to learn about the high-tech, high-impact of the field cybersecurity is extremely important given the cyber threats that persist in digital world we live in today,” said Governor John Carney. “Congratulations to the National Cyber Scholars and to all the students who participated, and a special thank you to the SANS Institute for continuing to sponsor this incredible program.”

“Congratulations to the four Delaware winners and to all of the students who participated in this year’s competition. This type of opportunity allows students to hone valuable and highly marketable skills that will serve them well after graduation,” Secretary of Education Susan Bunting said.

“Delaware, like other states across the nation, needs trained cyber security specialists and it is encouraging to see so many young people take up this challenge and their interest in this field,” noted CIO Jason Clarke. “We hope they are able to discover a passion for technology and continue to develop their skills.”

Cybersecurity is a critical issue facing this country with the potential to impact our nation’s government, defense, communications and financial systems. According to recent studies, in order to properly defend our infrastructure from attack, we need to train more than 3 million cybersecurity professionals. This scholarship and competition are designed to attract and incentivize more students to enter the field.

“Competing in the Girls Go Cyberstart and Cyberstart America competitions have been incredibly rewarding experiences for me,” said Padua student Molly Shapiro. “I started my first competition in 2018 with no knowledge of cybersecurity and finished my final competition this year with the confidence to pursue a degree in cybersecurity. These competitions allowed me to realize and chase my passion for cybersecurity and have given me the skills and preparation I need to eventually enter the industry as a cybersecurity professional.”

“This scholarship recognizes high school students who have demonstrated exceptional cybersecurity talent,” noted David Brown, executive director, National Cyber Scholarship Foundation. “The NCSF mission is to help close the critical cybersecurity skills gap by identifying and developing the next generation of cyber professionals. Each and every student who participated in this competition has the potential to develop their skills and build a successful career in cybersecurity.”

There are several qualification pathways for the National Cyber Scholarship Competition including CyberStart America, a free online program that helps students discover their interest in cybersecurity and develop their talent and skills. The NCSC offers 600 college scholarships to top-ranking competitors. Additionally, National Cyber Scholars, along with the competition’s 1,000 finalists, are invited to participate in the Cyber Foundations Academy. To learn more visit: National Cyber Scholarship Foundation.

Delaware’s National Cyber Scholars will also be recognized during the annual Secure Delaware workshop on October 28. This event will be held both virtually and in-person at the Chase Center on the Riverfront.

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About the Delaware Department of Technology and Information

The Department of Technology and Information (DTI) is the state’s central IT organization, chartered to deliver core services to other state organizations and exercise governance over the technology direction and investments of the state. DTI provides enterprise services that enable other organizations to effectively fulfill their missions.

About the National Cyber Scholarship Foundation (NCSF)

The National Cyber Scholarship Foundation (NCSF) is a national nonprofit whose mission is to identify, nurture and empower the next generation of cybersecurity experts; and eliminate the cybersecurity skills gap in the United States. NCSF aims to support the entry of thousands of talented students to the cybersecurity industry by providing enrichment opportunities, world-class training, and scholarships to fund degree-level study.

About CyberStart America

CyberStart America is a free national program for high school students, aiming to uncover hidden cyber talents, and to identify and develop the next generation of cyber superstars. CyberStart’s immersive gamified learning platform can take students from zero cybersecurity knowledge to possessing the skills necessary to compete in a national-level Capture the Flag challenge in a matter of weeks. Students new to the field with a strong aptitude, as well as students with existing interest in the field, can use the platform to train and qualify for the National Cyber Scholarship Competition, allowing them to compete for life-changing college scholarship opportunities.

State’s TechHire initiative brings together business community and training partners to give Delawareans new opportunities to fill openings in well-paying technology fields

Wilmington, DE – Building on efforts to ensure every Delawarean has access to education and training to thrive in today’s economy, Governor Markell today announced new opportunities for workers to gain certifications for Information Technology jobs. Delaware TechHire, which was previewed in the Governor’s State of the State address and applauded by the White House, creates a partnership between businesses, primarily in the financial sector, and training partners, which will allow participants to become software developers in months rather than years.

Beginning in September, Zip Code Wilmington, a new coding school that will offer its first classes in the fall, and Delaware Tech will provide intensive, accelerated education programs lasting about three months to prepare participants to earn Java certifications. The state has awarded Zip Code a $250,000 grant from its economic development funds to help cover startup costs.

“In an economy forever transformed by new technology and global competition, it’s more important than ever that we give Delawareans the best chance to acquire skills most valued in the workplace,” said Markell. “With hundreds of open IT jobs in the state, it’s clear that we must think differently about training in this field and connect more people to well-paying technology careers.”

Several of Delaware’s biggest employers, including JP Morgan Chase & Co., Capital One, Barclays, and Bank of America, have joined the Tech Hire partnership and will ensure that people who successfully complete the training program will be able to enter a paid apprenticeship, which could lead to a coding job assuming the apprentice fulfills his or her responsibilities. Entry-level coding positions are estimated by Delaware companies to pay about $55,000 per year and offer the chance the climb the professional ladder in a growing field.

Beginning in September, Zip Code and Del Tech will both offer their first 20-person classes. The TechHire companies have committed to begin hiring workers from these programs in 2015 and to hire at least 100 in 2016, with the hope that the training initiatives will be able to continue to grow to meet the increasing IT needs of the state’s business community.

Later tonight, Markell will participate in a launch ceremony for Zip Code Wilmington, where leaders of that program will provide further details about the training they will offer.

Training a 21^st Century Workforce  

Delaware’s TechHire initiative is part of a series of efforts announced in Governor Markell’s State of the State address to rethink the state’s approach to workforce training and ensure more workers gain the skills to meet the demands of key industries in the new economy.

Last month, the Governor announced 15 Pathways to Prosperity grants for high schools to implement programs that allow students to earn workplace experience and college credit in high-demand fields before they graduate.

On Thursday, he unveiled details of a program targeted to at-risk young workers who will receive training at Delaware Tech that will lead to a job at a Delaware health care provider.

Comments by Delaware Tech Hire Partners:

Del Tech- Mark Brainard, President:

“Delaware Tech has a long history of providing education and training programs that develop students’ competencies to work in many different disciplines including technology- related career fields,” said Delaware Tech President Mark Brainard.  We are pleased to be an active partner in the TechHire Initiative and are excited about the opportunities our accelerated programming academies will offer the local workforce.  Last month, with the support from a JPMorgan Chase Foundation grant, we also began offering an accelerated program in computer networking that is preparing participants to earn the CISCO Certified Network Associate credential, also needed for in-demand IT jobs in Delaware.”

“JPMorgan Chase has identified Delaware as one of its strategic worldwide technology hubs,” said Jen McDermott, CAO Talent Pipeline Programs at JP Morgan Chase & Co., and a member of group of business representatives leading the Tech Hire initiative. “As we continue to grow here in Delaware it is crucial for us to have a reliable pipeline of local tech talent. That’s why we are excited to partner with the State of Delaware and other stakeholders in the TechHire initiative.”

“There is a huge demand in Wilmington and Delaware for trained IT professionals, and we cannot afford to continue to let these jobs go unfilled,” said Jim Stewart, Chairman, Zip Code Wilmington. “Our goal is to graduate and place over 100 people per year into local companies, people who will live in our communities and help make our economy stronger.”

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President issues call-to-action for communities to follow Delaware’s lead in preparing people for technology jobs

Wilmington, DE – An initiative that will train Delawareans for hundreds of open Information Technology jobs in the state was recognized today by the Obama Administration as the President launched an effort to connect more Americans to well-paying technology jobs through new training models.

According to the White House, the TechHire initiative builds on work in communities like the State of Delaware, Louisville, St. Louis, Philadelphia, and New York City, where the public and private sectors are partnering to provide citizens with targeted short-term instruction and commit that these individuals will be recruited for jobs upon successful completion of the training.

“To help more Americans thrive, and to give businesses access to the workforce required for them to compete at home and abroad, we must think differently about how we prepare our people,” said Governor Markell. “That means better aligning traditional education programs with business needs, but it also means getting workers critical skills as quickly as possible. In some instances, two- and four-year degree programs are too time-consuming, too expensive, and unnecessary. This intense short-term model must be a part of our job training efforts.

“I’m proud Delaware has been recognized for working in innovative ways to address our shortage of IT workers, and I applaud the President and Vice President for their relentless focus on giving Americans the education and training opportunities to thrive in the new economy.”

Delaware TechHire

Delaware’s TechHire initiative is part of a series of efforts announced in Governor Markell’s State of the State address to rethink the state’s approach to workforce training and ensure more workers gain the skills to meet the demands of key industries in the new economy. Several of Delaware’s biggest employers, which collectively have thousands of unfilled tech jobs, are joining with the state to train and hire hundreds of Information Technology workers through accelerated education programs and a “coding school” launching this fall.

Based on industry needs, training will initially focus on preparing participants for jobs as entry-level Java developers and IT infrastructure support workers. Six employers, including JP Morgan Chase and Capital One, are partnering to recruit those who successfully complete the program, which will allow them to become software developers in months rather than years.

“We are seeing an economic resurgence, but the President has made clear that there is still work left to do,” the White House said in a statement on the initiative. “America has about 5 million open jobs today, more than at any point since 2001. Over half a million of those job openings are in information technology fields like software development, network administration, and cybersecurity – many of which did not even exist just a decade ago. The average salary in a job that requires information technology (IT) skills – whether in manufacturing, advertising, hospitality, or banking – is 50 percent higher than the average private-sector American job.”

The President’s TechHire initiative builds on the job-driven training review that the President asked Vice President Biden to lead in the 2013 State of the Union. Amongst other findings, the Vice President’s review identified information technology as an emerging area of growth that requires job-driven training strategies to meet business needs and provide more workers with a path to the middle class.

Key elements of the TechHire initiative:

• Over 20 regions, with over 120,000 open technology jobs and more than 300 employer partners in need of this workforce, are announcing plans to work together to new ways to recruit and place applicants based on their actual skills and to create more fast track tech training opportunities. The Administration is encouraging more communities and employers to follow in their lead with similar innovative strategies to advance these goals.
• Private sector leaders are announcing commitments to provide free training through online training slots and expanding “coding bootcamps” – which provide intensive training for well-paying jobs, often in the course of just a few months. These efforts will also better support low-income and underserved Americans, including women, minorities, and veterans across the nation.
• National organizations are committing to work with interested communities to share job and skills information, job-matching tools, and other resources to help support the growth, adoption, and creation of promising practices across the U.S.

Communities highlighted by the President today, including Delaware, are committing to three actions:

• Using data and innovative hiring practices to expand openness to non-traditional hiring: Communities are committing to work with employers to build robust data on where they have greatest needs and what skills they are looking for; communities will work with employers to build willingness to hire from both nontraditional and traditional training programs; and communities will work with employers to review -and upgrade -their recruiting and hiring practices to enable non-traditional hiring.
• Expanding models for training that prepare students in months, not years: Communities will recruit, incubate and expand accelerated tech learning programs – such as coding bootcamps, and innovative online training – which enable interested non-tech-experienced students to gain coding skills in months, not years. These new models also have potential to reaching to a broader set of students than have traditionally chosen to pursue tech careers. These new training programs can be run both independently or embedded as part of a local community college or university education offering.
• Activate local leadership to connect people to jobs with hiring on ramp programs: Communities will build local strategies and partnerships to connect people to jobs, with steps ranging from investing in and working with industry-trusted organizations, which will vouch for those who have the skills to do the job but who may lack the typical profile of degrees and career experience.

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