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Cyber Skills Academy - Stakeholder Involvement

Stakeholder Involvement: committing to close the cybersecurity skills gap

Under this pillar the Cyber Skills Academy will address three main aspects: 

  • Pledges from stakeholders to close the cyber skills gap in Europe. 
  • Diversity, including gender balance, of the cyber workforce.
  • Strategies from Member States and public authorities in general to improve cyber skills.

Some insights into these aspects are given below. If you want to propose any other relevant information on national strategies or initiatives about diversity related to cyber skills, send us your proposal here.

Pledges on Cyber Skills

There are already several pledges on cybersecurity in the Pledges section of the Digital Skills & Jobs Platform.

However, specific pledges to the Cybersecurity skills Academy must meet three conditions to be considered under the Academy:

  • To comply with the general requirements for pledges of the Digital Skills and Jobs Platform.
  • Explain, in addition, the planned or achieved impact of the pledge regarding one or more of the six following objectives in line with the aims of the Academy:
    - Increase the number of persons with cybersecurity skills in the EU.  
    - Increase the diversity of persons with cybersecurity skills, notably the share of women. 
    - Align the offer and demand of cybersecurity skills on the labour market, thus reducing gaps in some needed skills. 
    - Provide the skills needed to meet cybersecurity legal and policy requirements at EU level (e.g. the NIS2 Directive, the DORA Regulation, and the proposed Cyber Resilience Act) or national level. 
    - Improve visibility and synergies between public and private initiatives on cybersecurity skills. 
    - Improve comparability, quality assurance and certification of cybersecurity skills. 
  • To update the pledge at least every 6 months, indicating what has been achieved during that time regarding the six objectives above and, if applicable, updating or revising the pledge. Moreover, Member States are encouraged to integrate cybersecurity skills in their national strategies.

Pledgers such as (ISC)², NVIDIA, Microsoft, CISCO, ISACA, Workday, SANS | GIAC, Leonardo and CompTIA have already joined the Academy. Is your organization next?

Join the effort to close the cyber skills gap in Europe: submit your pledge and join the Cybersecurity Skills Academy!

Diversity & Gender Inclusion

There are various initiatives seeking to address diversity and gender inclusion in cybersecurity. 

Strategies

Member States, regional and local authorities, as well as international and European public entities, are encouraged to adopt dedicated strategies or initiatives on cyber skills, or to integrate cyber skills in relevant strategies or initiatives with a broader scope (e.g. cybersecurity, digital skills, employment, etc).

If you want to discover more information about about international initiatives on cybersecurity, please visit our dedicated section of related European initiatives and national strategies.

Submit your pledge