IBM- Pledge to the EU Cybersecurity Skills Academy: strengthen cybersecurity skills of EU citizens
IBM is committed to closing the cybersecurity skills and talent gap in the European Union. We pledge to provide cybersecurity education through free trainings and coursework to 25,000 EU citizens by the end of 2026. This is part of IBM’s broader global commitment to skill 30 million people by 2030.
Our pledge
IBM believes that democratizing access to technology training is crucial for today’s workforce. That’s why IBM is committed to train 25,000 EU citizens by the end of 2026 in cybersecurity skills, through partnerships and programs like IBM SkillsBuild. Currently we have successful collaborations with schools, universities, workplaces, and beyond to transform the cybersecurity capabilities of EU citizens as well as support the EU’s goals and ambitions to tackle the shortage of cybersecurity professionals.
Our initiative
Title: IBM’s pledge to strengthen cybersecurity skills of EU citizens
Description: IBM SkillsBuild is a free education program aimed at increasing access to technology education. Through the program, we support adult learners, and high school and university students and faculty, to develop valuable new skills and access career opportunities. The program includes an online platform that is complemented by customized practical learning experiences delivered in collaboration with a global network of partners. The online platform offers over 1,000 courses in 20 languages on AI, sustainability, cybersecurity, data analysis, cloud computing, and many other technical disciplines - as well as in workplace skills such as Design Thinking.
Cybersecurity courses include: What is cybersecurity?; How is cybersecurity used?; IBM and cybersecurity; Introduction to cybersecurity; and Your Future in Cybersecurity: The Job Landscape. Most importantly, participants can earn IBM-branded digital credentials that are recognized by the market. In addition to everything available through the online platform, the IBM SkillsBuild program also includes workshops, expert conversations with IBM coaches, project-based learning and access to IBM software.
Target Audience: 25,000 EU citizens
Location: In-person and Online
Languages: English, Spanish, French, Italian, German, Portuguese, Polish, Dutch, Czech, Ukrainian, Turkish
Cost: Free of charge
Link to the initiative
IBM commits to review and update the status of this pledge every six months.
Background
IBM is proud to continue to support such a broad range of initiatives across the European Union and pledges to contribute to the EU’s Cybersecurity Skills Academy and its aims.
Examples of our cybersecurity skilling projects across the EU:
• In 2023, IBM, in association with training development partner, SkillUp, delivered our 10-week Cybersecurity Fundamentals online training course to approximately 600 learners across the European Union. This is a foundational programme designed for beginners who want to kickstart their career in cybersecurity. It provides learners with a basic understanding of cybersecurity concepts and its popular tools and encourages hands-on experience via labs and projects. Through this partnership, learners not only gain foundational knowledge but also valuable hands-on experience that will showcase their skills. This initiative will be continued in 2024.
• Sweden: We have created the Cybersecurity Academy (formally called #290 Cybersecurity), where we teach young adults (age 10-19) about cybersecurity. The initiative is now co-funded with the Swedish Contingency Agency and has expanded to include seven additional corporate partners. And we hope to expand to other countries in the coming years.
• Ireland: In response to the growing skills gap and threat of ransomware attacks on schools, IBM provided in 2023, a USD $250,000 grant to City of Dublin Education and Training Board, which operates 23 schools and colleges, to improve their cybersecurity resiliency.
• France: Campus Cyber – La Defense, is a nationwide initiative by President Macron, created in 2022, to develop cybersecurity from various perspectives (business development, risk management, and enterprise protection and training). As a member since 2023, IBM participates in four workstreams and we have released two documents on skills and competencies frameworks for cybersecurity careers.
• Germany: We have a partnership with the Institute for Cyber Security at HDM University Stuttgart, where we have educated 360 students via teaching and mentoring, provision of software, and cloud access for the university security study lab and other technical support
• Italy: We have a partnership with Politecnico di Milano - Compentence Center MADE, where we have developed a cybersecurity use case powered by IBM QRadar, that is used to showcase how to mitigate the effects of a cyber-attack to students, faculty members and professionals.
• Italy: Under the patronage of the Agency for National Cybersecurity, IBM launched the IBM Cybersecurity Academy in the center of Rome to provide learning and training on cybersecurity. At the heart of the Academy is the Cyber Theatre, an interactive laboratory, where visitors can participate in an immersive experience of a malicious intrusion, recreating the stressful environment of a real cyber-attack to test their response capabilities. Having experienced this, an IT security "gym" then provides training in the field of emergency response.
• Germany, Sweden, Denmark: We are working with our partner ReDI School (a non-profit tech school providing migrants and marginalised locals free and equitable access to digital education) to promote cybersecurity skilling materials through IBM SkillsBuild and additional free project-based learning experiences.
• France: In 2022, IBM launched an AI and Cyber Academy, offering two-year training courses to help reskill unemployed individuals, who can earn an IBM Cyber Expert certificate as part of their overall official French degree.
